ALTHOUGH THE DEBTS I have accumulated in the ten years I spent on this book are innumerable, I will try my best to enumerate them here. This study is based on work done at Harvard University under the direction of Professor Lizabeth Cohen. My debt to Professor Cohen is very great for her unfailing encouragement, for her critical reading of the manuscript at various stages, and, most of all, for her influence—often subtle but always profound—on my thinking. The inquiry began life as a seminar paper when Sven Beckert off-handedly advised a confused first-year graduate student to look into something called the Business Roundtable. His wise counsel on the study of business elites as social actors as well as his enthusiasm for the history of capitalism have left a clear mark on this book. In the last four years, I have found a wonderful professional home in the history department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and am thankful for the support of the staff, especially Joy Jones, Joyce Loftin, and Adam Kent, as well as the graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty.
Several scholars deserve effusive thanks for reading all or significant parts of the manuscript along the way: Julian Zelizer, Kim Phillips-Fein, Ed Balleisen, Lisa McGirr, Louis Hyman, Jennifer Delton, Mark Wilson, Bethany Moreton, Zaragosa Vargas, Ajay Mehrotra, Kathleen DuVal, and my go-to economist Marc Levinson. Kim McQuaid, a model of scholarly citizenship, not only commented on early drafts of several chapters but graciously shared his now thirty-year-old notes on the creation of the Business Roundtable. My gratitude also goes to Chuck Myers and the staff at Princeton University Press for their faithful stewardship of the book, and to Jenn Backer for astute copyediting. Several extremely helpful research assistants devoted many hours at crucial points in this process. I sincerely thank Scott Krause, Summer Shafer, and Xaris Martínez, who checked every note.
A number of participants in or witnesses to the events described in this book agreed to speak or correspond with me, either formally or off the record, and thus shaped my analysis in important ways. For their time and insight, I am very grateful to Bernadette Budde, James A. Baker III, John Post, Dr. Carl Grant, Mark Green, Ralph Nader, John Richard, Victor Kamber, Jules Bernstein, and Dan Fenn. Golf blogger John Sabino graciously allowed me to cite his description of the Links Club. Former Business Roundtable president John Castellani twice granted me permission to consult that group’s privately held papers, a privilege for which I am extremely grateful.
Even historians of the relatively recent past find untold treasures in the archives, where skilled, patient, and talented reference librarians and archivists play a vital role in scholarly work. For their kindness, wisdom, and professionalism, I would like to thank: Barbara Burg at Widener Library; Marge McNinch, Lucas Clawson, Jon Williams, Carol Lockman, and Lynn Catanese at the Hagley Library; Stacy Davis, Josh Cochran, and Mary Lukens at the Ford Library; Keith Shuler at the Carter Library; Terri Goldich at the University of Connecticut’s Dodd Center; Christopher Pendleton at the Bush Library; Lisa Jones at the Reagan Library; and Sahr Conway-Lanz at the National Archives. Amie Brennan and Joe Crea at the Business Roundtable aided my research there and fielded subsequent inquiries.
I have benefited from the opportunity to present aspects of this work in a number of academic settings, where participants’ comments, critiques, and questions greatly influenced my arguments and presentation. I thank members of the Market Cultures Workshop in New York City (h/t Julia Ott), the Rethinking Regulation Working Group at Duke University, and the Triangle Legal History Seminar; audiences at the Business History Conference, Power and the History of Capitalism, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Policy History Conference; and participants in faculty lunch colloquia in the history departments at UNC and Duke. Parts of chapter 4 were previously published in the Journal of American History as “Mobilizing for the Market: Organized Business, Wage-Price Controls, and the Politics of Inflation, 1971–1974” (September 2013). Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the financial support I received from: Harvard University’s history department, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, Center for American Political Studies, and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; the Harvard Business School’s Chandler Travel Grant; the Hagley Museum and Library; the Gerald R. Ford Library; the O’Donnell Grant Program at the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation; the Newcomen Society of the United States; and UNC’s history department, Dickson Fund, and College of Arts and Sciences.
Many other scholars, friends, and colleagues have had a hand in shaping this book by providing commentary, suggesting relevant sources, and otherwise supporting my inquiry. With deep gratitude, I thank especially: Noam Maggor, Ann Wilson, Betsy More, Miles Fletcher, Konrad Jarausch, Peter Coclanis, Lee Vinsel, Dominique Tobbell, Paula Gajewski, Mark Rose, Christine Desan, James Kloppenberg, Bruce Schulman, Meg Jacobs, Gerald Davis, William Becker, James Livingston, Judith Stein,
Elizabeth Sanders, Ed Berkowitz, Jonathan Weiner, Lawrence Baxter, Jeff Fear, and John A. Ruddiman (the elder). For nearly a century of intellectual stimulation (combined), I thank Jeffrey F. Haynes, Curtis A. T. Wright, and Vilas K. Sridharan.
Professor Jake Ruddiman has been a source of wisdom and encouragement since college. From the muggy July evening in Paris when he talked me into going to graduate school through the travails of doctoral work and our good fortune to land jobs in the same state, he has been a superb friend and counselor. Finally, I wish to acknowledge years of support from Professor Walter Jean of Georgetown University, whose “soap box” thesis has proved invaluable to my career so far.
My family has always been my first and most important source of strength. In their individual ways, my parents, Claudia and Bill Waterhouse, have opened many doors for me throughout my life. More important, their love and support have given me the confidence to open many more. I can never thank them enough. My sister and brother-in-law Molly and Mark bring humor and spirit to my life. Finally, in the brief years I was blessed to know them, my parents-in-law, Damião and Maria Leite of João Pessoa, Brazil, inspired and taught me in ways I was never able to express but which I hope they knew. They left this world too soon and too suddenly, and their loss has left a hole in the hearts of all who knew them. I am proud to be their genro.
Daniela Leite Waterhouse makes me who I am. This brilliant and beautiful woman has the perfect ability to lift me up, nudge me along, or push me back into my place, depending on what I need at the moment. She imbues my life with purpose and inspires my heart. She is my compass, my coach, my teacher, and my best friend. Finally, she is my steady and unfailing partner in the most important work of my life, raising our amazing children, Luna and Gabriel, who are the source of my perspective on what matters most. À la tienne, mon ange.