General Motors President Charles Wilson is often quoted as saying, 'What's good for General Motors is good for America,' in 1953—but a closer examination of the records reveals a different message.

Listen to a reflection on General Motors' role in American life.

Longtime General Motors CEO Alfred Sloan used the motto 'a car for every purse and purpose' to represent the value of having multiple car brands with different target audiences under one company.

Although he didn't create General Motors, Alfred Sloan is widely credited with GM's massive success and is often considered one of the best American businessmen of all time.

Listen to the story of how General Motors beat out the Ford Motor Company to become the largest car manufacturer by 1931.

Owning a large catalog of brands with distinct purposes and customer bases helped General Motors overtake Ford Motor Company as America's leading car manufacturer, something that still sets the company apart today.

Listen to a recap of Alfred Sloan's autobiography, titled 'My Years with General Motors.'

Read what professors at Harvard Business School think led to General Motors' 2009 bankruptcy.

After being the country's largest automaker by sales volume for nearly 100 years, Toyota surpassed General Motors as the top automobile manufacturer in the US—representing a shift in the American economy that once heavily depended on domestic manufacturing.

See a timeline of important moments in General Motors' history, including its early automatic innovations in creating electrical systems in cars and the birth of the American muscle car in 1964.

See a timeline of the US government's investments and restructuring efforts of General Motors following the Great Recession.

'And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans:' Hear Robert Kennedy's famous 1968 speech criticizing gross domestic product as the primary benchmark for American growth.

After delisting and going private for nearly two years in the midst of the Great Recession, General Motors went public for the second time in 2010 in what was then the largest IPO in history.

In 1919, General Motors created the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) to offer car loans and payment plans, revolutionizing America's relationship with debt by offering one of the very first buy now, pay later programs.

Learn about how General Motors dismantled America's streetcars

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer established the framework courts use to evaluate presidential war powers

In 1965, consumer advocate Ralph Nader released 'Unsafe At Any Speed,' a scandalous exposé on the risks of cars, prompting backlash from leading automakers including General Motors, which gave way to some of the earliest automobile regulations.

Amid the aftermath of Watergate, Gerald Ford declared that the state of the union was 'not good'

Rockwell's 'Four Freedoms' raised millions for the US war effort

Charles Kettering, the person who invented the electric starter on cars, helped develop the diesel locomotive engine while working as head researcher at General Motors.

'Profits made out of the distress of the people are always much smaller than profits made out of the most lavish service of the people at the lowest prices that competent management can make possible.'

Mary Barra became the first female CEO of General Motors in 2014, making her the first woman to hold the office in the largely male-dominated automobile industry overall.

Should the US have entered into World War I?

Read how Fordism helped invent the American middle class

During one large strike, 9,000 General Motors workers walked out for 54 days in 1998 over management's decision to hire outside contractors for equipment removal and fears of widespread job losses.

Despite founding General Motors, one of the most successful car companies in the world, William Durant lost his multimillion-dollar fortune before he died.

Future President Dwight D. Eisenhower's terrible experience on a cross-country road trip in 1919 helped inspire him to create the interstate highway system.

'Through this unique means, I convey to you and all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere.'

See Walt Disney's corporate strategy document from 1957, complete with a plethora of Mickey Mouse illustrations.

Adolf Hitler deeply admired Henry Ford, citing him as an inspiration for "Mein Kampf"

What impact did WWI have on the US civil rights movement?

After World War I, consumerism began to usurp frugality as a foundational value in American life and culture.

In 2023, the United Auto Workers launched the 'Stand Up Strike,' a six-week strike against all of the 'Big Three' automakers, to bargain for cost-of-living pay increases, end a tiered workforce structure, and more.

Historians reflect on the best State of the Unions ever

Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 speech framed World War II as a global fight for universal rights

Listen to Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand's defense of the robber barons, who she says were unjustly vilified.

Motown Records used an assembly-line approach to songwriting, inspired by founder Berry Gordy's time at Ford Motor Company.

Some scholars consider the Bretton Woods system one of the best foreign policy decisions in US history

Auto and consumer goods companies absorbed billions in costs due to President Trump's 2025 tariffs.

How two US Presidents defined WWII and its aftermath

American Express stopped its rail service when President Wilson seized American railroads

Read the founding story of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, named after longtime General Motors CEO Alfred P. Sloan and research director Charles Kettering.

'Trust is one of the greatest economic forces on earth' - Charlie Munger

Some argue that America has become too dependent on consulting.

'Under God' was added to the pledge in 1954 as an anti-communist statement

Henry Ford built a plastic car from soybeans in 1941

Woodrow Wilson revived the in-person State of the Union in 1913

The Dow remains a shorthand for America's economic health

A quote by Ralph Bunche

Listen to tech company Palantir's CEO Alex Karp discuss the threat of a surveillance state.

A quote by broadcast legend Walter Cronkite