Harold Arthur Poling
{{Short description|American automobile businessman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harold Arthur Poling
| image = Harold Arthur Poling (1925-2012) in 1986.png
| caption = Poling in 1986
| alt =
| other_names = Harold Arthur "Red" Poling
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|10|14}}
| birth_place = Troy, Michigan, U.S.
| alma_mater = Monmouth College, Indiana University
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|5|12|1925|10|14}}
| occupation = {{unbulleted list|President of the Ford Motor Company (1985–1987)|Vice-chairman (1987–1989)|CEO and chairman (1990–1993)}}
| awards = Lone Sailor Award, by the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation for his naval career
| death_place = Pacific Grove, California
}}
Harold Arthur "Red" Poling (October 14, 1925 – May 12, 2012) was an American automobile businessman who was CEO and chairman of Ford Motor Company from 1990 to 1993.
Early life and education
Poling was born October 14, 1925, in Troy, Michigan, and grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, in Northern Virginia.{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67945725/chief-steered-ford-through-2/ |title=Chief steered Ford through 2 recessions |date=2012-05-17 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |page=AA5 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2021-01-18}} Poling graduated from Monmouth College in 1949. He earned his MBA at Indiana University.
Career
=United States Navy=
Poling was a fighter pilot in the United States Navy. His sometime corporate rival, Robert Lutz, had been a fighter pilot in the United States Marine Corps. Their clashes sometimes led subordinates to joke about "who won the dogfight today?"{{citation needed |date=January 2021}}
=Ford Motor Company=
Poling started at Ford Motor Company as an intern, while still attending Indiana University. After school, he took a job in 1951 as a cost analyst at Ford's Steel Division. Poling made his swift climb through the company as a financial executive, manager, assistant controller, and controller of the transmission and chassis division during the 1960s, then as controller of the engine division, then controller of the car product development group. During this time he was responsible for codification of much of Ford's "Finance Manual", directing his subordinates in standardization of the company's financial reporting and analysis practices. During the mid-1970s he worked in Ford's European Operations.
In the late 1970s he was vice president of corporate staffs, then in 1980 replaced William O. Bourke as executive vice-president of North American Automotive Operations (the company's biggest operating unit). The company was in cash and cost trouble, and Bourke refused to make some of the cost cuts that chairman Philip Caldwell thought necessary. Poling was never averse to cutting cost and succeeded in returning the unit to profitability. He was often cited as the man that saved Ford Motor Company in the 80's.{{citation needed |date=January 2021}}
He was the president of the Ford Motor Company between February 1985, and October 1987, when he took the role of second vice chairman alongside then vice chairman William Clay Ford Jr.{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67938226/2-units-formed-at-ford-14-oct-1987/ |title=2 units formed at Ford |last=Spelich |first=John |date=1987-10-14 |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |page=7B |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2021-01-18}} He became the CEO and chairman in March 1990, and remained in that role until 1993.{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Ford chairman Harold Poling retiring, replacement named|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gWAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=umUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1306,743373&dq=harold-poling+ford&hl=en|accessdate=16 March 2011|newspaper=Sun Journal|date=5 October 1993}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67936782/petersen-hands-over-fords-keys-27-feb/ |title=Petersen hands over Ford's keys |last=Gardner |first=Greg |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |date=1990-02-27 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2021-01-18}} He made his mark at Ford's European operations in the late 1970s and was widely considered as a savior of the company in his stint as executive vice-president for North America in the early 1980s.
Personal life
Poling married Marian Lee in 1957. He had three children: Pamela, Kathryn, and Douglas. Poling was an avid and accomplished golfer.{{cite news |title = Now It's Red Poling's Turn at Ford|author = Levin, Doron P.|date = April 22, 1990|accessdate = October 18, 2015|work = New York Times|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/22/business/now-it-s-red-poling-s-turn-at-ford.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}
Death
He died at the age of 86 on May 12, 2012, at his home in Pacific Grove, California.{{cite web |last = Klayman |first = Ben |title = Former Ford CEO Harold "Red" Poling dies |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/15/us-ford-poling-idUSBRE84E14U20120515 |access-date = January 18, 2021 |website = Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308071411/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ford-poling-idUSBRE84E14U20120515 |archive-date=March 8, 2016 |url-status=dead}}
Awards and honors
In 1993, Poling was awarded the Lone Sailor Award by the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation for his naval career.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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{{succession box | before=Donald Petersen | title=President of the Ford Motor Company | after=Alexander Trotman | years=February 1, 1985 – October 13, 1987}}
{{succession box | before=Donald Petersen | title=Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Ford Motor Company | after=Alexander Trotman | years=March 1, 1990 – 1993}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poling, Harold A.}}
Category:Fairfax High School (Fairfax, Virginia) alumni
Category:People from Troy, Michigan
Category:Monmouth College alumni
Category:Indiana University alumni
Category:American chief executives of manufacturing companies
Category:American chief executives in the automobile industry