Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century
THE 20th CENTURY ZEITGEIST
Six contextual factors deeply influenced the opportunities available to 20th century business leaders:
the 20th Century Zeitgeist
8.8 million immigrants arrive throughout decade
Cities expand
Population grows from 76 to 92 million
Rural Free Delivery routes added
Anti-immigration sentiment peaks during WWI
Great Migration begins as African-Americans relocate from rural South to northern cities
Population of urban centers overtakes that of rural communities
Tight immigration restrictions
Increase in divorce rates
Westward migration of midwestern farmers and laborers for employment and better climate
Massive dust storms uproot millions
Smallest ten-year increase in population: 123-132 million
Baby boom begins
Suburbs start to form
Medical advances extend life expectancy
More people now live in suburbs than cities
Population soars to 179 million
largest ten-year increase
Baby boom tapers off
Emigration from Asia and Latin America surges
Urban blight
Rust Belt
Population migrates to West and Southwest
Immigration tops 9 million (largest number since first decade)
Baby boomers age
Hispanics become fastest-growing minority
Population grows from 250 million to 281 million
Model T
Plastic
Safety razor
Widespread use of steam engine, electricity, and openhearth furnace allows businesses to expand nationwide
First widespread use of auto assembly line
Self-starter increases popularity of automobile
KDKA, first radio station
First talking movie,
Advances in aviation
Nylon
Fiberglass
Instant photography
Air-conditioning begins to realize commercial potential
Planes and ships built in less than a day for the war effort
Atomic bomb
ENIAC computer
Penicillin used extensively to treat soldiers' infections
Synthetic rubberx
Television sales expand dramatically
Transistors used in portable radios and calculators
Man walks on the moon
Color TV market grows
Microchips expand possibilities in electronics industry
Integrated circuit boards replace transistor technology
First ATM installed
Beginning of biotech industry
Fiber-optic wire
Pong (first video game)
UPC bar code
Supercomputer
Software industry booms
PC use expands in scale and scope
CAD/CAM revolutionizes manufacturing
Space shuttle
Boom in connectivity
Cloning, stem cell research
DVDs
Progressivism
The Jungle sparks food and work safety movement
Sedition Act
Prohibition begins
Red Scare
Race riots
Social divisions arise between rural and urban areas
Women's suffrage
Harlem Renaissance
Rampant bootlegging and organized crime
Escapism in radio serials
Prohibition repealed
Golden age of movies
Patriotism soars
GI Bill
Social conformity
McCarthyism
Membership in organized religion soars
Brown v. Board of Education desegregated public schools>
Civil rights movement gain strength
Antiwar sentiment divides electorate
FDA approves oral contraceptive pill
National Organization for Women mobilizes for Equal Rights Amendment
Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion
Social discord continues over Vietnam War and civil rights
Watergate scandal undermines faith in authority
Moral Majority
"Me" generation
Focus on training and fitness
Income gap widens dramatically
AIDS
Internet "irrational exuberance"
Antigovernment sentiment: Waco standoff; Oklahoma City bombing
First significant enforcement of Sherman Antitrust Act
Pure Food and Drug Act; breakup of beef trust
Excise Tax imposed on corporations
Tariff Act forces corporations to open their books for government inspection
Breakup of Standard Oil and American Tobacco
Clayton Antitrust Act
Federal Reserve Act
First Federal-Aid Highway Act
Federal Trade Commission established
Personal income tax reinstituted
U.S. Steel and Alcoa withstand antitrust accusations
Personal and corporate tax rates cut
Airmail service starts
The New Deal
Commercial and investment banking separated
Reconstruction Finance Corp. created to combat bank and business failures
Introduction of Federal Deposit Insurance
SEC established
Federal regulations prohibit false advertising
Military spending explodes
Graduated income tax, Victory Tax adopted to fund war effort
Rationing
Military spending shifts to nuclear deterrents
Small Business Administration created
Great Society
Consumer and environmental protection movements strengthen
Vehicle Safety Act and Highway Safety Act
Closing merger loophole opens door for conglomerate business model
Deregulation of oil and airline industries
New energy policies and programs
Stagflation cripples economy
Environmental protection weakened
Price controls
Reaganomics
Heavy defense and deficit spending
Savings and Loan bailout
Chrysler bailout
Breakup of AT&T
Family and Medical Leave Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
Welfare reform
Antitrust action initiated against Microsoft
Fewer than 500,000 union members
Department of Commerce and Labor created
Ford doubles factory wages and shortens workday
Labor Secretary position created
Worker shortage: Unions double membership and increase wages
Union membership declines sharply
Minimum wage and maximum working hour legislation overturned
Unemployment peaks at 25%
Unions surge, adding 7 million members in a single year
Sit-down strikes at GM and other auto makers
Government work programs launched: CCC, PWA, WPA
CIO union created
NLRB created
Fair Labor Standards Act sets minimum wage
Rosie the Riveter
Postwar strikes
Productivity surge
Government backlash against postwar union movement
The Organization Man
Union membership peaks
The AFL merges with the CIO: 15 million members
Factory automation slashes jobs
Service industry outpaces growth in manufacturing
Civil Rights Act
Equal Pay Act
Unions concentrated in big businesses
Formation of United Farm Workers union
Wage controls
OSHA created
Service economy expands
Women enter the workforce in large numbers
Air traffic controllers' union dismantled
Union representation drops
Information technology redistributes job functions
Reengineering
Record high employment
Service sector outpaces manufacturing in new job creation
U.S. begins construction of Panama Canal
War Industries Board coordinates activities among labor, government, and business for WWI
Cost-plus contracts introduced
Protectionist tariffs reduced
Isolationism
U.S. restores high tariffs
U.S. pushes for debt recovery
Allied nations seek war reparations from Axis powers
Increased tariff protection through Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
Continued isolationism
War Production Board readies nation for WWII
U.S. becomes a global power
Creation of IMF and World Bank
Marshall Plan
Cold war begins
Cold war escalates
Korean War forces another mobilization effort
Cold war continues to build
Bay of Pigs invasion; Cuban Missile Crisis
Vietnam War escalates
OPEC oil crisis
Vietnam War ends
Iran hostage crisis
Imports outpace exports
Berlin wall falls
End of cold war
Iran-Contra Affair
USSR dismantled; ethnic conflicts exposed
Gulf War: real-time TV coverage
Asian financial crisis
NAFTA enacted
European Union forms