His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of Ford Motor Company and later General Motors led the Franklin Roosevelt Administration to directly commission him as a lieutenant general in the United States Army to help lead the United States' war materiel production efforts for World War II.
Hans erfaringer og succes som erhvervsleder inden for den virksomhedsmæssige ledelse af Ford Motor Company og senere General Motors førte til, at Franklin Roosevelts administration gav ham fuldmagt som generalløjtnant i den amerikanske hær for at hjælpe med at lede den amerikanske produktion af krigsmateriel under 2. verdenskrig.