7. So what does Franklin Delano Roosevelt have to do with Pontiac?

The other guy in this picture is William Knudsen. After successfully serving as Pontiac General Manager in the 1920’s and later running all of GM’s manufacturing operations, FDR “drafted” him as a General to direct the military supply operations of WWII. Many historians view the astounding transition of US private manufacturers to wartime production as the linchpin of Allied success in WWII.