Public Pressure as Government Leverage

"If Kaiser did not obtain a particular contract or job, he needed only to inform the press, and the resulting public outcry would take care of the rest.26 In a time of great sacrifice, the public needed an avenue to vent its frustration closer than its overseas enemies. A seemingly sluggish federal government would do nicely. Kaiser was the people's industrialist who would cut the red tape of the "Arsenal of Bureaucracy.""

"Kaiser's enthusiastic cooperation with the media's and the public's insa- Page 8 tiable appetite for American heroes he was, in Morris Udall's phrase, "unavoidable for comment" helped forestall the need to develop an extensive public relations function within his organization."

"it seemed as though Kaiser needed no public relations assistance because of his combination of charisma, conviction, and capability. 23 Reconstruction Finance Corporation head Jesse Jones, aware of Kaiser's gifts of persuasion, told him: "I don't want you to deal with anyone around here but me. You'd talk them out of their watches, and when I'd ask them about it, they'd say, `See, he talked me out of my watch, isn't it wonderful?'""