Charles Erwin Wilson (July 18, 1890 – September 26, 1961), American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. He had previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.
Wilson was born in Minerva, Ohio. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1909, he joined t...
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Charles Erwin Wilson (July 18, 1890 – September 26, 1961), American businessman and politician, was United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Eisenhower. He had previously worked as CEO for General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War, he cut the defense budget significantly.
Wilson was born in Minerva, Ohio. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1909, he joined the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, where eventually he supervised the engineering of automobile electrical equipment, and during World War I, the development of dynamotors and radio generators for the Army and Navy.
In 1919 Wilson moved to Remy Electric, a General Motors subsidiary, as chief engineer and sales manager. By January 1941 he was the president of General Motors. During World War II, Wilson directed the company's huge defense production effort, which earned him a U.S. Medal of Merit in 1946. In 1944, as the director of...
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