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(train whistle blowing)

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‐ When I was a boy, my
father gave me some advice.

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He said, "Son, a machine is
only as good as you build it.

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"But if you really
love what you're doing,

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"then you can make
something spectacular."

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‐ Well, isn't that something?

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(rhythmic industrial music)

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‐ [Narrator] At the dawn
of the 20th century,

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a new generation
of titan emerges.

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‐ This is my father, Henry Ford.

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‐ To Pierre du Pont!
(all cheering)

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‐ Boeing is the
future of aviation.

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‐ Mr. Morgan, what's happening?

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‐ [Man] We're in the
age of the machine.

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‐ When people leave my
bank after they get a loan,

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they feel like they've
got free money.

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But in reality, they're
gonna pay me every month

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for the rest of their
life, with interest.

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‐ [Narrator] They'll compete
to conquer new industries.

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‐ Well, you've dominated
the car market,

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so why are you building the
tallest building in the world?

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‐ 77 floors.

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It's absolutely exceptional.

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‐ So we can look down on GM.

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‐ I'm gonna build.

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‐ Top floor will be 800 feet
up, same height as Chrysler's.

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‐ Make it taller and I'm in.

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‐ [Narrator] As they
amass huge fortunes‐

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‐ Can you account for the fact

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that house of Morgan has
paid no taxes for years?

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‐ [Narrator] They'll become
targets of the government.

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‐ You are quite simply a war
profiteer, a merchant of death.

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‐ [Narrator] Until a new
threat changes everything.

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‐ If there was a war,
no country in Europe

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would stand a chance
against Germany,

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and neither would America.

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‐ [Man] What's going on?

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‐ There's been an
attack in Hawaii.

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‐ [Narrator] Now,
the titans must put

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their differences
aside and unite‐

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‐ Ford makes cars, not planes.

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‐ Nobody else can produce
the scale that we need

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in the time we need it.

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‐ [Narrator] To defeat
the greatest evil

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the world has ever seen.

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‐ You're asking me to start
producing munitions again.

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‐ The president
is asking as well.

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(bombs exploding)

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‐ The same president who
labeled me a merchant of death?

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‐ All right, let's go.

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‐ America is waiting.

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(rising reverent
orchestral music)

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‐ This is gonna put us
at the head of the table.

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‐ Let's do this.

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(explosion booming)

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‐ I'll do it, but we're
doing this to win.

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(reverent orchestral music)

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(cork popping)

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(light big band music)

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‐ [Narrator] It's the end
of the First World War.

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The brutal fighting
lasted four years

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and claimed over
20 million lives.

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It also created a new titan.

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‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
gather round!

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If I could have a moment
of your time, please,

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a very brief moment,

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for a man who really
needs no introduction.

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If we could all raise our
glasses to Pierre du Pont!

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(guests cheering)

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‐ du Pont!
‐ du Pont!

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(ominous orchestral music)

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‐ [Narrator] Pierre du Pont,

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the largest supplier of
explosives in World War I.

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(soft upbeat music)
(birds chirping)

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Pierre du Pont's childhood
is anything but normal.

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In 1801, his family came
to America with nothing

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but soon built up a
thriving business.

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Gunpowder.

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They made their first
fortune in the Civil War,

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selling to the Union Army.

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‐ No, no, the sulfuric acid.

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That one.

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Yes, yes.

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‐ [Narrator] His father is a
brilliant chemist and inventor.

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Now, he's working to
refine a brand new product:

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dynamite.

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(flames crackling)

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‐ Du Pont idolizes his father.

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His father is his hero.

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He was, at an early age,

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almost like his
father's apprentice.

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‐ Now, these elements are
important to pay attention to.

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Hold that.

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Three drops in here.

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On top of the sulfuric acid.

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And from there...

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From there, I'm going
to need my watch.

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(pounding percussion music)

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(watch ticking)

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(explosion booming)

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(Pierre panting)
(somber piano music)

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‐ [Narrator] du Pont is only 14

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when his father dies
in an explosion.

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And to make matters worse,

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du Pont's uncles use
the opportunity

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to steal the company.

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‐ After the death of his father,

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Pierre's uncles cut him
out of his birthright.

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It's a betrayal of
the highest order,

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and he will have his revenge.

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So, Pierre goes to
MIT, earns a degree,

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and becomes a chemist
just like his father.

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And he waits patiently,
biding his time.

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He watches from the sidelines

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as his uncles run the
company into the ground.

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He's then able to swoop in,

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purchase the company for
pennies on the dollar,

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and wrest control,
reestablishing his birthright.

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This is an indication
of just how shrewd

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and ruthless Pierre
du Pont had become.

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‐ [Narrator] Over
the next two decades,

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du Pont methodically buys out
or forces out his competition

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until he has a monopoly
in the munitions industry

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just as World War I breaks out.

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(explosion booming)

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‐ World War I was a war
like no one had seen before.

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It mobilized the most
advanced societies in Europe

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and it mobilized their
industrial capability.

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(gun firing)

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It was the first war to
use mechanized machinery

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on a wide scale.
(gun firing)

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(explosion booming)

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‐ [Narrator] Fueling
the bullets and shells

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is du Pont's gunpowder.

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(glass clinking)

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‐ Du Pont, during World War I,

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it was a mutually
beneficial relationship

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at the end of the day.

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He saw a need,

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there was certainly a
great deal of demand,

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and he had the
opportunity to supply it.

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‐ Cheers.

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‐ [Narrator] During the war,

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du Pont's business
grows more than 1,000%.

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But now, the empire he's
built is suddenly obsolete.

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‐ Will you please excuse me?

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I have to go.

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Enjoy your‐

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No, it's a pleasure.

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(somber orchestral music)

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‐ So, du Pont, at the
end of World War I,

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is astride this colossus

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that has succeeded
tremendously in the war,

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and the war is over and the
need for his product is gone.

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He can shut his company down

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and say, "We don't need
any more munitions,"

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or adapt and innovate.

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‐ [Narrator] Du Pont needs
to rethink his entire empire.

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‐ In every crisis,
you wanna be able

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to be agile and resilient
to keep you fighting,

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to keep on realizing that you're
gonna have to make changes.

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From change,
there's opportunity.

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‐ [Narrator] Du Pont
realizes he can capitalize

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on a new mood in America

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as the country emerges from
two crises: a global war

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and a devastating pandemic.

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It will take over
50 million lives.

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‐ The influenza pandemic
was far more deadly

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than anything we have
seen in our lifetimes.

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But at the end, many
people would question,

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"Why shouldn't we live life
now and enjoy it while we can?"

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(people cheering)

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‐ [Narrator] For the
first time in years,

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Americans can finally
think about the future.

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‐ [John] We've purchased
about 25 barrels of stock.

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‐ [Narrator] Du Pont's
right‐hand man, John Raskob,

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reports on the one
part of the company

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that's actually growing:

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a small division spun
off from explosives

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that produces
paints and lacquers.

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‐ [John] We're seeing an
increase in demand for

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pyrroline.

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‐ [Pierre] How much
are we selling?

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‐ 10 tons last year, but this
year it could be double, sir.

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‐ [Narrator] A
synthetic compound,

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pyrroline is tough
and looks like ivory,

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perfect for car dashboards.

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‐ 20 tons.

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For cars.

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‐ Yes sir.

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(pensive orchestral music)

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‐ We should be able to show you

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more products using
a nitrous base.

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They should be ready
on your next visit.

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10 tons last year, but this
year it could be double.

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00:12:08,499 --> 00:12:11,001
(car engine cranking)

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00:12:11,126 --> 00:12:12,962
‐ [Pierre] 20 tons.

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00:12:14,255 --> 00:12:15,089
For cars.

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00:12:21,220 --> 00:12:22,721
‐ One of the remarkable
things that happened

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during this period
is du Pont notices

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that he's all of a sudden
selling a lot of lacquer,

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selling a lot of fabric.

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00:12:31,981 --> 00:12:33,899
You know who he's selling it to?

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00:12:34,024 --> 00:12:35,234
Car companies.

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00:12:36,527 --> 00:12:40,197
And so he says to himself,
"I should own a car company."

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‐ [Narrator] Du Pont has
spent his entire life

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in the family
business of munitions.

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Now, he's gonna put
all of that behind him

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and go all‐in on cars.

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00:12:58,757 --> 00:13:01,010
‐ [Narrator] There's
only one problem.

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00:13:01,093 --> 00:13:04,555
The auto industry is already
dominated by another titan.

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00:13:05,973 --> 00:13:09,393
(soft orchestral music)

213
00:13:10,561 --> 00:13:11,312
Henry Ford.

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He's transformed the
lives of millions

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00:13:15,607 --> 00:13:17,234
with his affordable automobile.

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00:13:18,944 --> 00:13:20,904
‐ Henry Ford really
wanted to be seen

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00:13:21,030 --> 00:13:22,323
as a man of the people.

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00:13:22,448 --> 00:13:26,243
After all, he made his
fortune on the Model T,

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00:13:26,368 --> 00:13:29,163
which he marketed as
the "people's car."

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00:13:30,456 --> 00:13:34,460
The fact of the matter is
Henry Ford was a revolutionary.

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‐ [Narrator] Born
on a farm in 1863,

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00:13:40,716 --> 00:13:43,010
Ford grew up at a time when cars

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00:13:43,093 --> 00:13:45,929
were nothing more than
motorized buggies,

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expensive and impractical.

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He thought he could do better.

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00:13:54,688 --> 00:13:57,566
‐ Ford always thought in
the sense of consumerism,

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how one could sell a
vehicle at its cheapest.

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00:14:02,404 --> 00:14:04,198
You know, and sometimes
populists in politics

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00:14:04,323 --> 00:14:06,575
talked about a chicken
in every pot.

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00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:10,329
Henry Ford wanted a
car in every driveway.

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00:14:11,455 --> 00:14:14,333
‐ [Narrator] So, Ford
rethought how cars were made.

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00:14:16,001 --> 00:14:17,252
‐ Ford had a gut feeling

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00:14:17,336 --> 00:14:20,839
that if he could drop the
price of a Model T low enough,

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00:14:20,964 --> 00:14:22,758
he could sell millions of them.

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00:14:23,926 --> 00:14:26,970
‐ So, how do you produce an
automobile, thousands a day?

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00:14:27,054 --> 00:14:29,890
You have to dream the
factory that can do it

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00:14:30,015 --> 00:14:31,600
with an integrated assembly line

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00:14:31,725 --> 00:14:35,771
that could spit one out one
after the other, exactly alike.

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00:14:37,022 --> 00:14:39,066
Nothing like this
had ever been done.

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‐ [Narrator] By 1918,
half of all cars

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00:14:45,697 --> 00:14:47,491
in America are Model Ts

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00:14:48,617 --> 00:14:52,162
and Ford is one of the
richest people in the world.

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00:15:02,548 --> 00:15:03,424
‐ Thank you, Clive.

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00:15:03,549 --> 00:15:05,259
‐ [Narrator] Now,
just a few miles

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00:15:05,384 --> 00:15:07,219
from the farm where he grew up,

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00:15:07,344 --> 00:15:10,055
Ford's building
something revolutionary.

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00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:12,141
‐ [Henry] Morning, Harry.

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00:15:12,224 --> 00:15:13,225
How's your wife?

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00:15:13,350 --> 00:15:14,685
‐ Much better, thank you, sir.

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00:15:14,768 --> 00:15:16,728
‐ [Henry] Good to hear.

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00:15:18,021 --> 00:15:21,567
(rising suspenseful music)

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00:15:23,026 --> 00:15:26,613
‐ [Narrator] The biggest
auto plant in the world,

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00:15:26,697 --> 00:15:27,698
River Rouge.

254
00:15:30,534 --> 00:15:34,037
It has its own blast furnaces
to make his own steel,

255
00:15:35,372 --> 00:15:39,084
the world's largest forge
to mold metal parts.

256
00:15:48,886 --> 00:15:51,054
‐ It used to be that if
you were gonna build a car,

257
00:15:51,180 --> 00:15:52,222
build an anything,

258
00:15:52,347 --> 00:15:55,017
you would buy a piece
from the widget‐maker,

259
00:15:55,142 --> 00:15:58,103
you might have to get
some fuel from over here,

260
00:15:58,187 --> 00:16:00,481
the glass is gonna
come from here.

261
00:16:02,024 --> 00:16:04,485
He decided, "I'm gonna
do it all myself.

262
00:16:05,235 --> 00:16:06,778
"I'm gonna have wood brought in,

263
00:16:06,862 --> 00:16:08,155
"I'm gonna have
metal brought in.

264
00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,616
"I'm gonna put it
on an assembly line.

265
00:16:10,699 --> 00:16:15,746
"But I'm gonna own all of
it from beginning to end."

266
00:16:18,081 --> 00:16:19,458
‐ Vertical integration
is important

267
00:16:19,541 --> 00:16:21,752
'cause you control the pricing,

268
00:16:21,877 --> 00:16:23,879
you control when it's delivered,

269
00:16:24,004 --> 00:16:26,089
and you actually make more money

270
00:16:26,215 --> 00:16:28,175
because nobody else
can get it your way

271
00:16:28,300 --> 00:16:29,927
and you can maximize your time

272
00:16:30,052 --> 00:16:32,387
and over‐deliver
on your promises.

273
00:16:40,562 --> 00:16:43,357
‐ [Narrator] Ford isn't just
reinventing his factories,

274
00:16:44,358 --> 00:16:46,777
he's reimagining
the workplace too.

275
00:16:50,197 --> 00:16:52,658
‐ Henry Ford paid
people $5 a day,

276
00:16:52,741 --> 00:16:55,661
which was considered a
revolution at that time.

277
00:16:55,744 --> 00:16:58,747
He gave equal rights
to African‐Americans.

278
00:16:58,872 --> 00:17:00,791
He gave them equal wages.

279
00:17:01,542 --> 00:17:03,168
‐ How we doing?

280
00:17:04,211 --> 00:17:06,505
‐ He was a very
paternalistic figure.

281
00:17:06,630 --> 00:17:07,422
‐ How's it doing?

282
00:17:07,548 --> 00:17:09,508
‐ Here was a man who
not just employed

283
00:17:09,633 --> 00:17:11,134
a tremendous number of people,

284
00:17:11,218 --> 00:17:12,719
but he made sure all these
people had healthcare.

285
00:17:12,803 --> 00:17:15,180
He built a hospital
just for his workers.

286
00:17:15,305 --> 00:17:17,182
These things had
never been done.

287
00:17:19,309 --> 00:17:22,980
‐ He had a philosophy
of life that he created

288
00:17:23,063 --> 00:17:27,693
that was at times inspirational
and often troublesome.

289
00:17:29,695 --> 00:17:33,073
‐ Henry Ford was a great
man, but not a good man,

290
00:17:33,198 --> 00:17:36,577
and he was really a
devout antisemite.

291
00:17:37,536 --> 00:17:40,956
So, we can never mistake
greatness in business

292
00:17:41,039 --> 00:17:43,333
for being a great person.

293
00:17:50,507 --> 00:17:52,509
‐ [Narrator] When River
Rouge fully opens,

294
00:17:52,634 --> 00:17:56,263
it will be the largest
factory complex on Earth.

295
00:17:57,222 --> 00:18:00,225
Who could possibly
take on Henry Ford now?

296
00:18:04,438 --> 00:18:06,440
Only one man would dare.

297
00:18:09,651 --> 00:18:11,612
‐ I think a lot of
titans of industry

298
00:18:11,695 --> 00:18:14,406
wanna create new
mountains to climb,

299
00:18:14,531 --> 00:18:15,532
'cause it's all about winning.

300
00:18:15,657 --> 00:18:17,618
It's about, "I'm smarter
than the next guy.

301
00:18:17,701 --> 00:18:20,370
"I can do it better,
and why not me?"

302
00:18:21,872 --> 00:18:24,166
‐ [Narrator] Du Pont
risks his own fortune

303
00:18:24,291 --> 00:18:25,751
to buy a car company,

304
00:18:28,378 --> 00:18:32,257
a company he believes
will one day rival Ford.

305
00:18:32,382 --> 00:18:35,886
(dramatic music)

306
00:18:47,189 --> 00:18:48,899
(dramatic music)

307
00:18:54,905 --> 00:18:58,158
‐ [Narrator] Pierre du Pont has
just spent $50 million

308
00:18:58,283 --> 00:19:01,411
to buy a large stake
in General Motors,

309
00:19:02,663 --> 00:19:06,249
risking everything to try
to take on Henry Ford.

310
00:19:08,001 --> 00:19:10,879
‐ It's important to remember
that really what drives du Pont

311
00:19:11,004 --> 00:19:14,508
is a need to control,
a need to be in charge.

312
00:19:14,591 --> 00:19:17,219
He sets his sights
initially on General Motors,

313
00:19:17,344 --> 00:19:18,428
but one gets the impression

314
00:19:18,553 --> 00:19:20,138
that he ultimately
wanted to dominate

315
00:19:20,222 --> 00:19:22,307
the entire automobile industry.

316
00:19:22,933 --> 00:19:25,977
(work bell ringing)

317
00:19:27,229 --> 00:19:28,647
‐ [Narrator] In 1919,

318
00:19:28,730 --> 00:19:31,316
General Motors is a
badly‐run collection

319
00:19:31,441 --> 00:19:33,443
of five car companies:

320
00:19:33,527 --> 00:19:38,699
Chevrolet, Oldsmobile,
Oakland, Cadillac, and Buick.

321
00:19:43,036 --> 00:19:44,371
‐ General Motors Corporation

322
00:19:44,496 --> 00:19:48,333
was sort of a conglomerate
mess of various companies

323
00:19:48,458 --> 00:19:51,378
that had been
sort of put together.

324
00:19:51,503 --> 00:19:53,714
There were divisions
and operations

325
00:19:53,839 --> 00:19:58,009
and plants and personalities
competing with each other.

326
00:19:58,051 --> 00:20:00,011
It was not making any money.

327
00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:06,601
‐ [Narrator] GM was
founded by William Durant,

328
00:20:06,727 --> 00:20:10,313
a degenerate gambler
addicted to the stock market.

329
00:20:11,231 --> 00:20:13,650
(phone ringing)

330
00:20:13,775 --> 00:20:15,444
‐ You said they were going up.

331
00:20:17,362 --> 00:20:18,447
How much have I lost?

332
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:21,450
Buy 10,000.

333
00:20:22,534 --> 00:20:24,494
I told you, I can
pay you next week.

334
00:20:27,122 --> 00:20:28,248
‐ [Narrator] Losing millions,

335
00:20:28,373 --> 00:20:33,545
Durant is forced to sell shares
in GM to cover his losses.

336
00:20:34,045 --> 00:20:36,757
(phone ringing)

337
00:20:40,510 --> 00:20:41,803
‐ You're basically working

338
00:20:41,887 --> 00:20:44,514
with some of the best craftsmen
that we have in the States.

339
00:20:44,639 --> 00:20:49,019
‐ General Motors was struggling,
but it had real potential.

340
00:20:49,144 --> 00:20:52,564
Pierre du Pont saw this
as a real opportunity

341
00:20:52,689 --> 00:20:54,566
to take on Henry Ford.

342
00:20:54,691 --> 00:20:58,153
(rising orchestral music)

343
00:21:06,828 --> 00:21:08,705
‐ Du Pont gambles
on General Motors

344
00:21:11,583 --> 00:21:14,503
in the hopes that he can take
what Durant has mismanaged

345
00:21:14,628 --> 00:21:16,838
and turn it into a
model of efficiency,

346
00:21:16,922 --> 00:21:19,591
similar to what DuPont
Corporation was.

347
00:21:23,261 --> 00:21:25,847
(wrench clicking)

348
00:21:25,931 --> 00:21:27,682
‐ [Walter] All right, try it.

349
00:21:31,061 --> 00:21:33,647
(engine cranking)

350
00:21:33,730 --> 00:21:35,899
‐ [Narrator] Out of
GM's five companies,

351
00:21:36,024 --> 00:21:39,653
the only one that's really
successful is Buick,

352
00:21:39,778 --> 00:21:42,823
responsible for half the profit,

353
00:21:42,864 --> 00:21:45,325
and it's because of one man.

354
00:21:45,408 --> 00:21:47,577
(car backfiring)
‐ No, no, turn it off!

355
00:21:54,543 --> 00:21:55,585
It's not right.

356
00:21:56,419 --> 00:21:57,879
‐ [Narrator] Walter Chrysler.

357
00:22:02,425 --> 00:22:05,512
(wrench clicking)

358
00:22:08,431 --> 00:22:09,850
‐ I think it's the timing.

359
00:22:09,933 --> 00:22:12,269
‐ [Narrator] Du Pont
knows that Chrysler

360
00:22:12,352 --> 00:22:15,313
is the key to taking
on Henry Ford.

361
00:22:15,438 --> 00:22:18,525
‐ Walter Chrysler was
a mechanical genius.

362
00:22:18,650 --> 00:22:21,152
At Buick, Chrysler reorganized

363
00:22:21,278 --> 00:22:23,530
the entire layout of the factory

364
00:22:23,655 --> 00:22:25,907
and the way work was organized.

365
00:22:29,870 --> 00:22:30,912
‐ [Man] Cleaned all
the lines last night.

366
00:22:31,037 --> 00:22:32,497
‐ You sure; you
double‐checked 'em?

367
00:22:32,581 --> 00:22:33,748
‐ I watched them do it.

368
00:22:33,874 --> 00:22:35,709
‐ Chrysler never
lacked confidence,

369
00:22:35,834 --> 00:22:38,545
and sometimes he came
across as a bit arrogant.

370
00:22:38,628 --> 00:22:40,338
‐ And the coils
and the cylinders?

371
00:22:40,463 --> 00:22:42,173
‐ [Man] Everything
got looked at.

372
00:22:44,551 --> 00:22:47,012
(train whistle blowing)

373
00:22:47,095 --> 00:22:50,724
‐ [Narrator] The son of
a locomotive engineer,

374
00:22:50,849 --> 00:22:53,602
Chrysler grew up
in Ellis, Kansas,

375
00:22:53,685 --> 00:22:56,062
a tough railroad boom‐town.

376
00:22:58,690 --> 00:23:01,526
The only way to survive
was to be part of a gang.

377
00:23:04,529 --> 00:23:07,282
(boys scuffling)

378
00:23:10,493 --> 00:23:12,829
(groaning)

379
00:23:34,059 --> 00:23:36,353
The Chrysler family
didn't have much money,

380
00:23:36,478 --> 00:23:40,231
but young Walter figured out
a way to make what he wanted,

381
00:23:40,357 --> 00:23:41,816
including his own tools.

382
00:23:49,574 --> 00:23:52,535
‐ His father wanted
him to go to college,

383
00:23:52,661 --> 00:23:56,706
but Walter wanted to
become a railroad mechanic.

384
00:23:58,917 --> 00:24:02,379
I think Chrysler did
really want to understand,

385
00:24:03,546 --> 00:24:06,132
in a hands‐on way,
how things worked.

386
00:24:11,554 --> 00:24:12,847
‐ Try it now.

387
00:24:13,556 --> 00:24:16,643
(engine cranking)

388
00:24:22,023 --> 00:24:24,734
(clock chiming)

389
00:24:25,860 --> 00:24:28,822
‐ [Narrator] Du Pont summons
the five company heads

390
00:24:28,947 --> 00:24:32,158
to plot his opening
move against Ford.

391
00:24:33,326 --> 00:24:36,413
But really, there's only
one man he cares about.

392
00:24:42,711 --> 00:24:44,087
‐ Where is he?

393
00:24:44,963 --> 00:24:46,464
‐ He's supposed to be here.

394
00:24:49,676 --> 00:24:52,345
(water pouring)

395
00:25:06,568 --> 00:25:07,944
I'll go and get him.

396
00:25:10,113 --> 00:25:14,826
(rising suspenseful
orchestral music)

397
00:25:29,257 --> 00:25:30,425
Is he in there?

398
00:25:30,550 --> 00:25:31,718
He's supposed to
be at the meeting.

399
00:25:31,843 --> 00:25:33,720
‐ Yes sir.
‐ Mr. du Pont is waiting.

400
00:25:33,845 --> 00:25:34,888
‐ [Man] Okay.

401
00:25:40,226 --> 00:25:43,271
It's du Pont.
‐ Same ol' story, huh?

402
00:25:46,107 --> 00:25:48,276
‐ [Man] Sir, he's
not gonna make it.

403
00:25:50,612 --> 00:25:51,654
‐ [Man] Shouldn't be an issue

404
00:25:51,780 --> 00:25:53,239
as long as we make
sure we're prepared.

405
00:25:59,662 --> 00:26:00,997
‐ He says he's busy.

406
00:26:02,332 --> 00:26:05,043
(clock ticking)

407
00:26:13,218 --> 00:26:15,220
‐ When the goals
of the organization

408
00:26:15,345 --> 00:26:18,014
and the goals of the people
who work there are in sync,

409
00:26:18,139 --> 00:26:19,516
that's when the magic happens.

410
00:26:19,641 --> 00:26:23,311
That's when a company is
just firing on all cylinders.

411
00:26:24,979 --> 00:26:27,816
And if they're not,
you're gonna be upset.

412
00:26:27,899 --> 00:26:29,567
You're gonna be pissed off.

413
00:26:29,692 --> 00:26:32,779
(work bell ringing)

414
00:26:40,495 --> 00:26:43,331
‐ [Narrator] If du Pont
can't control Chrysler,

415
00:26:43,414 --> 00:26:46,376
how can he hope to
topple Henry Ford,

416
00:26:46,501 --> 00:26:49,337
who continues to grow
more powerful by the day,

417
00:26:50,505 --> 00:26:55,009
now selling a million
Model Ts in just one year.

418
00:26:55,093 --> 00:26:57,095
‐ When you're at that level

419
00:26:57,178 --> 00:26:58,972
and you've had all
of that success

420
00:26:59,055 --> 00:27:00,932
and you have all of this money,

421
00:27:02,433 --> 00:27:05,728
there's a mindset that
you're almost invincible.

422
00:27:05,812 --> 00:27:07,814
You're almost your
own nation‐state.

423
00:27:09,691 --> 00:27:11,025
‐ [Narrator] Henry
Ford's success

424
00:27:11,151 --> 00:27:14,279
is built on his singular
unyielding vision,

425
00:27:15,405 --> 00:27:18,491
a vision that few at the company
would ever dare challenge.

426
00:27:24,372 --> 00:27:25,665
‐ Is he in?
‐ Yes.

427
00:27:25,748 --> 00:27:26,958
But he's busy.

428
00:27:28,626 --> 00:27:31,796
(door opening)

429
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,131
‐ There he is.

430
00:27:35,383 --> 00:27:36,259
Busy?

431
00:27:39,762 --> 00:27:43,933
‐ I hear you haven't
been at work all week.

432
00:27:44,058 --> 00:27:47,103
‐ Come on, you know I'm
working all the time.

433
00:27:52,192 --> 00:27:52,984
Dad.

434
00:27:58,031 --> 00:27:58,990
Get your coat.

435
00:28:01,868 --> 00:28:02,869
‐ Why?

436
00:28:03,620 --> 00:28:05,121
‐ I wanna take you somewhere.

437
00:28:07,248 --> 00:28:08,499
Dad, please?

438
00:28:13,838 --> 00:28:14,881
Great.

439
00:28:15,798 --> 00:28:19,886
(rising soft orchestral music)

440
00:28:32,857 --> 00:28:35,818
‐ Edsel Ford was the
only child of Henry Ford.

441
00:28:35,902 --> 00:28:37,737
One of the things that
separated the two men,

442
00:28:37,862 --> 00:28:39,822
Henry and Edsel, was
the fact that Henry

443
00:28:39,948 --> 00:28:40,990
was a self‐made man.

444
00:28:41,074 --> 00:28:44,661
He came from nothing
and created his fortune.

445
00:28:44,744 --> 00:28:46,996
Edsel had everything
given to him.

446
00:28:51,542 --> 00:28:52,585
‐ Well, what is it?

447
00:28:53,544 --> 00:28:54,420
‐ This?
‐ Mm.

448
00:28:55,380 --> 00:28:58,341
‐ It's a novel,
"Age of Innocence."

449
00:28:59,759 --> 00:29:00,927
I think you'd like it.

450
00:29:04,722 --> 00:29:06,474
‐ So, for Edsel, think of this:

451
00:29:06,557 --> 00:29:07,517
On his 21st birthday,

452
00:29:07,642 --> 00:29:10,979
he was a child who was
given $1 million in gold.

453
00:29:12,563 --> 00:29:14,315
‐ "Age of Innocence."

454
00:29:18,528 --> 00:29:22,198
‐ When you have children,
you hope and you pray

455
00:29:22,323 --> 00:29:23,574
that they want to take on

456
00:29:23,700 --> 00:29:25,827
and appreciate everything
that you've given them,

457
00:29:25,910 --> 00:29:29,163
but most of the children won't
wanna take on the business

458
00:29:29,289 --> 00:29:31,374
and they may want
their own identity.

459
00:29:35,503 --> 00:29:37,338
They say the first
generation makes it,

460
00:29:37,422 --> 00:29:40,091
the second enjoys it, and
the third destroys it.

461
00:29:42,927 --> 00:29:44,137
‐ What is this place?

462
00:29:46,014 --> 00:29:47,390
‐ Trust me.

463
00:29:47,515 --> 00:29:48,266
You'll see.

464
00:29:54,022 --> 00:29:55,481
Just about here.

465
00:29:59,736 --> 00:30:01,654
‐ Well, what are we doing here?

466
00:30:01,779 --> 00:30:02,989
‐ Just wait.

467
00:30:10,038 --> 00:30:11,539
‐ For what?
‐ Wait.

468
00:30:17,795 --> 00:30:21,132
(plane engine roaring)

469
00:30:23,968 --> 00:30:25,720
Well...

470
00:30:25,845 --> 00:30:27,430
What do you think?

471
00:30:29,223 --> 00:30:30,516
We should get into this!

472
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,935
‐ We don't know
anything about it.

473
00:30:33,061 --> 00:30:34,562
‐ [Edsel] I do.

474
00:30:34,687 --> 00:30:36,022
‐ No, you don't.

475
00:30:45,198 --> 00:30:46,324
(reverent orchestral music)

476
00:30:46,366 --> 00:30:47,825
‐ [Narrator] For Edsel, the
pressure of being a Ford

477
00:30:47,950 --> 00:30:49,327
is immense.

478
00:30:49,410 --> 00:30:52,830
He believes the only way to
earn his father's respect

479
00:30:52,872 --> 00:30:54,791
is to build
something of his own.

480
00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:59,045
‐ Like all kids his age,

481
00:30:59,170 --> 00:31:01,005
Edsel was obsessed with
the Wright brothers.

482
00:31:01,089 --> 00:31:02,799
He was obsessed with the idea

483
00:31:02,882 --> 00:31:05,551
that humans could take
flight using machinery.

484
00:31:06,427 --> 00:31:07,804
I think, from a very young age,

485
00:31:07,887 --> 00:31:11,015
Edsel had this idea that
he could do for airplanes

486
00:31:11,057 --> 00:31:13,309
what his father had
done for motorcars,

487
00:31:13,393 --> 00:31:14,769
and that was his destiny.

488
00:31:18,523 --> 00:31:19,816
‐ [Narrator] Though it's
been almost 20 years

489
00:31:19,899 --> 00:31:23,736
since the Wright brothers
took flight at Kitty Hawk,

490
00:31:23,861 --> 00:31:26,322
planes remain novelties.

491
00:31:28,366 --> 00:31:32,203
‐ At that time, flying, for
the public, it was a curiosity.

492
00:31:32,328 --> 00:31:33,996
They would go out to fields

493
00:31:34,122 --> 00:31:35,706
when an airplane
came through town,

494
00:31:35,832 --> 00:31:36,999
and what they were watching

495
00:31:37,125 --> 00:31:39,419
was to see if the
airplane would crash.

496
00:31:39,502 --> 00:31:42,797
And this really emphasizes the
state of flying at that time.

497
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:44,340
It wasn't safe.

498
00:31:45,133 --> 00:31:47,885
(dramatic music)

499
00:31:49,137 --> 00:31:51,305
‐ [Narrator] Henry
Ford has no interest

500
00:31:51,389 --> 00:31:53,766
in aviation as a business.

501
00:31:53,891 --> 00:31:57,019
‐ Nothing supplanted
the automobile for Ford.

502
00:31:57,103 --> 00:31:58,479
The car in the driveway's

503
00:31:58,563 --> 00:32:01,441
where Henry Ford's
eyeballs always were.

504
00:32:02,692 --> 00:32:06,404
‐ [Narrator] He agrees to give
Edsel money to build a plane,

505
00:32:06,487 --> 00:32:10,658
but for one reason: to teach
him the benefits of hard work.

506
00:32:11,784 --> 00:32:14,620
‐ Henry Ford was the
quintessential self‐made man

507
00:32:14,704 --> 00:32:19,750
and he always saw his son
as a creature of privilege,

508
00:32:20,710 --> 00:32:22,712
that he didn't have
grease on his hands,

509
00:32:22,837 --> 00:32:26,632
that he was a white‐collar
man, not a blue‐collar one,

510
00:32:26,716 --> 00:32:29,343
and this annoyed Henry
Ford about his son.

511
00:32:29,469 --> 00:32:33,639
(suspenseful orchestral music)

512
00:32:34,765 --> 00:32:36,350
‐ Pass me a pencil.

513
00:32:36,476 --> 00:32:40,104
‐ [Narrator] But Edsel sees
aviation as an opportunity

514
00:32:40,188 --> 00:32:42,023
to usher his father's
company forward.

515
00:32:42,148 --> 00:32:43,649
‐ That could actually work.

516
00:32:45,401 --> 00:32:48,237
‐ I think Edsel Ford saw
the promise of aviation

517
00:32:48,362 --> 00:32:49,655
before most people did.

518
00:32:49,739 --> 00:32:51,991
He thought this could
be a real business.

519
00:32:52,950 --> 00:32:54,744
‐ [Narrator] Now, after
months of development,

520
00:32:54,869 --> 00:32:57,914
Edsel is ready to show
the results to his father.

521
00:32:58,915 --> 00:33:02,084
If he succeeds, he'll
prove once and for all

522
00:33:02,168 --> 00:33:04,670
he's worthy of the Ford name.

523
00:33:04,712 --> 00:33:05,796
‐ I think we're on it.

524
00:33:10,718 --> 00:33:12,553
‐ We're ready.
‐ Great.

525
00:33:15,306 --> 00:33:16,349
So, in good conditions,

526
00:33:16,474 --> 00:33:18,518
we're looking at a range
of, what, 400 miles?

527
00:33:18,601 --> 00:33:20,728
‐ Yeah, something like that.
‐ Good.

528
00:33:24,899 --> 00:33:26,859
Okay, let's give him a show.

529
00:33:31,531 --> 00:33:32,323
‐ Ready.

530
00:33:36,077 --> 00:33:36,953
‐ Thanks for coming.

531
00:33:37,036 --> 00:33:38,746
‐ Well, we got a
good day for it.

532
00:33:48,005 --> 00:33:51,425
(plane engine cranking)

533
00:33:53,135 --> 00:33:56,722
(plane engine sputtering)

534
00:34:21,247 --> 00:34:24,458
(explosion booming)

535
00:34:27,086 --> 00:34:30,214
(Edsel sighing)

536
00:34:30,339 --> 00:34:32,174
‐ We just dropped
in a new engine.

537
00:34:32,258 --> 00:34:33,593
It's got twice the horsepower,

538
00:34:33,676 --> 00:34:36,679
but we haven't had a
chance to fire her up yet.

539
00:34:37,722 --> 00:34:38,806
I'm sure once we
dig in there we can‐

540
00:34:38,889 --> 00:34:40,683
‐ It's okay.

541
00:34:40,766 --> 00:34:42,935
Just keep at it.

542
00:34:44,353 --> 00:34:47,023
First models, they
always have a few kinks.

543
00:34:49,817 --> 00:34:52,653
‐ You would know, right?
(Henry chuckling)

544
00:34:52,778 --> 00:34:53,779
‐ That I do.

545
00:34:57,116 --> 00:35:00,661
(sullen orchestral music)

546
00:35:11,005 --> 00:35:12,423
What a disaster.

547
00:35:18,763 --> 00:35:19,680
‐ [Narrator] While Edsel Ford

548
00:35:19,764 --> 00:35:21,974
struggles to impress his father,

549
00:35:22,058 --> 00:35:25,853
Pierre du Pont has his own
issues at General Motors,

550
00:35:26,896 --> 00:35:30,983
with one in particular:
Walter Chrysler.

551
00:35:32,610 --> 00:35:36,113
‐ One of the qualities
of Pierre du Pont,

552
00:35:36,197 --> 00:35:38,074
in addition to being
a leader himself,

553
00:35:38,157 --> 00:35:40,076
was spotting talent in others.

554
00:35:41,202 --> 00:35:45,414
He thought Walter
Chrysler was a genius.

555
00:35:46,749 --> 00:35:50,544
But Walter Chrysler did
not fit in personally

556
00:35:50,628 --> 00:35:53,339
to the mold of a General
Motors very well.

557
00:35:54,548 --> 00:35:57,551
‐ [Narrator] Du Pont wants
everything done his way

558
00:35:57,677 --> 00:36:00,846
and he expects Chrysler
to fall in line.

559
00:36:00,971 --> 00:36:04,725
(rising suspenseful music)

560
00:36:07,395 --> 00:36:10,606
(phone ringing)

561
00:36:10,690 --> 00:36:12,400
‐ [Mellody] Walter
Chrysler is so fascinating

562
00:36:12,483 --> 00:36:13,734
in so many ways.

563
00:36:15,361 --> 00:36:16,821
‐ I understand that.

564
00:36:16,904 --> 00:36:20,157
‐ His foundation was
just doing the work.

565
00:36:20,241 --> 00:36:21,659
‐ No, I understand.

566
00:36:22,535 --> 00:36:24,578
‐ [Mellody] And he
wanted it to be his way.

567
00:36:24,704 --> 00:36:25,996
‐ Yeah, okay, Mr. du Pont.

568
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,250
‐ He was very clear that he
didn't like to be managed.

569
00:36:29,375 --> 00:36:30,960
‐ No, you have to listen to me.

570
00:36:31,043 --> 00:36:34,004
You have to listen to me and
listen clearly, all right?

571
00:36:35,673 --> 00:36:37,842
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler
detests all the paperwork

572
00:36:37,883 --> 00:36:42,096
du Pont requires and
refuses to attend meetings.

573
00:36:42,221 --> 00:36:44,890
(clock chiming)

574
00:36:55,776 --> 00:36:57,445
‐ Why do you have
to be so difficult?

575
00:36:57,528 --> 00:36:59,196
‐ Is this about du Pont?

576
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,157
‐ Mr. du Pont is
here to help us.

577
00:37:02,241 --> 00:37:04,618
‐ Is that so?
‐ We need his money.

578
00:37:07,288 --> 00:37:11,167
(suspenseful orchestral music)

579
00:37:17,423 --> 00:37:20,092
Can you just do what he wants?

580
00:37:24,096 --> 00:37:25,639
‐ [Walter] All right,
I'll fill out the forms

581
00:37:25,723 --> 00:37:27,600
and I'll go to
his damn meetings.

582
00:37:30,311 --> 00:37:31,520
‐ Thank you, Walter.

583
00:37:45,034 --> 00:37:47,828
‐ So, there's this great passage
in Chrysler's autobiography

584
00:37:47,912 --> 00:37:50,122
where he talks about
walking into a room,

585
00:37:51,207 --> 00:37:52,792
and there is his boss, Durant.

586
00:37:53,709 --> 00:37:55,002
And here's Pierre du Pont.

587
00:37:55,085 --> 00:37:56,796
‐ I'm trying to run
a business here.

588
00:37:56,879 --> 00:37:58,172
Do you understand me, Bill?

589
00:37:58,255 --> 00:38:00,591
‐ And he realizes in that
moment that what he's witnessing

590
00:38:00,716 --> 00:38:03,552
is Napoleon at the
beginning of conquest.

591
00:38:03,636 --> 00:38:06,013
And perhaps it's time to go.

592
00:38:07,515 --> 00:38:09,683
‐ Chrysler finally figured out

593
00:38:09,767 --> 00:38:12,436
that he could never
work productively

594
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:14,730
with Pierre du Pont
and Billy Durant.

595
00:38:17,191 --> 00:38:19,777
Walter Chrysler was highly
paid at General Motors,

596
00:38:19,860 --> 00:38:21,654
not just in terms of salary,

597
00:38:21,737 --> 00:38:25,115
but he was given
stock, a lot of stock.

598
00:38:28,285 --> 00:38:29,495
‐ Durant, hold up.

599
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:31,997
Bill.

600
00:38:32,081 --> 00:38:35,334
‐ Walter, can't this
wait until the morning?

601
00:38:36,877 --> 00:38:38,212
‐ No.

602
00:38:38,295 --> 00:38:39,171
It can't.

603
00:38:43,050 --> 00:38:43,926
I'm quitting.

604
00:38:47,471 --> 00:38:49,807
It's not you, it's du Pont.

605
00:38:50,933 --> 00:38:53,686
‐ Look, why don't you just take
some time, think about this.

606
00:38:53,769 --> 00:38:56,188
‐ No, no, I've thought
about it plenty.

607
00:38:59,024 --> 00:39:02,486
Listen, I'm sorry to
have to say this to you,

608
00:39:02,570 --> 00:39:05,906
but you're gonna have
to buy all my shares.

609
00:39:07,700 --> 00:39:09,326
‐ And why would I do that?

610
00:39:09,410 --> 00:39:11,787
‐ Because if you don't, I'm
gonna sell all my shares

611
00:39:11,871 --> 00:39:14,248
on the stock market and
bankrupt the company.

612
00:39:20,337 --> 00:39:22,423
‐ Durant was afraid if Chrysler

613
00:39:22,506 --> 00:39:24,216
dumped all of his
stock on the market,

614
00:39:24,341 --> 00:39:27,428
if it was known that Chrysler
was the person selling it,

615
00:39:27,511 --> 00:39:29,847
he's an insider,
people would say,

616
00:39:29,930 --> 00:39:31,849
"Uh‐oh, something is
wrong at General Motors.

617
00:39:31,974 --> 00:39:33,893
"We better get
rid of our stock."

618
00:39:37,229 --> 00:39:39,815
‐ [Narrator] Afraid the
company's stock will plummet,

619
00:39:39,899 --> 00:39:42,735
Durant purchases
Chrysler's shares

620
00:39:44,194 --> 00:39:47,865
and Chrysler walks away
with a $10‐million buyout,

621
00:39:53,162 --> 00:39:56,415
the equivalent of
$200 million today.

622
00:39:57,583 --> 00:40:00,836
‐ Du Pont must have seen
Chrysler's defection

623
00:40:00,961 --> 00:40:05,758
from General Motors as more
than just a business move.

624
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:08,677
It's a personal affront.

625
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:17,561
(engine roars)

626
00:40:17,686 --> 00:40:19,271
‐ [Narrator] With
Chrysler's exit from GM,

627
00:40:19,396 --> 00:40:23,317
DuPont is forced to find a
new strategy to take on Ford.

628
00:40:25,361 --> 00:40:29,323
He's devised a plan that's
going to require money,

629
00:40:30,324 --> 00:40:31,867
lots of money.

630
00:40:31,992 --> 00:40:36,580
(classic orchestral
music continues)

631
00:40:37,373 --> 00:40:42,920
Hundreds of millions even he
can't bankroll that much.

632
00:40:49,134 --> 00:40:51,845
‐ He asked me to bring
you to see him right away.

633
00:40:54,723 --> 00:40:55,724
This way, sir.

634
00:41:01,230 --> 00:41:02,982
Good day for it, pull.

635
00:41:04,191 --> 00:41:06,986
(gunshots fired)

636
00:41:08,153 --> 00:41:10,864
Hahaha, well nothing like it.

637
00:41:10,948 --> 00:41:12,116
‐ Nice shooting, sir.

638
00:41:16,870 --> 00:41:19,873
‐ [Narrator] JP Morgan Junior
is one of the richest men

639
00:41:19,957 --> 00:41:24,378
in the world and one
of the most powerful.

640
00:41:26,547 --> 00:41:27,381
‐ Pull!

641
00:41:29,341 --> 00:41:31,635
(gunshot fires)

642
00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:33,095
‐ Good shot sir.

643
00:41:33,220 --> 00:41:36,306
‐ Takes practice, my father
taught me when I was a child.

644
00:41:38,434 --> 00:41:41,103
‐ [Narrator] Morgan's father
was the notorious ruthless

645
00:41:41,228 --> 00:41:44,982
banker J. Pierpont Morgan Sr.

646
00:41:46,191 --> 00:41:49,570
After his father's financing
ushered in the electric age

647
00:41:49,695 --> 00:41:53,741
and helped create the world's
first billion dollar company,

648
00:41:53,866 --> 00:41:58,662
U.S. Steel, Junior inherited
a fortune like no other.

649
00:41:58,787 --> 00:42:00,581
‐ His father Pierpont
was a legend.

650
00:42:00,706 --> 00:42:03,208
The founder of JP
Morgan, big personality,

651
00:42:03,292 --> 00:42:06,336
a big person obviously knew
everyone around the world.

652
00:42:07,337 --> 00:42:09,715
‐ Morgan lived with the
incredible responsibility

653
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:11,550
of living up to his
father's legacy.

654
00:42:11,675 --> 00:42:15,429
This kind of all encompassing
shadow that JP Morgan Senior

655
00:42:15,554 --> 00:42:18,223
cast on JP Morgan Junior.

656
00:42:18,348 --> 00:42:19,600
‐ [Narrator] Morgan has
money,

657
00:42:19,683 --> 00:42:20,350
‐ Pull!

658
00:42:20,392 --> 00:42:22,936
power and enemies.

659
00:42:23,062 --> 00:42:24,980
He once survived an
assassination attempt

660
00:42:25,105 --> 00:42:28,358
by wrestling the gunman
to the ground.

661
00:42:28,442 --> 00:42:30,235
‐ He was in some ways the
most powerful capitalist

662
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:31,987
in the United States so if
you wanted to bring down

663
00:42:32,071 --> 00:42:34,990
capitalism, you
would go after him.

664
00:42:35,115 --> 00:42:37,701
And I think he was trying
to live up to not only

665
00:42:37,785 --> 00:42:39,453
the reputation of his father,

666
00:42:40,621 --> 00:42:42,956
but trying to show that he
could out do his father.

667
00:42:44,666 --> 00:42:48,337
‐ [Morgan] So General
Motors, you want to expand.

668
00:42:49,088 --> 00:42:50,547
‐ With your will help, yes.

669
00:42:50,631 --> 00:42:53,842
‐ I've had my team look at
it, it's not going to be easy.

670
00:42:53,926 --> 00:42:56,595
Why don't you wait a year,
get the company in shape?

671
00:42:56,720 --> 00:42:59,932
‐ I can't wait, Ford
is destroying us.

672
00:43:02,226 --> 00:43:02,976
‐ I see.

673
00:43:04,144 --> 00:43:07,356
‐ [Narrator] To Morgan, DuPont
and GM are minor players.

674
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,192
If he was to get into cars,

675
00:43:10,317 --> 00:43:14,613
he would do it with Ford,
but he's already tried.

676
00:43:15,697 --> 00:43:20,828
‐ 1916, JP Morgan tries to
convince Henry Ford to go public

677
00:43:21,161 --> 00:43:24,164
and Ford balks at this idea.

678
00:43:24,248 --> 00:43:26,208
JP Morgan's interest
in this is obvious.

679
00:43:26,333 --> 00:43:28,919
He wants a piece of Ford,
he wants the rich profits

680
00:43:29,002 --> 00:43:31,797
that can come as a result
of the public offering.

681
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,925
Henry Ford notoriously
hated bankers.

682
00:43:35,008 --> 00:43:36,927
He felt they didn't
build anything.

683
00:43:37,052 --> 00:43:41,056
And so at this point, JP
Morgan Jr. appears to just be

684
00:43:41,181 --> 00:43:43,892
like a rich kid playing
with his father's money.

685
00:43:47,229 --> 00:43:49,565
‐ [Narrator] Henry
Ford told JP Morgan,

686
00:43:49,690 --> 00:43:51,483
you are not your father.

687
00:43:51,567 --> 00:43:54,403
It's an insulted that
Morgan will never forget.

688
00:43:55,863 --> 00:43:57,406
‐ And for a guy like Morgan

689
00:43:57,531 --> 00:44:02,077
where money is no object,
to be scorned by Henry Ford

690
00:44:02,161 --> 00:44:05,622
simply becomes a motivation
to get revenge on Henry Ford

691
00:44:05,706 --> 00:44:09,001
and he will have his
revenge through the DuPont.

692
00:44:10,627 --> 00:44:12,462
‐ How much do you need?

693
00:44:14,381 --> 00:44:16,842
‐ [Narrator] DuPont
gets his financing.

694
00:44:16,967 --> 00:44:20,512
Hundreds of millions
in loans and investments

695
00:44:20,596 --> 00:44:24,850
and he uses it to enact
a brand new strategy.

696
00:44:24,975 --> 00:44:26,685
Under Pierre DuPont's leadership

697
00:44:26,810 --> 00:44:28,604
General Motors was
expanding quickly,

698
00:44:28,729 --> 00:44:30,147
taking on new lines of credit

699
00:44:30,230 --> 00:44:32,816
in order to expand
production facilities,

700
00:44:32,900 --> 00:44:34,985
also to buy other divisions

701
00:44:35,068 --> 00:44:39,072
and bring all of these into
the General Motors fold.

702
00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:43,869
‐ [Narrator] DuPont realizes
that the car market is changing

703
00:44:43,994 --> 00:44:47,456
and he is reinventing
GM to capitalize on it.

704
00:44:48,749 --> 00:44:51,418
‐ In the 1920s, people
had money in their pockets

705
00:44:51,501 --> 00:44:53,253
and there was sort of
a deficit of consumer

706
00:44:53,378 --> 00:44:55,297
items that they hadn't been
able to buy during the war.

707
00:44:55,380 --> 00:44:57,216
So they go on a spending spree.

708
00:44:59,551 --> 00:45:02,512
‐ By the 1920s, the
Model T was old.

709
00:45:03,722 --> 00:45:06,683
It wasn't exciting, it was
reliable, it was cheap,

710
00:45:06,808 --> 00:45:10,354
but people wanted more than
just a utilitarian vehicle.

711
00:45:11,438 --> 00:45:14,524
‐ [Narrator] Taking advantage
of GM's many companies,

712
00:45:14,650 --> 00:45:16,318
DuPont offers customers

713
00:45:16,443 --> 00:45:19,238
something Ford has
never given them.

714
00:45:20,030 --> 00:45:21,198
Choice.

715
00:45:21,323 --> 00:45:23,033
‐ General Motors was brilliant
in their branding.

716
00:45:23,158 --> 00:45:24,159
Started with a Chevrolet

717
00:45:24,284 --> 00:45:25,911
which was the entry level car

718
00:45:26,036 --> 00:45:27,412
and that was for a
certain price point

719
00:45:27,537 --> 00:45:29,039
then you grow up and
you have a family

720
00:45:29,164 --> 00:45:30,332
and you get your Oldsmobile.

721
00:45:30,374 --> 00:45:32,709
Now you're starting to
get that first promotion

722
00:45:32,834 --> 00:45:33,710
at work, what do you get?

723
00:45:33,835 --> 00:45:34,878
You get a Buick.

724
00:45:34,962 --> 00:45:37,005
and the ultimate
aspiration that they set up

725
00:45:37,130 --> 00:45:38,423
was a Cadillac.

726
00:45:38,548 --> 00:45:40,676
I mean, even today, we use
the term, the Cadillac of,

727
00:45:40,717 --> 00:45:42,552
and that's when you made it.

728
00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:46,139
‐ [Narrator] DuPont's
strategy is a perfect match

729
00:45:46,223 --> 00:45:48,976
for this era of
rising prosperity

730
00:45:49,059 --> 00:45:51,311
and rising expectations.

731
00:45:53,605 --> 00:45:57,276
It's really the birth of
the modern consumer culture.

732
00:45:58,527 --> 00:46:01,321
People started wanting
choice, automobiles

733
00:46:01,446 --> 00:46:04,992
and clothes and things
started getting mass‐produced

734
00:46:05,117 --> 00:46:08,370
and all these companies
started fulfilling fantasies

735
00:46:08,495 --> 00:46:13,500
and needs, the roaring twenties,
we'd call it, the jazz age.

736
00:46:13,875 --> 00:46:18,213
‐ [Narrator] By the end of
1921, GM is a major competitor

737
00:46:18,297 --> 00:46:19,423
in the auto world.

738
00:46:20,507 --> 00:46:23,468
DuPont is ready to
take down the Ford.

739
00:46:26,305 --> 00:46:28,515
But what DuPont doesn't know

740
00:46:28,557 --> 00:46:30,726
is there's a target
on his back too.

741
00:46:33,228 --> 00:46:35,647
Walter Chrysler
has his own company now

742
00:46:37,190 --> 00:46:39,651
and he's about the
join the fight.

743
00:46:39,735 --> 00:46:41,695
(dramatic music)

744
00:46:48,869 --> 00:46:51,705
(engines roar)

745
00:47:02,007 --> 00:47:05,635
‐ [Narrator] Car racing has
become the most popular sport

746
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:07,220
in America.

747
00:47:07,346 --> 00:47:10,182
And the public becomes
fascinated with speed.

748
00:47:13,060 --> 00:47:15,771
Three years after walking
out on Pierre DuPont

749
00:47:15,854 --> 00:47:17,397
and General Motors,

750
00:47:17,481 --> 00:47:20,859
Chrysler is now running
his own car company

751
00:47:20,984 --> 00:47:23,737
and is searching
for the next big thing.

752
00:47:23,862 --> 00:47:25,864
‐ [Announcer] Coming up in
the lead, the Henry Hudson

753
00:47:25,989 --> 00:47:27,657
is closing the gap.

754
00:47:27,741 --> 00:47:29,409
(crowd cheers)

755
00:47:29,534 --> 00:47:34,748
What a race, top speed
over 70 miles and hour.

756
00:47:44,716 --> 00:47:47,219
(door slams)

757
00:47:48,887 --> 00:47:49,679
‐ Hey guys.

758
00:47:51,515 --> 00:47:54,684
‐ [Narrator] Walter Chrysler
knows what America wants.

759
00:48:03,693 --> 00:48:07,197
Chrysler intends to build
the first mass‐produced

760
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:10,492
automobile that drives
like a race car.

761
00:48:11,618 --> 00:48:13,495
‐ I think that Chrysler thought

762
00:48:13,578 --> 00:48:16,331
in his mind that
there was a demand.

763
00:48:16,415 --> 00:48:18,667
There was nothing on
the market to appeal

764
00:48:18,750 --> 00:48:22,170
to middle‐class buyers who
wanted something better

765
00:48:22,254 --> 00:48:24,673
than a Ford and wanted speed.

766
00:48:24,756 --> 00:48:27,300
‐ We gotta get this
to 70 miles per hour.

767
00:48:28,427 --> 00:48:30,679
The problem is how to get
that extra little bit.

768
00:48:30,762 --> 00:48:33,390
‐ Then we'll need a bigger
engine, that means a bigger car.

769
00:48:33,515 --> 00:48:36,852
‐ No, I want the
same size engine,

770
00:48:36,935 --> 00:48:41,815
I just want it to go faster.

771
00:48:50,782 --> 00:48:56,204
‐ The idea that Walter
Chrysler would walk away

772
00:48:57,330 --> 00:48:59,916
from GM to on his own
against the might of Ford

773
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:04,254
and General Motors, it was
both shocking and daring

774
00:49:04,379 --> 00:49:08,341
and also very Walter Chrysler.

775
00:49:15,307 --> 00:49:16,516
‐ Hand me the 3/8ths.

776
00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:19,227
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler
invests millions into his car

777
00:49:19,352 --> 00:49:22,397
betting everything on
a new type of engine.

778
00:49:22,481 --> 00:49:25,525
One he hopes will give
him the speed he desires.

779
00:49:25,650 --> 00:49:28,445
‐ Last thing I want to do
is burn out that clutch.

780
00:49:30,530 --> 00:49:31,364
Come on.

781
00:49:34,159 --> 00:49:35,494
Get that right.

782
00:49:35,577 --> 00:49:37,871
‐ [Narrator] Up till
now, powerful engines

783
00:49:37,954 --> 00:49:38,997
were big and heavy.

784
00:49:39,080 --> 00:49:43,668
‐ I got that diameter
on that correct so, it's 44.

785
00:49:43,752 --> 00:49:46,922
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler is trying
something totally different.

786
00:49:47,047 --> 00:49:49,257
He's designed a smaller engine.

787
00:49:50,300 --> 00:49:52,636
‐ Okay, let's do this.

788
00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:55,805
‐ [Narrator] That squeezes more
power out of each cylinder.

789
00:49:58,225 --> 00:49:59,643
‐ Full throttle.

790
00:50:01,937 --> 00:50:04,981
‐ [Narrator] The first
high compression motor.

791
00:50:05,065 --> 00:50:07,734
(engine whirs)

792
00:50:11,404 --> 00:50:13,365
Made for one thing,

793
00:50:13,865 --> 00:50:15,408
speed.

794
00:50:19,412 --> 00:50:22,541
(car engine roars)

795
00:50:32,676 --> 00:50:36,596
‐ Cars like the Model T
Ford could only do 35.

796
00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:40,850
Even cars like the Buick might
get up to 50 miles an hour.

797
00:50:44,563 --> 00:50:46,731
This car could do
70 miles an hour.

798
00:50:46,815 --> 00:50:49,192
and probably the Chrysler
could actually do a little more

799
00:50:49,317 --> 00:50:50,819
than 70 miles per hour.

800
00:50:54,948 --> 00:50:58,451
And it blew the socks off
most of the competition.

801
00:50:59,869 --> 00:51:01,788
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler
has gambled everything

802
00:51:01,871 --> 00:51:05,375
on his new car but
what he doesn't know

803
00:51:05,500 --> 00:51:07,085
is whether people will buy it.

804
00:51:08,211 --> 00:51:09,838
(glass dings)

805
00:51:09,921 --> 00:51:10,755
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,

806
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:12,966
if I could have your
attention please.

807
00:51:14,509 --> 00:51:17,095
‐ You know, to be a
great entrepreneur,

808
00:51:17,220 --> 00:51:18,221
you have to be a
bit of a gambler.

809
00:51:18,305 --> 00:51:19,347
You have to be a
bit of a risk taker.

810
00:51:19,472 --> 00:51:21,600
You have to be a
professional optimist.

811
00:51:30,442 --> 00:51:32,152
‐ The Chrysler 70.

812
00:51:32,235 --> 00:51:35,113
(crowd talks over each other)

813
00:51:35,196 --> 00:51:37,699
‐ You have to believe in
yourself and you have to believe

814
00:51:37,824 --> 00:51:41,578
in the idea that you're
going to change the world.

815
00:51:46,458 --> 00:51:48,335
‐ [Narrator] The car
is soon known worldwide

816
00:51:48,418 --> 00:51:50,670
as the Chrysler 70 is hailed

817
00:51:50,754 --> 00:51:54,591
as the most technologically
advanced car of its time.

818
00:51:55,800 --> 00:51:58,637
Even its name points to
its groundbreaking speed.

819
00:51:59,387 --> 00:52:01,056
70 miles an hour.

820
00:52:04,768 --> 00:52:06,853
‐ Chrysler's first car
did capture the spirit

821
00:52:06,936 --> 00:52:09,981
of the roaring twenties
in that it was flamboyant,

822
00:52:10,023 --> 00:52:12,859
it was aggressive,
people who owned it

823
00:52:12,942 --> 00:52:15,028
could say, look at me.

824
00:52:15,153 --> 00:52:16,655
When you were driving a Model T,

825
00:52:16,738 --> 00:52:18,990
you've never said, look at me.

826
00:52:19,074 --> 00:52:21,868
‐ Every great entrepreneur
can tell you multiple stories

827
00:52:21,951 --> 00:52:24,996
about any number of people
who called them crazy

828
00:52:25,121 --> 00:52:27,791
and told them that their
product would never work.

829
00:52:29,084 --> 00:52:32,545
But the crazier the idea,
the greater the upside.

830
00:52:47,185 --> 00:52:50,647
‐ Initially DuPont doesn't
see Chrysler as a threat.

831
00:52:50,772 --> 00:52:53,483
He's rankled by the fact that
Chrysler's left the company

832
00:52:53,608 --> 00:52:55,652
but he doesn't think
that Chrysler is going

833
00:52:55,777 --> 00:52:56,903
to be able to compete.

834
00:53:02,951 --> 00:53:05,078
When the Chrysler 70 comes
out, it becomes clear

835
00:53:05,203 --> 00:53:09,916
that Chrysler is in the
game and in the game to win.

836
00:53:10,041 --> 00:53:13,002
(dramatic music)

837
00:53:23,221 --> 00:53:26,808
(dramatic music)

838
00:53:26,891 --> 00:53:28,727
‐ [Narrator] Three months
after Chrysler turned

839
00:53:28,852 --> 00:53:32,647
the automotive world upside
down, another young innovator

840
00:53:32,731 --> 00:53:35,734
is looking to do the
same in aviation.

841
00:53:37,736 --> 00:53:40,947
Edsel Ford wants the Ford
company to build planes

842
00:53:41,030 --> 00:53:43,533
and after a failed
demonstration,

843
00:53:43,658 --> 00:53:45,326
he's more determined than ever

844
00:53:45,410 --> 00:53:48,288
to show his
dad he can succeed.

845
00:53:48,371 --> 00:53:50,915
‐ Henry Ford was a
difficult father.

846
00:53:50,999 --> 00:53:55,545
He was a stern taskmaster, he
didn't suffer fools lightly.

847
00:53:55,670 --> 00:54:00,008
And he put a lot of stress
on Edsel to be an achiever.

848
00:54:03,887 --> 00:54:06,598
‐ [Narrator] Edsel
keeps pushing his team.

849
00:54:06,723 --> 00:54:09,517
‐ This is too big,
you gotta make this...

850
00:54:12,145 --> 00:54:12,645
You know what?

851
00:54:12,729 --> 00:54:14,063
That could actually work.

852
00:54:14,147 --> 00:54:18,485
‐ [Narrator] And in April of
1924, the hard work pays off.

853
00:54:18,568 --> 00:54:21,988
(airplane engine roars)

854
00:54:24,532 --> 00:54:27,744
(triumphant music)

855
00:54:41,591 --> 00:54:43,426
‐ [Edsel] I think this is it.

856
00:54:43,510 --> 00:54:46,429
‐ Well, it's a
solid piece of work.

857
00:54:46,554 --> 00:54:47,555
‐ There's a but.

858
00:54:49,516 --> 00:54:50,683
‐ Where's the market?

859
00:55:00,068 --> 00:55:02,862
‐ [Narrator] While he's
pleased with his son's effort,

860
00:55:02,946 --> 00:55:05,490
in the end, Henry
Ford is left feeling

861
00:55:05,532 --> 00:55:08,076
he spent a fortune for nothing.

862
00:55:09,118 --> 00:55:11,329
There's no way to
make money with planes

863
00:55:12,288 --> 00:55:13,915
but that's about to change.

864
00:55:17,919 --> 00:55:20,839
The answer will come
from an unlikely place,

865
00:55:22,215 --> 00:55:23,341
the post office.

866
00:55:24,551 --> 00:55:26,719
Since the days of
the Pony Express,

867
00:55:26,845 --> 00:55:29,347
the government has looked
for ways to speed up

868
00:55:29,389 --> 00:55:34,727
mail delivery, first with
stagecoaches and then trains.

869
00:55:35,728 --> 00:55:38,857
Now they look to the
skies with airplanes.

870
00:55:40,567 --> 00:55:43,486
‐ There was an immediacy
of life in the 1920s

871
00:55:43,570 --> 00:55:45,405
that hadn't existed before.

872
00:55:45,530 --> 00:55:47,031
You could speak via telephone

873
00:55:47,156 --> 00:55:48,741
to your friend who
lives two states over.

874
00:55:48,867 --> 00:55:51,536
If you wanted to hear
something that was happening

875
00:55:51,619 --> 00:55:52,662
in another part of the country,

876
00:55:52,704 --> 00:55:54,163
now you could
listen on the radio.

877
00:55:54,289 --> 00:55:57,292
You can get used to this,
expectations change with time,

878
00:55:58,710 --> 00:56:00,503
‐ The whole notion of air mail,

879
00:56:00,587 --> 00:56:02,922
it's about speed
of communication.

880
00:56:03,047 --> 00:56:04,507
I mean everything gets better

881
00:56:04,591 --> 00:56:07,051
when you can communicate faster.

882
00:56:08,303 --> 00:56:11,890
And I think air was
perfectly suited to do it.

883
00:56:16,060 --> 00:56:17,770
‐ [Narrator] The post
office sees airmail

884
00:56:17,896 --> 00:56:21,608
as its future and they
decide to outsource the job.

885
00:56:23,860 --> 00:56:26,029
‐ In 1925, the
Airmail Act comes out

886
00:56:26,154 --> 00:56:29,532
and this is the government
deciding, the post office

887
00:56:29,616 --> 00:56:33,286
deciding to hand over
flying airmail routes

888
00:56:33,369 --> 00:56:34,913
to private individuals.

889
00:56:39,959 --> 00:56:43,004
‐ If we get these
contracts to go out.

890
00:56:43,046 --> 00:56:46,049
mark my words the airmail
business will flourish.

891
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:50,386
‐ [Narrator] As word of
the Airmail Act gets out

892
00:56:50,470 --> 00:56:54,223
one man recognizes this
could be a gold rush.

893
00:56:55,934 --> 00:56:57,226
‐ We should get into this.

894
00:56:57,352 --> 00:56:58,478
‐ Where's the money?

895
00:56:58,561 --> 00:57:01,940
Mark my words, the airmail
business will flourish.

896
00:57:05,151 --> 00:57:08,112
‐ [Narrator] Ford knows he
needs to act fast to scoop

897
00:57:08,196 --> 00:57:12,700
up the air mail contracts
before anyone else.

898
00:57:18,039 --> 00:57:21,709
Ford spends millions to
roll out a fleet of planes

899
00:57:23,962 --> 00:57:28,007
and clears 240 acres near
his River Rouge plant

900
00:57:28,132 --> 00:57:31,469
to build a whole new kind
of transportation hub.

901
00:57:31,552 --> 00:57:34,639
‐ The Fords were the first to
lay the first concrete runway

902
00:57:34,722 --> 00:57:37,225
and they're creating
the modern airport.

903
00:57:38,893 --> 00:57:40,645
‐ [Narrator] It's all
to show the government

904
00:57:40,728 --> 00:57:43,690
that Ford Aviation
is ready to fly.

905
00:57:46,859 --> 00:57:48,653
‐ You can't be an entrepreneur
and build a business

906
00:57:48,736 --> 00:57:51,030
without taking risk.

907
00:57:51,155 --> 00:57:53,658
Taking risk is absolutely
a critical part

908
00:57:53,741 --> 00:57:55,827
of building a business,
especially one that's

909
00:57:55,910 --> 00:57:58,121
been untested beore.

910
00:58:00,248 --> 00:58:02,333
‐ [Narrator] Henry's
bet pays off.

911
00:58:02,417 --> 00:58:06,129
Ford aviation wins a
major airmail contract.

912
00:58:07,922 --> 00:58:11,050
‐ Henry Ford was one of the
few people who saw potential

913
00:58:11,175 --> 00:58:12,260
in airmail.

914
00:58:12,385 --> 00:58:15,346
When airmail first began,
the post office is paying

915
00:58:15,430 --> 00:58:19,851
three dollars a pound and there
were 800,000 pounds of mail

916
00:58:19,892 --> 00:58:21,185
being shipped in
the United States.

917
00:58:21,310 --> 00:58:25,148
By 1929, that number had
increased to 8 million pounds.

918
00:58:25,231 --> 00:58:26,816
So you can see
there's a tremendous

919
00:58:26,899 --> 00:58:28,401
potential there for profit.

920
00:58:29,569 --> 00:58:32,196
‐ [Narrator] Soon Edsel's
planes are flying mail across

921
00:58:32,321 --> 00:58:37,035
the country and Ford Aviation
is raking in the profits.

922
00:58:42,749 --> 00:58:45,293
But what Edsel and
Henry don't know

923
00:58:45,376 --> 00:58:48,880
is that another would be
titan is gunning for them.

924
00:58:49,881 --> 00:58:53,009
A small airplane
manufacturer out West, headed

925
00:58:53,092 --> 00:58:58,056
by a man who's determined to
claim aviation for himself.

926
00:58:59,515 --> 00:59:00,892
William Boeing.

927
00:59:07,648 --> 00:59:08,649
(thunder cracks)

928
00:59:08,733 --> 00:59:11,069
(rain patters)

929
00:59:14,072 --> 00:59:15,448
‐ How's it looking?

930
00:59:15,531 --> 00:59:17,992
‐ [Narrator] A small airplane
company is aiming to challenge

931
00:59:18,076 --> 00:59:22,789
Ford Aviation and win control
of the airmail business.

932
00:59:22,872 --> 00:59:25,333
It was founded by a
man who got his start

933
00:59:25,416 --> 00:59:26,751
in the timber industry.

934
00:59:26,876 --> 00:59:28,586
‐ We need this absolutely
perfect. Okay?

935
00:59:28,711 --> 00:59:30,880
William Boeing.

936
00:59:30,963 --> 00:59:35,259
‐ The big bang moment for
Bill Boeing was in 1910.

937
00:59:47,063 --> 00:59:50,233
He saw his first airplane
and he fell in love.

938
00:59:52,401 --> 00:59:56,489
He was a man who was
fascinated with technology.

939
00:59:56,614 --> 00:59:58,241
He loved cars, he loved boats

940
00:59:58,366 --> 01:00:01,369
and when he saw the
airplane, he had to fly.

941
01:00:05,123 --> 01:00:06,874
‐ William Boeing
and Edsel Ford both

942
01:00:06,958 --> 01:00:09,335
saw great potential in aviation.

943
01:00:09,418 --> 01:00:11,671
But the difference between
them was that William Boeing

944
01:00:11,712 --> 01:00:14,841
was a pilot so he
had a natural feel

945
01:00:14,882 --> 01:00:17,510
for aviation in a way
that Edsel Ford did not.

946
01:00:25,560 --> 01:00:28,271
(machine whirs)

947
01:00:33,734 --> 01:00:36,404
‐ Canvas might be too heavy.

948
01:00:36,529 --> 01:00:37,530
‐ We could try silk.

949
01:00:38,698 --> 01:00:39,532
‐ Yeah.

950
01:00:42,785 --> 01:00:44,078
‐ When he started his company

951
01:00:44,203 --> 01:00:47,248
he realized he needed
an aerodynamicist.

952
01:00:47,373 --> 01:00:49,083
This was a new field of science

953
01:00:49,167 --> 01:00:51,752
and only one place was
producing aerodynamicist

954
01:00:51,878 --> 01:00:53,129
and that was MIT.

955
01:00:53,212 --> 01:00:56,674
MIT said, Mr. Boeing, we
have a young Chinese national

956
01:00:56,757 --> 01:00:58,176
whose name is Wong Tsu.

957
01:01:00,011 --> 01:01:02,680
Boeing said send
him, I want him.

958
01:01:03,931 --> 01:01:05,224
‐ I think we're going to
shift of these numbers.

959
01:01:05,349 --> 01:01:08,060
‐ Yeah, let's try a 38 here.

960
01:01:09,353 --> 01:01:11,856
‐ [Narrator] Boeing
experimented with new materials

961
01:01:11,981 --> 01:01:14,734
to build lighter and
stronger airplanes.

962
01:01:15,902 --> 01:01:19,155
‐ William Boeing was not only
a pilot, he was an innovator.

963
01:01:19,238 --> 01:01:20,239
He was an inventor.

964
01:01:20,323 --> 01:01:22,366
His goal was always to build

965
01:01:22,491 --> 01:01:25,453
the best possible
airplane in the world.

966
01:01:29,498 --> 01:01:32,335
‐ [Narrator] But despite
all of Boeing's big ideas,

967
01:01:33,669 --> 01:01:38,674
his company is about to go
bankrupt because at this time,

968
01:01:38,799 --> 01:01:43,137
the only way to make money
is with an airmail contract

969
01:01:43,221 --> 01:01:46,515
and Ford has them all locked up.

970
01:01:46,641 --> 01:01:49,393
‐ [Jeremy] In the 1920s,
Boeing as a small manufacturer

971
01:01:49,477 --> 01:01:51,187
selling an airplane
here or there.

972
01:01:51,270 --> 01:01:53,940
Ford is a Goliath
in American industry

973
01:01:54,023 --> 01:01:55,691
getting into the
aviation business.

974
01:01:55,775 --> 01:01:58,527
‐ No, I told you we needed
those parts this Friday.

975
01:01:58,653 --> 01:01:59,820
‐ Boeing is struggling.

976
01:01:59,904 --> 01:02:02,615
‐ Just get them over here as
fast as you can, thank you.

977
01:02:04,700 --> 01:02:07,745
‐ [Narrator] To survive,
Boeing's company must somehow

978
01:02:07,870 --> 01:02:10,122
land and airmail contract.

979
01:02:11,123 --> 01:02:13,668
He decides his only
chance is to build

980
01:02:13,709 --> 01:02:15,670
the best plane in the world.

981
01:02:17,380 --> 01:02:20,007
He just needs to figure
out how to do it.

982
01:02:23,386 --> 01:02:26,013
(metal clangs)

983
01:02:28,599 --> 01:02:30,935
‐ [Jeremy] With Boeing,
one of his great attributes

984
01:02:31,018 --> 01:02:32,520
is he's a man of vision.

985
01:02:33,479 --> 01:02:34,981
‐ [Man] We're gonna need
some more water for it.

986
01:02:35,106 --> 01:02:36,816
‐ [Boy] How much you need?

987
01:02:36,857 --> 01:02:38,901
‐ Four gallons if you could.

988
01:02:38,985 --> 01:02:40,528
‐ One of the secrets he has

989
01:02:40,653 --> 01:02:44,282
to making this a success
is a new innovative engine.

990
01:02:48,411 --> 01:02:51,080
He genuinely sees something

991
01:02:51,205 --> 01:02:53,165
that is going to
change the world.

992
01:03:00,006 --> 01:03:01,924
‐ Gentlemen, I'm very
glad I could be here

993
01:03:02,049 --> 01:03:05,136
and I'm very excited to tell
you about Boeing's new plane.

994
01:03:05,219 --> 01:03:08,139
The Model 48 is the first plane

995
01:03:08,222 --> 01:03:10,641
specially designed
to carry airmail.

996
01:03:10,725 --> 01:03:12,685
It has a welded steel frame
and closed compartments

997
01:03:12,810 --> 01:03:16,439
for the mail and a very
special type of engine,

998
01:03:17,857 --> 01:03:18,983
it's air‐cooled.

999
01:03:19,025 --> 01:03:21,110
‐ Up until now, the
engines that are flying

1000
01:03:21,193 --> 01:03:22,820
on mail planes are water‐cooled

1001
01:03:22,903 --> 01:03:24,488
so just like in your car,

1002
01:03:24,613 --> 01:03:27,241
it has a radiator
with all of the water.

1003
01:03:27,366 --> 01:03:29,660
‐ You made those changes to
the engine like I told you?

1004
01:03:29,744 --> 01:03:30,619
‐ Yes.

1005
01:03:30,703 --> 01:03:32,663
‐ That's 200 pounds
on these airplanes.

1006
01:03:32,705 --> 01:03:35,958
So without that 200
pounds taking it away,

1007
01:03:36,042 --> 01:03:39,170
that's 200 pounds of
mail, that's profit.

1008
01:03:39,253 --> 01:03:41,672
‐ Well, this air‐cooled
engine is more reliable.

1009
01:03:41,756 --> 01:03:46,761
It allows the plane to go faster
and it doesn't need water.

1010
01:03:49,305 --> 01:03:52,683
Why carry water, when
you can carry more mail?

1011
01:03:52,767 --> 01:03:55,102
‐ Do you have your
fleet ready to go now?

1012
01:04:00,107 --> 01:04:01,192
‐ Of course.

1013
01:04:05,696 --> 01:04:09,742
‐ Boeing wins this contract
in January and by July.

1014
01:04:09,867 --> 01:04:15,206
he's supposed to be flying
the mail, 26 model 40s.

1015
01:04:16,665 --> 01:04:18,751
These airplanes
haven't been built yet.

1016
01:04:20,711 --> 01:04:23,005
‐ What do you know
about a radial engine?

1017
01:04:23,089 --> 01:04:26,300
‐ Knowing Bill Boeing
and his character,

1018
01:04:26,384 --> 01:04:28,219
failure was not an option.

1019
01:04:28,344 --> 01:04:29,345
‐ Change this section.

1020
01:04:29,470 --> 01:04:31,055
‐ It's one of the
hardest things to do,

1021
01:04:31,180 --> 01:04:32,765
increase rates of production.

1022
01:04:32,890 --> 01:04:34,683
‐ [Boeing] I need this to be
perfect, okay? Perfect.

1023
01:04:34,809 --> 01:04:38,771
‐ And so for Bill Boeing
to go from zero to 26

1024
01:04:38,896 --> 01:04:39,814
in six months,

1025
01:04:39,897 --> 01:04:40,773
‐ Yeah, it's Boeing.

1026
01:04:40,856 --> 01:04:43,150
it's almost hard
for us even today

1027
01:04:43,275 --> 01:04:45,486
to even comprehend.

1028
01:04:45,569 --> 01:04:47,071
‐ [Narrator] Boeing
steals a page

1029
01:04:47,196 --> 01:04:49,698
from Ford's assembly line idea.

1030
01:04:49,824 --> 01:04:53,577
‐ He quickly assembled a team
of literally everyone he knew

1031
01:04:53,661 --> 01:04:58,833
and built all 26
model 40A's at once.

1032
01:04:59,375 --> 01:05:01,585
‐ He had the metal workers
building the fuselage,

1033
01:05:01,710 --> 01:05:04,171
the woodworkers, putting
the wings together

1034
01:05:04,255 --> 01:05:06,674
and the seamstresses
putting on the fabric.

1035
01:05:06,715 --> 01:05:08,801
So it's a team effort.

1036
01:05:08,884 --> 01:05:10,636
‐ We've all pulled all nighters.

1037
01:05:10,719 --> 01:05:13,639
This was an all‐nighter
that lasted six months.

1038
01:05:14,765 --> 01:05:17,977
‐ That simple fact that he
could mass produce that quickly,

1039
01:05:18,060 --> 01:05:20,813
really propelled the
industry forward.

1040
01:05:23,441 --> 01:05:25,609
‐ [Narrator] Boeing's
fleet is ready.

1041
01:05:25,693 --> 01:05:27,862
‐ Thank you for
being here today.

1042
01:05:27,945 --> 01:05:32,366
‐ [Narrator] He manages to build
all 26 planes just in time.

1043
01:05:32,491 --> 01:05:34,952
‐ My wife shall do the honors.

1044
01:05:35,035 --> 01:05:36,704
‐ [Narrator] It's
a huge victory.

1045
01:05:42,835 --> 01:05:43,794
(glass shatters)

1046
01:05:43,878 --> 01:05:45,254
(crowd cheers)

1047
01:05:45,337 --> 01:05:49,216
Boeing's routes are worth
nearly $5 million a year

1048
01:05:49,300 --> 01:05:51,635
which is over 75 million today

1049
01:05:52,636 --> 01:05:55,764
and now Ford has some
real competition.

1050
01:06:06,942 --> 01:06:10,863
‐ [Narrator] By 1926, automobile
ownership in America

1051
01:06:10,988 --> 01:06:13,157
is at an all time high.

1052
01:06:13,199 --> 01:06:15,493
20 million cars are on the road

1053
01:06:16,619 --> 01:06:20,164
but DuPont's GM with its
multiple brands has been eating

1054
01:06:20,289 --> 01:06:22,541
away at Ford's lead.

1055
01:06:22,666 --> 01:06:26,462
GM now sells a quarter of
the cars in the country.

1056
01:06:27,379 --> 01:06:30,799
Henry Ford decides
it's time to hit back.

1057
01:06:32,009 --> 01:06:33,344
‐ Ford really only has one arrow

1058
01:06:33,469 --> 01:06:35,429
in the quiver to stave
off his competitors

1059
01:06:35,513 --> 01:06:37,097
and that is to lower his prices.

1060
01:06:37,223 --> 01:06:40,935
Whenever a competitor gets
close, Ford lowers the price.

1061
01:06:43,646 --> 01:06:45,606
And ultimately he sticks
with this strategy

1062
01:06:45,689 --> 01:06:47,608
because it proves
quite successful.

1063
01:06:51,654 --> 01:06:54,657
‐ [Narrator] Ford slashes
prices of his Model T

1064
01:06:55,783 --> 01:07:01,413
to under $300, the equivalent
of about $6,000 today.

1065
01:07:16,887 --> 01:07:18,556
‐ Good to see you.

1066
01:07:20,057 --> 01:07:22,726
‐ Try the steak, I don't
know what they season

1067
01:07:22,851 --> 01:07:24,520
it with but it's
cooked to perfection.

1068
01:07:24,603 --> 01:07:26,146
‐ No, I'm not hungry for it.

1069
01:07:26,230 --> 01:07:28,399
‐ No?

1070
01:07:32,027 --> 01:07:32,945
‐ It's Ford.

1071
01:07:40,286 --> 01:07:42,997
‐ No one believes they
can beat Ford on price

1072
01:07:43,038 --> 01:07:44,456
but that's the only way to win.

1073
01:07:44,540 --> 01:07:46,000
‐ We've tried every way possible

1074
01:07:46,125 --> 01:07:48,877
but he's just got economies
of scale we can't have.

1075
01:07:48,961 --> 01:07:51,005
‐ No, no, you need to
give away the cars.

1076
01:07:51,088 --> 01:07:52,715
No one can compete with free.

1077
01:07:55,134 --> 01:07:56,760
‐ I must be missing your point.

1078
01:07:58,053 --> 01:07:59,471
‐ You need to do what I do.

1079
01:08:00,723 --> 01:08:03,559
See when people leave my bank
after I give them a loan,

1080
01:08:03,642 --> 01:08:06,312
they feel like they've
got free money,

1081
01:08:06,395 --> 01:08:08,314
like they've somehow
beaten the system.

1082
01:08:09,523 --> 01:08:12,735
But in reality, they're
going to pay me every month

1083
01:08:12,860 --> 01:08:14,820
for the rest of their
life with interest.

1084
01:08:14,945 --> 01:08:17,740
‐ For you, a free car,
it's just the bait.

1085
01:08:19,158 --> 01:08:20,367
The loan is the hook.

1086
01:08:28,542 --> 01:08:31,170
‐ [Narrator] For years,
DuPont's General Motors

1087
01:08:31,295 --> 01:08:33,839
has been trying to beat Ford.

1088
01:08:33,922 --> 01:08:37,468
Now they make a
game‐changing decision.

1089
01:08:38,719 --> 01:08:41,513
If Americans want the
car of their dreams,

1090
01:08:42,931 --> 01:08:46,185
General Motors will lend
them the money to buy it.

1091
01:08:49,813 --> 01:08:52,608
‐ General Motors through
the creation of GMAC,

1092
01:08:52,691 --> 01:08:55,903
the General Motors Acceptance
Corporation offered financing.

1093
01:08:57,154 --> 01:09:00,449
‐ You could buy a Ford and you
could pay for that car today.

1094
01:09:00,532 --> 01:09:02,826
Or you can buy General Motors
and you could pay for it

1095
01:09:02,951 --> 01:09:06,080
over two years or three years
or four years with credit.

1096
01:09:07,706 --> 01:09:08,540
Wow.

1097
01:09:09,500 --> 01:09:11,210
‐ [Narrator] With
backing from Morgan,

1098
01:09:11,293 --> 01:09:14,546
GM goes all in on car loans

1099
01:09:15,631 --> 01:09:18,133
and it's a huge success.

1100
01:09:19,093 --> 01:09:22,888
‐ General Motors is creating
the modern corporation.

1101
01:09:23,013 --> 01:09:25,766
People could show up with
whatever they had and buy a car

1102
01:09:25,849 --> 01:09:28,560
and pay it off in installments.

1103
01:09:30,020 --> 01:09:31,188
‐ It was so right for the
roaring twenties, where

1104
01:09:31,271 --> 01:09:32,773
everything was ahead of us.

1105
01:09:34,525 --> 01:09:37,903
The new America was more
about what was in front of you.

1106
01:09:39,071 --> 01:09:41,573
‐ [Narrator] The age
of easy money is born.

1107
01:09:44,868 --> 01:09:46,161
‐ Easy money means basically

1108
01:09:46,245 --> 01:09:49,832
that you can go to a bank and
say, I want a lot of money

1109
01:09:49,915 --> 01:09:52,042
and instead of them saying,
are you out of your mind?

1110
01:09:52,126 --> 01:09:54,878
You don't deserve any
credit, they say sure.

1111
01:09:55,879 --> 01:09:58,090
‐ The 1920s, it was the
really the first time

1112
01:09:58,215 --> 01:10:02,511
that Joe on street was
getting loans, literally loans

1113
01:10:02,594 --> 01:10:04,888
to buy all sorts of stuff.

1114
01:10:05,931 --> 01:10:09,309
‐ [Narrator] Radios,
refrigerators and even new homes

1115
01:10:09,393 --> 01:10:11,019
are suddenly within reach.

1116
01:10:11,979 --> 01:10:13,355
‐ You know, you
could go buy a house

1117
01:10:13,480 --> 01:10:16,483
with no money down, no
documentation, no income.

1118
01:10:16,525 --> 01:10:18,736
A bank will give you
a loan, so easy money.

1119
01:10:18,861 --> 01:10:20,320
It's not just about
interest rates.

1120
01:10:20,446 --> 01:10:22,823
It's about very lax terms.

1121
01:10:24,491 --> 01:10:26,660
‐ By extending credit,
General Motors finds a way

1122
01:10:26,785 --> 01:10:30,122
to make the automobile
attainable without necessarily

1123
01:10:30,205 --> 01:10:31,832
making it affordable.

1124
01:10:31,957 --> 01:10:33,667
It allows people not
only to purchase one car

1125
01:10:33,709 --> 01:10:35,085
but perhaps even two.

1126
01:10:35,210 --> 01:10:38,714
That was a brilliant stroke
on the part of DuPont.

1127
01:10:40,924 --> 01:10:44,094
‐ [Narrator] By 1927, just
six years since DuPont

1128
01:10:44,178 --> 01:10:46,847
and Morgan joined
forces, they've achieved

1129
01:10:46,889 --> 01:10:49,683
what many considered
impossible.

1130
01:10:50,225 --> 01:10:53,979
They've dethroned the king of
cars, Henry Ford.

1131
01:10:54,938 --> 01:10:59,151
General Motors is the number
one automaker in America.

1132
01:11:08,035 --> 01:11:09,661
(suspenseful music)

1133
01:11:12,039 --> 01:11:15,125
‐ [Narrator] By 1927,
Ford faces challenges,

1134
01:11:15,209 --> 01:11:17,795
not just on the
ground, but in the air.

1135
01:11:19,713 --> 01:11:20,881
‐ So when can you
send them over?

1136
01:11:21,006 --> 01:11:22,466
‐ [Narrator] To capture
more contracts,

1137
01:11:22,549 --> 01:11:25,260
William Boeing continues
to grow his fleet

1138
01:11:25,385 --> 01:11:28,096
of superior mail planes.

1139
01:11:28,222 --> 01:11:30,057
‐ 24.9, that looks good.

1140
01:11:31,183 --> 01:11:35,229
‐ The success of the model
40A, indicates that emergence

1141
01:11:35,354 --> 01:11:37,940
of Boeing as the company
that we know it today.

1142
01:11:40,692 --> 01:11:44,363
‐ [Narrator] Soon, Boeing
achieves the unthinkable,

1143
01:11:44,488 --> 01:11:46,698
a near monopoly on airmail.

1144
01:11:49,451 --> 01:11:51,703
It's a massive win over Ford.

1145
01:11:53,455 --> 01:11:56,583
(atmospheric music)

1146
01:12:01,880 --> 01:12:05,175
Edsel Ford knows if he
doesn't do something fast,

1147
01:12:05,259 --> 01:12:09,012
his entire aviation
business will go under.

1148
01:12:12,558 --> 01:12:15,143
(car honking)

1149
01:12:36,790 --> 01:12:39,877
(suspenseful music)

1150
01:12:54,391 --> 01:12:57,185
(engine revving)

1151
01:13:07,654 --> 01:13:11,283
(door thuds)

1152
01:13:12,492 --> 01:13:15,829
(drawer creaks)

1153
01:13:15,954 --> 01:13:18,832
(suspenseful music continues)

1154
01:13:18,957 --> 01:13:20,792
‐ Edsel Ford was thinking about,

1155
01:13:20,876 --> 01:13:24,212
what are the possibilities
for aviation as a business?

1156
01:13:26,214 --> 01:13:29,217
How can the airplane make
American life better?

1157
01:13:43,440 --> 01:13:47,319
(suspenseful music progresses)

1158
01:13:49,363 --> 01:13:50,989
‐ [Narrator] Edsel
believes that the future

1159
01:13:51,073 --> 01:13:53,825
of aviation is not
transporting mail,

1160
01:13:55,786 --> 01:13:57,204
it's transporting people.

1161
01:14:01,750 --> 01:14:03,669
‐ Today, we take it for
granted that we can get

1162
01:14:03,710 --> 01:14:05,337
from New York City
to Los Angeles

1163
01:14:05,462 --> 01:14:07,798
in a matter of hours by plane.

1164
01:14:07,881 --> 01:14:09,174
And in the 1920s,

1165
01:14:09,299 --> 01:14:12,636
it took five days by train,
to make that same trip.

1166
01:14:12,719 --> 01:14:15,973
So, aviation really
had the potential to

1167
01:14:16,056 --> 01:14:20,060
revolutionize passenger
travel in the United States.

1168
01:14:20,185 --> 01:14:22,729
(intense violin crescendoing)

1169
01:14:22,854 --> 01:14:26,108
‐ Hey, here's what I'm
thinking for the new model.

1170
01:14:27,818 --> 01:14:30,070
First side of the plane...

1171
01:14:30,195 --> 01:14:31,780
‐ [Narrator] Over the next
several months,

1172
01:14:31,863 --> 01:14:34,157
Edsel and his team
designed the first

1173
01:14:34,282 --> 01:14:37,869
modern passenger plane,
the Trimotor.

1174
01:14:39,371 --> 01:14:42,249
‐ Nothing like the Ford
Trimotor had been seen before.

1175
01:14:42,374 --> 01:14:45,711
It was an all metal airplane
carrying 12 passengers,

1176
01:14:45,836 --> 01:14:48,338
it had three air‐cooled
engines, it had one wing,

1177
01:14:48,463 --> 01:14:51,883
and the pilots flew inside
a cabin, not outside.

1178
01:14:52,968 --> 01:14:55,679
This was futuristic
when it came into being

1179
01:14:55,762 --> 01:14:56,763
in the mid 1920s.

1180
01:14:58,807 --> 01:15:01,393
‐ I think the Trimotor was
Edsel's dream come true,

1181
01:15:02,728 --> 01:15:04,855
that proved that flight
could occur safely.

1182
01:15:04,980 --> 01:15:06,314
And that by using three engines

1183
01:15:06,356 --> 01:15:08,567
on an airplane, it
solved a lot of problems,

1184
01:15:08,692 --> 01:15:10,068
because if one of
the engines failed,

1185
01:15:10,193 --> 01:15:12,988
the pilot could use the
other two to land safely.

1186
01:15:14,614 --> 01:15:17,826
‐ [Narrator] But building a
passenger plane won't be enough.

1187
01:15:17,951 --> 01:15:20,912
Edsel needs to get
people to fly in it.

1188
01:15:21,038 --> 01:15:23,665
‐ So even as air mail is
becoming increasingly common

1189
01:15:23,749 --> 01:15:26,710
throughout the 1920s, there
was still a huge reluctance

1190
01:15:26,835 --> 01:15:28,086
in the American public to fly,

1191
01:15:28,211 --> 01:15:30,422
because people were
afraid of flying,

1192
01:15:30,547 --> 01:15:32,049
they believed it wasn't safe.

1193
01:15:34,092 --> 01:15:36,011
‐ [Narrator] Edsel's
dream is doomed,

1194
01:15:36,136 --> 01:15:39,473
unless the public overcomes
its fear of flying.

1195
01:15:40,474 --> 01:15:43,769
And it turns out, just
500 miles to the East,

1196
01:15:43,894 --> 01:15:49,316
one daring pilot is about to
change people's minds, forever.

1197
01:15:50,192 --> 01:15:52,611
(bird cawing)

1198
01:15:58,033 --> 01:16:01,578
‐ In the mid 1920s, there
was a great competition,

1199
01:16:01,703 --> 01:16:05,874
to be the first to make the
first trans‐atlantic flight

1200
01:16:05,999 --> 01:16:07,626
from New York to Paris.

1201
01:16:11,838 --> 01:16:15,175
This young, unknown,
penniless practically,

1202
01:16:15,300 --> 01:16:19,179
former airmail pilot
from Minnesota

1203
01:16:19,262 --> 01:16:21,473
was about the most
unlikely person

1204
01:16:21,556 --> 01:16:24,434
to fly across the Atlantic,
that you can think of.

1205
01:16:25,602 --> 01:16:28,313
‐ [Narrator] Six pilots
have already died trying,

1206
01:16:28,396 --> 01:16:31,108
and most think this new
pilot will be the seventh.

1207
01:16:32,150 --> 01:16:34,820
His name is Charles Lindbergh.

1208
01:16:34,903 --> 01:16:37,989
(airplane engine sputtering)

1209
01:16:49,709 --> 01:16:53,171
‐ [Narrator] 33 hours later, he
achieves the unthinkable.

1210
01:16:56,716 --> 01:17:01,012
Touching down in Paris, where
he's mobbed by thousands.

1211
01:17:03,056 --> 01:17:06,059
(triumphant music)

1212
01:17:08,228 --> 01:17:10,981
‐ His flight, just captured
the imagination of the world.

1213
01:17:11,022 --> 01:17:14,317
Not just Americans, not
just the French, everybody.

1214
01:17:15,527 --> 01:17:18,405
He was much more than
a movie star today

1215
01:17:18,530 --> 01:17:20,198
or a sports figure today.

1216
01:17:23,368 --> 01:17:24,744
‐ [Narrator] At the age of 25,

1217
01:17:24,870 --> 01:17:28,915
Charles Lindbergh becomes the
most famous man in the world.

1218
01:17:32,544 --> 01:17:33,545
(crowds cheering)

1219
01:17:33,670 --> 01:17:35,088
‐ [Reporter] Lindy starts a
tour across the nation.

1220
01:17:35,213 --> 01:17:39,092
He's acclaimed, adored
in city after city.

1221
01:17:39,217 --> 01:17:42,262
And wherever he turns
he hears his name.

1222
01:17:42,387 --> 01:17:43,180
(cheering)

1223
01:17:43,263 --> 01:17:46,224
The fame,
the glory, all are his.

1224
01:17:46,349 --> 01:17:49,186
The world has found
the perfect hero.

1225
01:17:49,311 --> 01:17:50,770
And at this moment,
the future looms

1226
01:17:50,896 --> 01:17:52,772
ahead of him, bright and shiny.

1227
01:17:52,856 --> 01:17:56,109
(radio switching off)

1228
01:17:58,195 --> 01:18:00,530
‐ [Narrator] Edsel Ford
may have just found

1229
01:18:00,655 --> 01:18:02,407
the solution to his problem.

1230
01:18:11,166 --> 01:18:13,668
(dramatic music)

1231
01:18:23,220 --> 01:18:26,306
‐ I thought you
said he was coming.

1232
01:18:29,893 --> 01:18:30,727
‐ He is.

1233
01:18:32,395 --> 01:18:33,188
Look.

1234
01:18:38,360 --> 01:18:41,529
‐ Three months after Lucky
Lindy shocked the world

1235
01:18:41,655 --> 01:18:45,492
by completing this first
solo transatlantic flight,

1236
01:18:46,451 --> 01:18:48,745
he comes flying in on
the Spirit of St. Louis,

1237
01:18:48,870 --> 01:18:50,455
to meet with Henry and Edsel.

1238
01:18:52,207 --> 01:18:54,334
‐ Charles, it's good to see you.

1239
01:18:55,627 --> 01:18:56,628
This is my father, Henry.

1240
01:18:56,711 --> 01:18:57,545
‐ Mr. Lindbergh.

1241
01:18:59,798 --> 01:19:02,842
‐ This was extraordinary
moment in American history.

1242
01:19:02,926 --> 01:19:05,929
Two of the most famous, most
successful men in the world,

1243
01:19:06,054 --> 01:19:07,639
Henry Ford and Lindbergh.

1244
01:19:07,722 --> 01:19:10,016
Both had rather
complicated political views

1245
01:19:10,058 --> 01:19:11,184
that they shared.

1246
01:19:11,268 --> 01:19:13,395
But at the time, they
were both modern heroes

1247
01:19:13,520 --> 01:19:17,649
and embodied this idea that
mankind could harness power.

1248
01:19:17,732 --> 01:19:20,652
‐ How many seats are you
planning on putting in a row?

1249
01:19:20,735 --> 01:19:21,403
‐ It's a good question.

1250
01:19:21,486 --> 01:19:23,154
So, originally we had four.

1251
01:19:23,238 --> 01:19:25,407
‐ [Narrator] Together,
the Fords and Lindbergh

1252
01:19:25,532 --> 01:19:28,159
form a partnership
that will transform

1253
01:19:28,285 --> 01:19:29,744
the aviation industry.

1254
01:19:32,038 --> 01:19:35,041
Using Ford's planes,
and Lindbergh's name,

1255
01:19:35,166 --> 01:19:37,335
a new airline is formed.

1256
01:19:39,421 --> 01:19:41,172
Offering coast to coast travel,

1257
01:19:41,298 --> 01:19:44,384
LA to New York,
in just 48 hours.

1258
01:19:47,429 --> 01:19:50,056
Edsel knows that
Lindbergh is the key

1259
01:19:50,181 --> 01:19:52,684
to convincing the public to fly.

1260
01:19:53,727 --> 01:19:56,354
‐ They used Lindbergh as
a celebrity endorsement

1261
01:19:56,479 --> 01:19:58,732
and it was brilliant
marketing by Ford,

1262
01:19:58,857 --> 01:20:01,067
the American public
trusted Charles Lindbergh,

1263
01:20:01,192 --> 01:20:02,402
it really helped them believe

1264
01:20:02,527 --> 01:20:05,280
that flying on Ford
Trimotors across country

1265
01:20:05,363 --> 01:20:08,533
was something safe and something
that they wanted to do.

1266
01:20:09,784 --> 01:20:11,494
‐ [Narrator] Lindbergh's
influence on the airline

1267
01:20:11,578 --> 01:20:15,582
is so complete, that it
becomes known as Lindy's Line.

1268
01:20:16,541 --> 01:20:20,587
Years later, it will
get another name, TWA.

1269
01:20:22,422 --> 01:20:27,594
By 1928, nearly 200,000
passengers will fly on planes.

1270
01:20:29,846 --> 01:20:33,850
Edsel's dream of an aviation
business has finally come true.

1271
01:20:35,143 --> 01:20:37,896
And the future seems
brighter than ever.

1272
01:20:40,690 --> 01:20:43,318
(car honking)

1273
01:20:45,695 --> 01:20:49,199
Walter Chrysler is planning
for his future as well.

1274
01:20:50,116 --> 01:20:51,659
‐ If it's going to cost that,

1275
01:20:51,785 --> 01:20:54,329
we got to tell him it's
too expensive, right?

1276
01:20:54,454 --> 01:20:56,373
‐ [Narrator] Since
launching the Chrysler 70,

1277
01:20:56,498 --> 01:20:58,541
sales have skyrocketed.

1278
01:20:58,666 --> 01:21:01,169
‐ Tell him I said, that's right.

1279
01:21:01,294 --> 01:21:04,047
‐ [Narrator] And he needs
to increase production.

1280
01:21:04,172 --> 01:21:06,633
So he buys a rival car company,

1281
01:21:09,677 --> 01:21:10,470
Dodge.

1282
01:21:13,556 --> 01:21:18,061
‐ The Dodge Brothers Company
had an enormous factory complex

1283
01:21:18,186 --> 01:21:19,354
in Detroit.

1284
01:21:20,647 --> 01:21:23,900
Foundries, machine
shops, forges,

1285
01:21:24,025 --> 01:21:26,361
and Chrysler bought all of it.

1286
01:21:27,278 --> 01:21:28,071
‐ [Narrator] Overnight,

1287
01:21:28,196 --> 01:21:30,698
Chrysler's manufacturing
capacity

1288
01:21:30,824 --> 01:21:32,325
grows five fold.

1289
01:21:32,367 --> 01:21:33,701
‐ Put it there.

1290
01:21:33,827 --> 01:21:37,080
‐ [Narrator] And catapults
his company into the top tier

1291
01:21:37,205 --> 01:21:38,498
of the auto industry.

1292
01:21:39,582 --> 01:21:42,210
‐ The automotive industries
publication wrote,

1293
01:21:42,335 --> 01:21:47,006
"we now can talk about the
big three car companies,

1294
01:21:47,132 --> 01:21:49,676
General Motors,
Ford, and Chrysler."

1295
01:21:49,801 --> 01:21:51,010
‐ Cheers, all right!

1296
01:21:51,052 --> 01:21:53,179
‐ And that was the first
time that expression had ever

1297
01:21:53,304 --> 01:21:54,264
been used.

1298
01:21:59,727 --> 01:22:01,938
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler
is number three,

1299
01:22:02,689 --> 01:22:04,607
but he wants to be number one.

1300
01:22:06,526 --> 01:22:08,820
To outdo Ford and
du Pont,

1301
01:22:08,903 --> 01:22:10,071
Chrysler once again,

1302
01:22:10,196 --> 01:22:12,949
sets out to build
something spectacular.

1303
01:22:13,700 --> 01:22:16,453
But this time, it's not a car.

1304
01:22:16,536 --> 01:22:19,831
It's an 800 foot
monument to himself.

1305
01:22:21,332 --> 01:22:22,709
The Chrysler Building.

1306
01:22:24,127 --> 01:22:28,006
‐ See here, I redesigned the
revolving doors in the lobby,

1307
01:22:28,089 --> 01:22:29,924
So they're under a huge archway.

1308
01:22:30,049 --> 01:22:32,677
‐ [Narrator] And with it,
Walter Chrysler intends

1309
01:22:32,719 --> 01:22:35,680
to put his mark on the
New York City skyline.

1310
01:22:35,805 --> 01:22:37,348
‐ Now we're going to have
to figure something out

1311
01:22:37,432 --> 01:22:38,475
about the roof.

1312
01:22:43,646 --> 01:22:46,858
‐ [Narrator] A skyscraper
boom is underway,

1313
01:22:46,983 --> 01:22:48,651
as the economy soars.

1314
01:22:48,776 --> 01:22:52,155
The demand for new office
buildings is on the rise.

1315
01:22:52,822 --> 01:22:56,242
Thanks to innovations in
steel frame construction,

1316
01:22:56,367 --> 01:23:00,288
new high rises are
reshaping America's cities,

1317
01:23:00,371 --> 01:23:02,373
especially in New York.

1318
01:23:02,499 --> 01:23:04,667
‐ The skyscraper is an
interesting phenomenon.

1319
01:23:04,792 --> 01:23:06,753
If we think about it this way,

1320
01:23:06,878 --> 01:23:08,421
Robber Barons built these
beautiful mansions

1321
01:23:08,546 --> 01:23:10,632
to show off their
wealth and opulence,

1322
01:23:11,591 --> 01:23:14,260
these skyscrapers were
pyramids in the sky

1323
01:23:14,344 --> 01:23:15,887
to the captains of industry.

1324
01:23:16,012 --> 01:23:19,641
Titans of a new age, of
industrial strength and might.

1325
01:23:21,851 --> 01:23:23,645
‐ All right, let's take a look.

1326
01:23:26,481 --> 01:23:28,525
‐ [Narrator] Chrysler
aims to make his building

1327
01:23:28,650 --> 01:23:30,443
the tallest in the world.

1328
01:23:32,278 --> 01:23:34,030
‐ This is the roughest
stainless steel.

1329
01:23:34,113 --> 01:23:36,741
It's German.

1330
01:23:36,866 --> 01:23:39,118
‐ Did the world need
the tallest building?

1331
01:23:39,202 --> 01:23:40,578
No, that's ego.

1332
01:23:40,703 --> 01:23:43,206
But ego is a great
thing in business.

1333
01:23:43,331 --> 01:23:46,167
Ego, you show me a
titan of industry,

1334
01:23:46,292 --> 01:23:48,920
and I'll show you
somebody with a big ego.

1335
01:24:04,060 --> 01:24:04,769
‐ Sorry to disturb you.

1336
01:24:04,894 --> 01:24:08,398
But I think you should see this.

1337
01:24:15,280 --> 01:24:17,156
(suspenseful music)

1338
01:24:17,198 --> 01:24:20,076
‐ [Narrator] Du Pont learns
about Chrysler's plans,

1339
01:24:21,369 --> 01:24:23,413
and to add insult to injury,

1340
01:24:24,581 --> 01:24:26,082
Chrysler has just been named,

1341
01:24:26,207 --> 01:24:29,002
Time Magazine's man of the year.

1342
01:24:30,128 --> 01:24:33,548
‐ So why you building the
tallest building in the world?

1343
01:24:34,882 --> 01:24:37,510
‐ So I can look down on GM.

1344
01:24:37,594 --> 01:24:40,680
(group laughing)

1345
01:24:40,763 --> 01:24:42,599
‐ [[Interviewer] What
do you have against GM?

1346
01:24:43,558 --> 01:24:45,310
‐ Oh, I wouldn't
say I have anything

1347
01:24:45,393 --> 01:24:46,686
in particular against them.

1348
01:24:46,769 --> 01:24:49,480
They just don't do it
as good as I do, right?

1349
01:24:49,564 --> 01:24:51,441
(group laughing)

1350
01:24:51,524 --> 01:24:52,817
So I can look down on GM.

1351
01:24:55,862 --> 01:24:57,113
Look down on GM.

1352
01:25:01,993 --> 01:25:02,869
‐ Sorry, Sir.

1353
01:25:06,748 --> 01:25:09,917
‐ It absolutely gets
personal between these two,

1354
01:25:10,043 --> 01:25:12,545
always measuring themselves
against one another.

1355
01:25:12,670 --> 01:25:13,838
When you're talking about people

1356
01:25:13,963 --> 01:25:16,382
at the top top, top, top, top,

1357
01:25:16,507 --> 01:25:19,260
their competitiveness
is rooted in ego.

1358
01:25:28,853 --> 01:25:30,355
‐ As for office
space, we're looking

1359
01:25:30,438 --> 01:25:32,607
at over two million square feet.

1360
01:25:32,690 --> 01:25:34,025
We'll be able to
hold more tenants

1361
01:25:34,108 --> 01:25:37,111
than any other building in the
world, and all at a premium.

1362
01:25:37,195 --> 01:25:40,323
Especially when you account
for the sweeping views

1363
01:25:40,448 --> 01:25:41,491
of the city.

1364
01:25:42,408 --> 01:25:43,493
‐ How high?

1365
01:25:44,661 --> 01:25:47,163
‐ The top floor
will be 800 feet up,

1366
01:25:47,246 --> 01:25:48,623
same height as Chrysler's.

1367
01:25:55,296 --> 01:25:57,799
‐ Make it taller, and I'm in.

1368
01:26:00,218 --> 01:26:03,012
(dramatic music)

1369
01:26:03,096 --> 01:26:05,723
‐ [Narrator] Just a few blocks
from Chrysler's building,

1370
01:26:05,848 --> 01:26:09,852
Pierre du Pont is planning
a skyscraper of his own.

1371
01:26:09,977 --> 01:26:12,897
One that he hopes, will
put Chrysler's to shame.

1372
01:26:14,649 --> 01:26:18,903
‐ There is a competition,
there's a rivalry happening,

1373
01:26:19,028 --> 01:26:22,448
as to who's going to build
the biggest skyscraper,

1374
01:26:22,532 --> 01:26:24,659
and Du Pont wanted
to be part of that.

1375
01:26:25,868 --> 01:26:28,871
And in that prosperity
of the 1920s,

1376
01:26:28,996 --> 01:26:32,667
that meant buying the Old
Waldorf Astoria Hotel,

1377
01:26:34,335 --> 01:26:35,211
tearing it down,

1378
01:26:36,379 --> 01:26:38,756
and creating what was to become

1379
01:26:38,881 --> 01:26:41,759
the largest, tallest skyscraper,

1380
01:26:41,884 --> 01:26:44,721
not only in New York,
but in the world.

1381
01:26:45,888 --> 01:26:48,725
And that of course, was
the Empire State Building.

1382
01:26:59,110 --> 01:27:01,696
‐ [Narrator] Next time on the
Titans That Built America,

1383
01:27:02,697 --> 01:27:06,784
egos and rivalries,
soar to new heights.

1384
01:27:06,868 --> 01:27:08,202
‐ So we will be
four feet taller,

1385
01:27:08,327 --> 01:27:11,956
Chrysler can stick an umbrella
on top and say he's taller.

1386
01:27:12,039 --> 01:27:15,251
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
the future of aviation.

1387
01:27:17,003 --> 01:27:18,546
‐ [Narrator] But
America soon faces

1388
01:27:18,671 --> 01:27:21,591
the greatest financial
crisis in history.

1389
01:27:22,592 --> 01:27:25,928
‐ Overall assets
down by 400 million.

1390
01:27:26,053 --> 01:27:29,015
‐ Mr Morgan, what's happening?

1391
01:27:29,098 --> 01:27:31,392
Has the stock market
stopped falling?

1392
01:27:31,517 --> 01:27:32,935
‐ It's time to cut our losses.

1393
01:27:33,060 --> 01:27:35,021
I'm shutting Ford Aviation down.

1394
01:27:36,814 --> 01:27:38,483
‐ [Narrator] And a
bold new president,

1395
01:27:38,566 --> 01:27:40,526
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

1396
01:27:40,651 --> 01:27:44,322
is determined to tame the
Titan's power

1397
01:27:44,405 --> 01:27:45,740
or crush them.

1398
01:27:46,240 --> 01:27:48,326
‐ You're nothing short
of a war profiteer,

1399
01:27:48,409 --> 01:27:49,619
a merchant of death.

1400
01:27:51,788 --> 01:27:54,332
‐ [Narrator] But, as the country
struggles to build its way

1401
01:27:54,457 --> 01:27:55,625
out of the depression,

1402
01:27:59,045 --> 01:28:03,174
a threat from abroad changes
the rules of the game.

1403
01:28:03,257 --> 01:28:06,552
‐ No country in Europe would
stand a chance against Germany,

1404
01:28:06,677 --> 01:28:08,137
and neither will America.

1405
01:28:08,221 --> 01:28:11,307
‐ [Narrator] With war looming,
they'll have to work with FDR

1406
01:28:12,558 --> 01:28:15,311
and each other to
save the world.