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I guess this is when Alfred Sloan came down in the very obvious private car, having begged secrecy and been promised secrecy. He then parked the private car out in the yards where everyone could see it. Anyhow, we spent an afternoon negotiating. But this was quite a lot later, and a good many things had happened by that time.

Unfortunately, I don't recall accurately the course of the negotiations, the sequence of events, the progress of the strike in the Midwest. I can only recall episodes which came right to me. I was constantly making efforts to get the union and the employers back into some kind of conversation.

At any rate, the second time they came down, in their private car, they were in a milder mood. They met in my office. Knudsen was along. I think this was the time that he said, “I'm going back to Detroit. I don't belong here. I can make automobiles under any kind of labor policy.” He was angry at all the crossing of “t's” and so on. But we were working on a formula, on something that would lead up to a meeting with the officers of the union.

It was on that occasion that I said that I would use my influence to see that their preliminary meeting