Iacocca's book: 'Clueless bozos' are running the country
April 11, 2007
Former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca tears into the Bush administration and the U.S. auto industry in a new book, saying America's political leaders have failed the nation and urging voters to pick more carefully in 2008.
The 82-year-old Iacocca -- who was urged to run for president in the 1980s after turning around Chrysler -- also says he's for higher federal fuel economy standards, warns that Chrysler could become a "shattered remnant" if sold, and offers suggestions for Detroit's automakers to turn their businesses around.
"We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car," Iacocca and co-author Catherine Whitney write in the first page of "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?"
"I hardly recognize this country anymore," he wrote.
The book, Iacocca's first in more than a decade, combines a name-dropping memoir and lists of business advice around jeremiads about politics and the state of the U.S. economy that sound more like Michael Moore than the man who shot campaign ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos last year.
Iacocca, who did not return a message seeking comment, eases up on the auto industry, critiquing its decisions but praising General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner and Chrysler Group President Tom LaSorda. He even calls GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who chafed when Iacocca passing him over for the top job at Chrysler, a "saavy veteran."
His most blistering critiques are saved for Eaton and Juergen Schrempp, the former head of Daimler-Benz who oversaw the DaimlerChrysler merger. Iacocca describes the morning in 1998 when he found out about the merger as "the lowest low...I gave 15 years of my life to saving that company and now I wondered if it was worth it."
He admits to scaring Eaton by supporting Kirk Kerkorian's 1995 bid to take Chrysler private. Eaton and Chrysler's board fought that bid off, but Eaton was concerned that Chrysler needed a partner to survive, and Schrempp's Daimler-Benz was the most willing alternative. Iacocca says Eaton was outmaneuvered by Schrempp, and gave up Chrysler's heritage too easily, allowing Daimler to buy Chrysler rather than form a true merger of equals.
Those feelings eased a bit when Dieter Zetsche arrived as chief executive at Chrysler in 2000, and sought out Iacocca for advice. Iacocca praises Zetsche, but warns that the damage done to Chrysler may be irreversible.
"I'll always believe that if I hadn't chosen Bob Eaton to succeed me as chief executive at Chrysler, it would still be a strong, profitable, American car company," Iacocca writes. With Chrysler on the block, Iacocca warns that if Chrysler "is kicked to the curb, it will be as a shattered remnant of the great American car company it once was."
As for the rest of the industry, Iacocca advises several strategies, including building smaller cars and hiring smarter executives. He says higher fuel economy standards and a gas tax would help reduce oil consumption, and says the Detroit automakers will not succeed in the long term without agreements from the government and the United Auto Workers on pensions and health-care costs.
Since retiring from Chrysler in 1992, Iacocca has dabbled in several ventures, from electric bikes to olive oil, and never shied from the spotlight or the occasional stunt. Before Chrysler resurrected his auto pitchman career in 2005 with ads starring himself and rapper Snoop Dogg, Iacocca had freelanced, riding one of his electric bikes around David Letterman's studio in New York.
Iacocca's political history has as much see-sawing as his post-Chrysler career. He was good friends with Ronald Reagan, but became an avowed Democrat after Republicans opposed the Chrysler bailout in 1980. He turned down Democratic offers to run for president, and attacked Al Gore's environmental positions in 2000, but backed John Kerry in 2004 and praises Bill Clinton in his book.
Iacocca admits he campaigned for Bush in 2000, because he was friends with his father, and discussed becoming ambassador to Italy with the White House. But the first 20 pages of the book are devoted to a blistering critique of the president and his policies on everything from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina.
"George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites," writes Iacocca, after listing his "nine C's of leadership" and the ways in which the president fails on each one. Bush "prides himself on being faith-based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will."
White House spokesman Alex Conant said the administration "does not do book reviews."
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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