Auto industry / Politics / Business & brands
Charles Erwin Wilson
1890–1961 · automotive executive, U.S. secretary of defense
General Motors president who ran the company from Detroit through World War II, became Eisenhower's defense secretary, and is buried in suburban Beverly Hills, Michigan.
- Born
Minerva, Ohio- Died
Norwood, Louisiana
aged 71- Also known as
- Engine Charlie
- Detroit years
- 1929–1953, 1957–1961
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Charles E. Wilson, an Ohio-born electrical engineer, joined a General Motors subsidiary, Remy Electric, in 1919 and rose steadily through the company. He moved to GM's Detroit headquarters as a vice president in 1929, became executive vice president in 1939 and president in January 1941, just as GM was turning its plants over to war production of tanks, aircraft engines and guns. After the war he negotiated the landmark 1948 contract with the United Auto Workers, which introduced automatic cost-of-living raises. Nominated as secretary of defense by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, he told senators that he had long believed what was good for the country was good for GM and vice versa, a remark usually misquoted. He served until 1957, then returned to Michigan and to business and family life. He died in Louisiana in 1961 and was buried at Acacia Park Cemetery in Beverly Hills, Michigan.
Highlights
- President of General Motors, 1941–1953
- U.S. secretary of defense, 1953–1957
- Negotiated GM's 1948 cost-of-living contract with the UAW
- Famous confirmation-hearing remark about GM and the country
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1929–1953
Cadillac Place
Albert Kahn's New Center headquarters of GM, where he worked as vice president and president; since 2002 it houses State of Michigan offices as Cadillac Place.
Buried here · 1961
Acacia Park Cemetery
Masonic cemetery in the Detroit suburb of Beverly Hills where he was interred in 1961.