Gerard Swope (December 1, 1872 – November 20, 1957) was an American electronics businessman. He served as the president of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

between 1922 and 1940, and again from 1942 until 1945. During this time Swope expanded GE's product offerings, reorienting GE toward consumer home appliances, and offering consumer credit services.

Biography

Swope was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Ida and Isaac Swope, Jewish immigrants from Germany. He graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1895. He married Mary Dayton Hill. He was the brother of Herbert Bayard Swope, and father of Henrietta Swope and John Swope, the Hollywood and Life Magazine photographer who married actress Dorothy McGuire. He is possibly best known for his

labor relations Labour relations in practice is a subarea within human resource management, and the main components of it include collective bargaining, application and oversight of collective agreement obligations, and dispute resolution. Academically, employe ...

innovations. At General Electric, Swope implemented numerous labor reforms, making conditions better for employees with voluntary unemployment insurance, profit-sharing, and other programs that were considered radical in their day. Swope increased sales and overall efficiency (economics), earning high profits and market share and focused on employee training, retention, and loyalty. Before the passage of the Wagner Act, Swope "had long supported labor legislation." He served as Chairman of The Business Council, then known as the Business Advisory Council, for the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

in 1933.The Business Council, Official website, Background
Swope's other Roosevelt administration roles included member, Industrial Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration (NRA) (1933); member, Bureau of Advertising and Planning of the Department of Commerce (1933); chairman, Coal Advisory Board (1933); member, National Labor Board (1933); member, President's Advisory Council on Economic Security (1934); and member, Advisory Council on Social Security (1937–1938). In 1939, after reaching the GE mandatory retirement age of 67, he became chairman of the New York City Housing Authority, a full-time job. He left that post in 1942 to resume the presidency of G. E. for two years while Charles Edward Wilson served with the War Production Board. At Mr. Wilson's return Mr. Swope was elected honorary president. Swope was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1942, when he was chairman of the committee to Study Budgets of Relief Appeals for Foreign Countries. For his work, he won the Hoover Medal.

Later life

In 1949, Swope made his first visit to Israel at the suggestion of friends who were active in the Palestine Economic Corporation. On the trip, Swope expressed that he would consider moving to a ''

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

'' "if he didn't love New York so much." He was a long-time sponsor of the American Technion Society, which supported Technion University in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on November 20, 1957. In 2005, Forbes Magazine ranked Swope as the 20th most influential businessman of all time.

Swope Plan

In September 1931, Swope presented a proposal for recovery. Under the Swope plan, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

would supervise trade associations established for each industry. Trade associations would cover every company with at least 50 employees after three years. Associations would regulate output and set prices. Workers would receive life insurance, pensions, and unemployment insurance paid for in part by employers. The

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

and other conservative groups provided enthusiastic support. President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

, who strongly supported voluntary trade associations, denounced the plan for being compulsory, inefficient, and monopolistic. In an oral history interview, Leon H. Keyserling said the New Deal's National Industrial Recovery Act "started as a trade association act. The original draft of the act grew out of the so-called Gerard Swope plan for Recovery." When asked in November 1933 about an updated Swope Plan, President Roosevelt said, "Mr. Swope's plan is a very interesting theoretical suggestion in regard to some ultimate development of N.R.A."

Honors

* Hoover Medal, 1942 * Legion of Honor (France) * Order of the Rising Sun (Japan) * Honorary doctorates from Rutgers, Union, Colgate,

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

, Washington University in St. Louis,Book Rags, Gerard Swope Biography and Haifa Institute of Technology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swope, Gerard 1872 births 1957 deaths Businesspeople from St. Louis American people of German-Jewish descent Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni American manufacturing businesspeople American Zionists