“His standing as a lesser-known in a business pantheon that would include such names as Ford and Carnegie makes this work of some scholarly importance.” —Library Journal In the 1940s Henry J. Kaiser was a household name, as familiar then as Warren Buffett and Donald Trump are now. Like a Horatio Alger hero, Kaiser rose from lower-middle-class origins to become an enormously wealthy entrepreneur, building roads, bridges, dams, and housing. He established giant businesses in cement, aluminum, chemicals, steel, health care, and tourism. During World War II, his companies built cargo planes and Liberty ships. After the war, he manufactured the Kaiser-Frazer automobile. Along the way, he also became a major force in the development of the western United States, including Hawaii. Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West is the first biography of this remarkable man. Drawing on a wealth of archival material never before utilized, Mark Foster covers Kaiser’s entire life (1882–1967), painting an evenhanded portrait of a man of driving ambition and integrity, demonstrating Kaiser as the prototypical “frontier” entrepreneur who often used government and union support to tame the “wilderness.” Today the Kaiser legacy remains great. Kaiser played a major role in building the Hoover, Bonneville, Grand Coulee, and Shasta dams. The Kaiser-Permanente Medical Care Program still provides comprehensive health care for millions of subscribers. Kaiser-planned communities remain in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; and Boulder City, Nevada. Kaiser Engineers was actively engaged in hundreds of huge construction jobs across the nation and around the world. US and business historians, scholars of the modern West, and general readers will find much to absorb in this well-written biography.

A full-dimension view of America's boldest, most spectacular entrepreneur. Here is the larger-than-life builder who created a legendary industrial empire, established the nation's most successful health care program, helped win World War II and changed forever the face of western America. Through a good portion of Kaiser's career, Al Heiner was there -- as a public relations officer for Kaiser Steel, but also as an eyewitness to many of the events that make this biography such lively reading.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SELECTED BY THE ECONOMIST AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR “A rambunctious book that is itself alive with the animal spirits of the marketplace.”—The Wall Street Journal Freedom’s Forge reveals how two extraordinary American businessmen—General Motors automobile magnate William “Big Bill” Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser—helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the “arsenal of democracy” that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II. Drafting top talent from companies like Chrysler, Republic Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, GE, and Frigidaire, Knudsen and Kaiser turned auto plants into aircraft factories and civilian assembly lines into fountains of munitions. In four short years they transformed America’s army from a hollow shell into a truly global force, laying the foundations for the country’s rise as an economic as well as military superpower. Freedom’s Forge vividly re-creates American industry’s finest hour, when the nation’s business elites put aside their pursuit of profits and set about saving the world. Praise for Freedom’s Forge “A rarely told industrial saga, rich with particulars of the growing pains and eventual triumphs of American industry . . . Arthur Herman has set out to right an injustice: the loss, down history’s memory hole, of the epic achievements of American business in helping the United States and its allies win World War II.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . It’s not often that a historian comes up with a fresh approach to an absolutely critical element of the Allied victory in World War II, but Pulitzer finalist Herman . . . has done just that.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A compulsively readable tribute to ‘the miracle of mass production.’ ”—Publishers Weekly “The production statistics cited by Mr. Herman . . . astound.”—The Economist “[A] fantastic book.”—Forbes “Freedom’s Forge is the story of how the ingenuity and energy of the American private sector was turned loose to equip the finest military force on the face of the earth. In an era of gathering threats and shrinking defense budgets, it is a timely lesson told by one of the great historians of our time.”—Donald Rumsfeld

Churchill famously claimed that the only thing that had really frightened him during the war was the Battle of the Atlantic. Keeping open the lifeline between the US "arsenal of democracy" and the UK was essential to preparations for the invasion of Europe and in the final analysis this came down to building merchant ships faster than German U-boats could sink them. Crucial to this achievement was the British-designed "Liberty Ship," a simple cargo ship that could be built rapidly, combined with the untapped industrial potential of the U.S. that could build them in vast numbers. Undoubtedly the most important individual in the rapid expansion of U.S. wartime shipyard capacity was Henry Kaiser, a man with no previous shipbuilding experience but an entrepreneur of vision and drive. This book tells the story of how he established huge new yards using novel mass-production techniques in the most surprising location--Oregon, one of the least industrially developed areas of the US and one without an existing pool of skilled labor to draw on.

Henry John Kaiser (1882-1967) was an American industrialist known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, and for fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, Kaiser’s company was one of those that built the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams. He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He led the automobile companies Kaiser-Frazer and Kaiser Motors. Kaiser invested in real estate, later moving into television broadcasting. He established the Kaiser Family Foundation, a charitable organization. “Albert Heiner has written a captivating story of one of the strongest personalities ever to dominate the American scene and he has done it with skill. Henry J. Kaiser was quite as Heiner depicts him and as I knew him — an incredible business genius and fascinating personality.” — Norman Vincent Peale “Through a good portion of Henry J. Kaiser’s career, Al Heiner was there — as a public relations officer for Kaiser Steel, but also as an eye-witness to many of the events that make this biography such lively reading. He then supplemented these firsthand experiences with extensive research in the massive Kaiser Archives now on deposit at the Bancroft Library at Berkeley. This biography teems with vivid, frequently tumultuous anecdotes, each of them set- pieces of skilled narrative.” — Kevin Starr, Author and Historian “In the fifties, the moment I saw the pilot for the television show ‘The Maverick’ I said, ‘that’s Mr. Kaiser.’ I flew out to Hawaii and met with him, and when he saw the picture he flipped, because he saw himself as James Garner... The Maverick. In my opinion he was one of the great showmen of our day and he had fantastic foresight as to how to sell the Kaiser company. I agree with your appraisal of him as one of the great American pioneers.” — Leonard H. Goldenson, Retired Chairman, American Broadcasting Company “Henry J’s extraordinary life, his relish for work and the results of his dreams are fondly described with a particular warmth that could only be captured by an author who witnessed much of the saga.” — Gene Trefethen, Retired President, Kaiser Industries Corporation

"This book is about a time when millions of Americans put their hearts, minds, and bodies into a clearly recognized goal, defeating the forces of Germany and Japan. The stories of the people who accomplished this are a reminder of the potential of this nation to rise up and meet a challenge. The Second World War is long over [but] once again, vital challenges face us. When they seem overwhelming and when the task seems as though it might be too much for us, we can turn to the example of America's World War II home front and in particular to the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California." - Congressman George Miller

The Story of a Legend &break;&break;Pat Foster's award-winning The Story of Jeep is back - bigger, more colorful, and more complete than ever. With updates on models from 2000 through 2005, Foster's new tribute to "the world's greatest fighting machine" is an essential part of any Jeep lover's library. &break;&break;In this history-packed, full-color second edition, the country's preeminent Jeep writer and historian details Jeep's roller-coaster history, from the early war-time prototypes, to the Kaiser and AMC eras, to the big buyout by Chrysler. &break;&break;With the help of more than 400 photos, Foster expertly tells the tale of how Jeep has evolved from a military workhorse, to 4x4 pioneer, to popular family hauler, all the while retaining its place as a great American icon.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

It was like a marriage made in heaven, the coming together of two great minds to create an all-new car. Henry J Kaiser and Joseph Washington Frazer, strong-willed men of vision, boldly decided to take on America’s Big Three automakers. Hoping to position their Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in the big leagues of auto manufacturers they would launch a radical new car to capture the public’s imagination and produce it in unheard-of quantities. The cars were an immediate hit. Thousands lined up to see and buy the new Kaiser and Frazer cars. In time K-F introduced hardtops, sedans, convertibles, an impressive fiberglass sports car and a line of low-priced compact cars. But competition eventually proved overwhelming and Kaiser-Frazer production ended in the US, though Kaiser cars continued to be built in South America into the 1960s. This new book by veteran auto writer Patrick Foster—America’s spokesman for independent brand cars—tells the full story of Kaiser-Frazer’s struggle to succeed in an industry that killed so many competitors. Heartbreaking yet uplifting, it is an allegory of men and automobiles during perhaps the most exciting era the industry has ever known.

In the first half of the 20th century, Fontana Farms Company operated a hog ranch on the site where Kaiser Company Incorporated later erected one of the nations largest steel mills. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States was forced into an unprecedented escalation in the production of ships, planes, and armaments. Soon the sensational announcement came to San Bernardino County that Fontana, a railroad convergence located a safe distance from possible coastal bombardment, would become home to thousands of sweathogs in the war effort. A gold rush of sorts ensued, and all property south of Valencia Street to the railroad was sold in a week. This book pays tribute to the fact that, for two generations, Kaiser Steel Corporation at Fontana was among Californias and the nations industrial giants.