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The article features U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson. He worked as president of the General Motors Corp. prior to his government position in 1953. In the author's view, Wilson was distinct from his predecessors because he adopted the large-scale management and the strategies of the automobile industry in Detroit, Michigan to the Defense Department. Actions taken by Wilson to address administrative weaknesses in the agency are stated. Also noted is the need for Wilson to understand standards and judgments to guide the defense effort.

The article focuses on the Ford family and their automobile manufacturing company. Henry Ford started the age of mass production and created an empire motivated by his goal to provide cars for the masses. By the end of the World War II, Ford left his company to his sons, Henry, Ben and Billy. According to the article, the brothers inherited an empire that was on the brink of collapse, with its share of U.S. automobile sales dropping from 40 percent in 1930 to 21 percent in the first postwar year of car production.