Giant of the West: Henry J. Kaiser and Regional Industrialization, 1930–1950

Abstract

Many entrepreneurs have contributed to the economic growth of the Far West, from the railroad builders of the nineteenth century to the modern day pioneers in Silicon Valley. In this article, Professor Foster focuses on the career of Henry J. Kaiser—an entrepreneur who was unquestionably one of the key figures in the modernization of the region. Though Foster does not slight the economic and political factors that made possible Kaiser's achievement he stresses that Kaiser's imagination, energy, and personal commitment were key elements in the maturation of the region's industrial economy.