A curious article appeared in the Fourth of July issue of the New York Times, apparently prompted by U.S. Steel Corp.'s transfer from the S&P 500 index to the mid-cap index with stocks of similar market capitalization. The article carried the byline of Floyd Norris and appeared under the provocative headline, Today's Titans Can Learn From Fall of U.S. Steel. The author replayed the steel strike of 1959 and the now-famous confrontation in 1962 between President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Steel chairman and chief executive officer Roger M. Blough. That ground has been plowed many times before, but the reporter apparently claimed to see something in the outcome of this controversy that is a teachable moment for today's chief executive officers. I agree that it is a teachable moment, but not the same one Norris sees. Fifty years later, a lot of perspective is now available that did not exist at that time.
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