How Gephardt Brokered Ford Management Change
Sep 8, 2006
How Dick Gephardt convinced Boeing's Mulally to take Ford's top job.
Newsweek
Web Exclusive
September 8, 2006
By Keith Naughton
In mid-July, Boeing executive Alan Mulally received an unexpected phone call from someone who had recently become a trusted adviser: former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt. The career pol asked the career Boeing man: would you be interested in running Ford Motor Co.? Mulally was shocked and more than slightly skeptical. He is, after all, no car guy. Mulally spent 37 years at Boeing, rising to the top of its commercial airline division. Besides, Bill Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry, already held the CEO job at the automaker, which was still firmly controlled by its founding family. But Gephardt—who'd also recently become a confidant of Bill Ford—insisted. "This is not just about you or Ford, it's about the country" Gephardt told Mulally. "It won't hurt you to go talk to them."
So began a whirlwind courtship that culminated Sept. 5 with Mulally and Bill Ford walking onto a stage in Dearborn, Mich., to announce that the fly guy was to become Ford's new driver. That dramatic handover never would have happened if Gephardt hadn't played matchmaker, a role he described publicly for the first time in an interview with NEWSWEEK. It is the story of how a labor-friendly politician grew close enough to two of America's top manufacturing executives to convince them of just how much they needed each other. "Having worked so much with Alan, I felt confident he was the kind of person Ford needed," says Gephardt. "I described in detail to Bill Ford what Alan did at Boeing."