Free IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black Page A

ennui from the CTR board of directors and completely faded away in poor health. Watson became the company's chief executive and uncontested reigning authority. 72
    Now CTR would be completely transformed in Watson's image. A new name was needed. In Watson's mind, "CTR" said nothing about the company. The minor products, such as cheese slicers and key-activated time clocks, had long been abandoned or marginalized. The company was producing vital business machines for a world market. Someone had suggested a name for a new company newsletter: International Business Machines. 73
    International Business Machines —Watson realized that the name described more than a newsletter. It was the personification of what Watson and his enterprise were all about. He renamed the company. His intensely determined credo was best verbalized by his promise to all: "IBM is more than a business—it is a great worldwide institution that is going on forever." 74
    More than ever, Watson fused himself into every facet of IBM's operations, injecting his style into every decision, and mesmerizing the psyche of every employee. "IBM Spirit"—this was the term Watson ascribed to the all-encompassing, almost tribal devotion to company that he demanded. "We always refer to our people as the IBM Family," Watson emphasized to his employees, "and we mean the wives and children as well as the men." He continually spoke in terms of "oneness" with IBM. 75
    Employees were well treated, generously compensated, entitled to excellent working conditions with the most liberal benefits and vacation times, enrolled in the IBM Country Club at Endicott, New York, and invited to endless picnics, rallies, and dances. Plus they were inducted into the IBM Club. "The company just won't let you get lonesome," assured one Club member. Children began their indoctrination early, becoming eligible at age three for the kiddy rolls of the IBM Club, graduating to junior ranks at age eight. 76
    "Look upon me as the head of the family," Watson would preach. "I want you to come to me as often as you feel that I can do anything for you. Feel free to come and open your hearts and make your requests, just the same as one would in going to the head of a family." So penetrating was the Watson father image that employees routinely did ask his permission for ordinary personal decisions. John G. Phillips, for example, a man so powerful within the IBM organization that he ultimately became its vice-chairman, did not own an automobile until 1926; in that year, he finally approached the Leader. "Mr. Watson," declared Phillips, "I have enough money to buy a car, but I would like your permission to do it." 77
    Watson's own son, Tom, who inherited his father's throne at IBM, admitted, "The more I worked at IBM, the more I resented Dad for the cult-like atmosphere that surrounded him." 78
    Large pictures of Watson in the weekly company publication, Business Machines, regularly sported headlines proclaiming even his ordinary accomplishments, such as "Thomas J. Watson Opens New Orleans Office." The ever-present equating of his name with the word THINK was more than an Orwellian exercise, it was a true-life indoctrination. The Watson mystique was never confined to the four walls of IBM. His aura was only magnified by his autocratic style, barking out orders, demanding everywhere the pinnacle of service and action at a moment's notice, employing a secretary to ostentatiously follow him around scribbling notes and instructions on a steno pad. 79
    Newspapers constantly reported his movements and exploits. It was written during this era that, "probably no businessman in the country gets his name and picture in the newspapers more often than he does. Watson makes hundreds of public appearances every year at banquets, university commencements, the opening of art exhibits and similar occasions." Fortune referred to Watson as "the Leader," with a capital "L." So completely conscious was Watson of his mythic