Background
Girdler was born on May 19, 1877 in Silver Creek Township, Indiana, the son of Lewis Girdler, manager of the family cement mill, and Elizabeth T. Mercer.
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Tom Mercer Girdler
Edit ProfileEducation
After an education in one-room country schools, Girdler attended Manual Training High School, Louisville, Kentucky (1893-1897) and earned a mechanical engineering degree at Lehigh University (1897-1901).
Career
After one year in England as sales engineer for the Buffalo Forge Company, Girdler began his fifty-four-year career in the American steel industry. His first jobs were minor managerial posts with the Oliver Iron and Steel Company of Pittsburgh (1902-1905) and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company at Pueblo, Colorado (1905-1907). In 1907 Girdler became rolling mill superintendent of the Atlantic Steel Company of Atlanta and from 1908 until 1914 was general manager of the firm. The next fifteen years he spent with Jones and Laughlin Steel of Pittsburgh, becoming general superintendent of its Aliquippa works in 1920, general manager of the company in 1924, a director and vice-president in charge of operations in 1926, and president in 1928. Joining forces with Cleveland financier Cyrus Eaton in 1929, he helped to organize the Republic Steel Corporation, becoming chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1930. This depression-born firm, smaller only than United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel, lost more than $31 million by 1935. Under Girdler's leadership it became a major producer of light alloys, and between 1936 and 1943 realized profits in excess of $87 million. Initially an enthusiast for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which encouraged businessmen to work together to restrict output and to maintain prices, Girdler broke with Roosevelt over New Deal labor policy. To comply with the NIRA's requirement that employers bargain collectively with their employees, Republic (and many other firms) set up employee representation plans. Enactment of the Wagner Act (1935) angered Girdler because it outlawed such organizations and promoted regular unions, especially the Committee for Industrial Organizations (CIO). The early successes of the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee (SWOC) - a CIO affiliate that became the United Steel Workers of America in 1942 - soon produced a confrontation. U. S. Steel had surrendered to SWOC without a fight in March 1937. Jones and Laughlin, following a thirty-six-hour strike at the Aliquippa plant, capitulated in mid-May. Republic and other independents held out, arguing that their employees did not want to join the union. Girdler's firm stance contributed to his election on May 27, 1937, to a two-year term as president of the American Iron and Steel Institute. Three days later the "Memorial Day Massacre" occurred outside the gates of Republic's South Chicago works. In December 1941, Girdler, still in charge at Republic, became chairman of the board and chief executive officer of two aircraft corporations, Vultee and Consolidated. Under his direction these companies, which merged in 1943, adapted assembly-line techniques to the mass production of airplanes. Two of their products, the PBY Flying Boat and the B-24 Liberator bomber, contributed significantly to victory in World War II. After the war, Girdler directed expansion at Republic Steel, building new facilities and swelling payrolls to 70, 000 employees. When he retired in 1956, Republic's most profitable year, he took up the breeding and racing of horses. He died at Easton, Maryland on February 4, 1965.
Achievements
Personality
Throughout his career Girdler gloried in power, in being "boss. " Once he reached the top, Girdler delegated full authority to trusted assistants, held them entirely responsible, then "left them alone to do their job. " Forced by law to deal with labor unions, Girdler was not happy.
Connections
On November 4, 1903, Girdler married Mary Elizabeth Hayes; they had four children. Following the death of his first wife in 1917, Girdler entered into a brief second marriage with Clara Astley on August 5, 1918. She divorced him on March 26, 1924. On April 26 that same year, Girdler married Lillian Compton Snowden. On November 28, 1942, Girdler's third wife divorced him. Five days later (December 2, 1942), he married his secretary, Helen R. Brennan.
References
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Born
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Died
February 4, 1965 (aged 87) -
Nationality
American