Frameshop: Richardson Gets Iacocca

by: Jeffrey Feldman

Wed Nov 14, 2007 at 16:58:32 PM EST

For Michiganders who grew up in the days of the Chrysler miracle, seeing Bill Richardson get the endorsement of Lee Iacocca is reason for pause. 

Critics are probably correct to fault Richardson for often not being prepared enough--and in the right way--to truly emerge as a leader in this race.  But getting the endorsement of such a towering maverick of an executive is sure to catch the eye of many people in Detroit.

Among other things, Iacocca was the last person who looked at the Detroit auto industry and said:  never give up. To many, he was much more than that and most people don't even realize it.

Iacocca's great contribution to American culture probably won't ever make it to the political history books. But the idea that a utility vehicle used for hauling around light construction materials could be rebuilt on a sedan chassis was a creative insight and a business decision that gave us the minivan--which is, to this day, one of the most ubiquitous symbols in American life since the American flag was created.

The minivan has since become a symbol of both the good and bad of American culture--the transition from a rural and urban society to a society that has taken up a tenuous position in the intervening zone of the suburbs.  That zone, that area as symbolized by the minivan has become the central driving force of change in American politics.  And it was  Iacocca's baby.

The minivan also brought Chrysler out of financial ruin at a time when nobody believed it was possible.  Having convinced the federal government to bail out Chrysler, Iacocca rode sales from the minivan to something extraordinary and unprecedented in U.S. history:  a chief executive of a publicly traded firm paying back the principle and interest on his government loan--7 years ahead of schedule.  I'd be lying if I didn't say the cars Iacocca sold weren't the ugliest of all time.  But the business Iacocca generated with them temporarily brought back the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan in what was, to date, the last industry driven boom in the mitten state.

And to make it happen, Iacocca did something unheard of in today's greed driven corporate jungle:  he took no pay until Chrysler was back on its own feet.  Can you imagine that happening, today? Not a chance.  We live in a world, now, where corporate executives are paid pornographic sums of money specifically for finding ways to swindle the American government--for moving labor and profits off shore and out of the reach of the IRS. 

I'd like to believe that the Richardson endorsement by Iacocca means that the spirit of a healthy American industry is alive and well in the Democratic party. 

From a somewhat nostalgic Michigander:  congrats to Gov. Richardson.

(cross posted from Frameshop)