Spokane, Washington, was a growing western city and Henry decided to try his luck there. He found a job at a hardware store. While working as a salesman he constantly educated himself about the products he sold and visited construction sites where the equipment was being used. Ten months after the challenge of his future father-in-law, he had met the requirements and married Bess in 1907. They had two sons, Edgar and Henry Jr., both of whom grew up with their father’s business and became an important part of the Kaiser team as adults.

Henry Kaiser worked with construction companies in Washington and British Columbia while gaining experience and building his knowledge of the construction industry. When the company he worked for suddenly went out of business after winning a roadpaving contract in Vancouver, British Columbia, Kaiser took it over himself. He was able to borrow $25,000 and completed his first project ahead of schedule and made a nice profit of $19,000. Then he incorporated as the Henry J. Kaiser Company, Ltd. His philosophy was: “Do it faster, cheaper, and better.”

R.G. LeTourneau was an equipment manufacturer who changed the construction business. Henry met him while working on a road job. When he heard LeTourneau say, “There is no such thing as a big job, only small machines,” Henry knew he had met his match.
Henry saw the machines as a means to make big jobs small. They worked together building an earthen dam in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near the town of Philbrook. This was the first major project in which no mules were used. The heavy work was done with power shovels, mechanized dump trucks and scrapers. The work was completed so fast Kaiser was swamped with offers.

Kaiser at the Permanente administration building.

1927, Kaiser was 45. The next job, building a 200 mile highway in Cuba, with swamps, mountains, jungles, and bridges to be built, put him in the big leagues. This was his biggest job so far and it was completed one year ahead of schedule.

Henry’s biggest problem was to find able management and supervision for the job. In Cuba, he found George Havas, an engineer who was working on a sugar plantation. Havas brought engineering to the company. From that time on bids were made on the basis of reports and studies rather than Henry’s educated guess. At the completion of the Cuba highway, Henry had built a team that had a reputation for speed and quality. As a team they were ready for bigger jobs.

As it turned out, Cuba was Kaiser’s last road building project. Back in the U.S., the country was falling deep into the Depression. Local governments did not have money for public service projects. President Franklin Roosevelt pushed ahead to build a dam on the Colorado River. It was believed that Boulder Dam (later became Hoover) was something that could stimulate the economy by providing jobs, water and cheap power to cities in the West. This project would provide construction work during the Depression. Kaiser and his team were ready for the challenge.

The principal partners of the “Six Companies” suspended in front of Boulder Dam.

Boulder was to be the largest dam in history Boulder was such a huge project that Kaiser knew he couldn’t take it on alone. He set out to build a consortium. The owners of each company involved would have to respect and trust each other completely. In addition, they had to come up with 5 million in capital in the middle of a depression. The first achievement of the Boulder Dam construction was the building of the consortium that came to be known as the “Six Companies.”

The “Six Companies” was made up of these companies: Kaiser- Bechtel; MacDonald & Kahn, Inc.; Utah Construction; Morrison-Knudsen; Pacific Bridge Co; and J.F. Shea, Inc. This group was one of the most experienced and skilled building machines ever put together. The group met at the Engineers Club in San Francisco in 1931 and sealed the deal with a handshake and agreed on a bid of $48,890,995.50. The bid left no margin for error since it was only $24,000 more than the government’s estimate of what it would cost to build the dam. Because of his ability to get people to work together, Kaiser was chosen as chairman. In this capacity he learned the ins and outs of the federal bureaucracy and in the course developed a relationship with President Roosevelt.

At this time, Boulder was the largest dam in history, and it was completed in 5 years, over two years ahead of schedule. It was 726 feet high, with a base 650 feet thick. The amount of concrete used would build a two-lane highway from Los Angeles to Chicago. It took a year and a half to complete just the pour. The profit to the partners was $12 million. With this project the organization also learned the importance of a good working relationship with labor.

While they were still working on Boulder Dam, Henry convinced his partners they needed to bid on the next project. It was the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in the state of Washington. Bonneville presented different challenges from Hoover. For one, the contract was only going to be for $16 million. The work was experimental all the way through. There was no previous example to follow and the Columbia was treacherous. But once again the team persevered and the Bonneville was finished in 1938, one year ahead of schedule.

The next dam the team started to focus on was 467 miles up the Columbia River. This was a dam that would be three and half times wider than Boulder. The Six Companies had lost out on the bid for the excavation and foundation, but got the bid for the dam itself. The Grand Coulee would be the largest man-made structure in history at that point. They devised a strategy of dividing the dam into 3 parts with 3 separate crews. Rivalry between the crews was encouraged and the result was the Coulee was completed a year and a half ahead of schedule and a profit of $7,000,000 (before taxes) for the partners to share.

While these huge dam projects were in process, the Six Companies had many other projects going on simultaneously, such as tunnels in Colorado, a section of the Bay Bridge, a lock for the Panama Canal and some smaller dams. The Six Companies had developed a large group of skilled management, engineers and workers.

Henry had one more dam he wanted to build. This time, things would be different. They were under-bid and the dam was awarded to Pacific Constructors. Always looking to turn adversity into opportunity, Henry moved quickly and turned this setback into one of his best business opportunities. (He must have had an idea that some day he might start a cement business because in the early ’30s his organization had looked at limestone deposits in California and had already taken an option on the Permanente acreage.) Although they had no plant or knowledge of how to make cement, the Six Companies bid on and won the contract to supply all the cement for Shasta Dam. Henry was reported to have said, “Shasta was the best thing we ever lost.”

Kaiser at the Permanente
cement plant.

Dams were not the only things Kaiser was thinking about. He was already looking at mudflats along Richmond, California waterfront. His next endeavor was ship building and it was a far cry from anything he had done yet. He became famous for the ships due to their significant contribution to the war efforts and the speed in which they were produced. Together with his partners, shipyards were built in Tacoma, Washington and Richmond, California, starting in 1940. The core of his workers came from the Grand Coulee Dam project. The knowledge and experience gained from previous jobs was put to use in the shipyards with the detailed planning, material flow, timing, and management of workers. The miles of space in the shipyards were set up like assembly lines.

Dams were not the only things Kaiser was thinking about. He was already looking at mudflats along Richmond, California waterfront. His next endeavor was ship building and it was a far cry from anything he had done yet. He became famous for the ships due to their significant contribution to the war efforts and the speed in which they were produced. Together with his partners, shipyards were built in Tacoma, Washington and Richmond, California, starting in 1940. The core of his workers came from the Grand Coulee Dam project. The knowledge and experience gained from previous jobs was put to use in the shipyards with the detailed planning, material flow, timing, and management of workers. The miles of space in the shipyards were set up like assembly lines.

Ship builder Henry Kaiser standing
with a ship model.

From his previous experiences Henry had learned the American worker can achieve remarkable things when they are given high goals, competition with other labor groups, and recognition for their accomplishments. Once Pearl Harbor was attacked, they were even more motivated to help the U.S. win the war. However, the work force took on a different appearance from the crews that worked on the dams because now many able-bodied men had been drafted. The shipyard armies were made up of men who were too old for active duty or physically unfit and women who needed jobs. All of them wanted to contribute to the war effort. The first Liberty ship was completed in 226 days. This was a record, but records were broken regularly. Keel-to-launching time was gradually cut down to 27 days with the Portland and Richmond yards competing for times. Eventually, freighters were launched at the rate of one per day.

Prefabrication and new welding techniques streamlined production. As parts were welded together, a crane would turn them over. Most welding could be done flat below the waist which required less skill. The molten metal would flow into the joints by gravity. It meant women could do more of the welding since there was no need to handle the heavy rivet gun.

By the end of the war the Kaiser shipyards had built 1,383 merchant ships and 107 warships, including 50 aircraft carriers.

Bess died in 1951. Henry remarried shortly after. He and his new wife went on vacation in Hawaii in 1954 and never left. When he couldn’t stay in a Waikiki hotel because they were full, he began to plan and build his own hotel. He called it the Hawaiian Village, now known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village. He became one of the earliest and biggest boosters of tourism in Hawaii. He encouraged airlines to increase flights to Hawaii. He bought television and radio stations, both in Hawaii and mainland, to promote tourism.

In 1959, he leased 6,000 acres in East Honolulu and started a $350 million housing project called Hawaii Kai. Then he built a palace of his own along the shoreline of Hawaii Kai.

Although already in his seventies and semi-retired, he was up at 5:30 a.m. and off to work usually until 7 p.m. But he loved the island paradise and made time to enjoy it. He was a supporter of Hawaii’s baseball team, the Islanders, and attended many of the home games at the old Honolulu Stadium. He also supported all sorts of community projects.

He lived the last 13 years of his life in Hawaii. His “retirement” to Hawaii had made a big impact on the islands. He had come to Hawaii with his new wife, not to take it easy but to do his own thing in his own way. His wealth, energy, determination and imagination had him going from one project to another. His mind was always thinking of what he could build, what problems he could solve and how he could create jobs for Hawaiian workers. Although he only slept a few hours at night, he was blessed with boundless energy. He was still going strong at 85 until shortly before his death on August 24, 1967.

Like the rivers he tamed, he was a powerful driving force in America and the world. He brought changes when they were needed most. With his “Find a need and fill it” and “Nothing is impossible” beliefs, he accomplished amazing things. Most of the businesses he started, and the projects he built, are still in place today. Although, like his cement plant, they may no longer carry the Kaiser name, they are forever stamped with his dynamic spirit. The Henry J. Kaiser legacy continues…

Kaiser seated at Hawaiian resort he built, watching performers in nightclub with others.

In 1959, he made it official that he was stepping down from running the daily operations and letting his son, Edgar, and some of the others that he had groomed for so long take charge. Even still, he was in constant contact and kept a close eye on his organization.