Continuous Negotiation Over Battle

“Despite the public image he cultivated during World War II, Kaiser certainly did not fit the Progressive model of businessmen fighting against government. Nor was Kaiser out to "capture" government agencies with which he dealt, as New Left history might suggest. Instead, Kaiser learned to compromise with the desires of executive branch officials at the same time he was attempting to influence them through skilled use of the media. The Kaiser story was of neither battle nor capture, but rather a process of continuous negotiation.”

“Although the personalities of the sometimes abrasive Kaiser and usually smooth Roosevelt contrasted, their attitude and organizational temperament did not. Above all, they shared the classic American "can-do" attitude. The can-do president and the can-do entrepreneur shared a boundless optimism and personified the possibilities. And they were both nearly irresistible: few men in Washington have been more convincing in one-on-one situations than Roosevelt and Kaiser.”