Alan Mulally, the former CEO of Ford and also Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will meet with Donald Trump today as the president-elect considers him for Secretary Of State, Fox News reported. Though Mulally has no real political or diplomatic experience, this may be a pretty solid pick if it happens.
It’s worth mentioning that this is all just a rumor right now, as Automotive News makes clear in its report that Trump may just be having a chat with Mulally to get some policy advice from a major business leader—something Trump has been doing a lot in the last few weeks.
Mulally, 71, studied engineering at University of Kansas and then worked as an engineer for Boeing for over two decades before going to MIT’s Sloan Business School and being promoted to CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and later Vice President of the company.
In 2006, Mulally joined Ford as the CEO, and quickly became the personable face of the company, respected by the both press and by other executives around the world. Mulally’s leadership got the company through an exceptionally difficult time that saw the other American automakers take bailouts in order to survive.
One of Mulally’s most famous legacies is the “One Ford” plan that essentially brought together all Ford’s global operations into a closer-knit team, sharing platforms and engineering expertise.
So no, Mulally doesn’t have much foreign policy experience, but his history with Ford’s global operations, his ability to lead two of the biggest companies in the world, and his reputation as a “golden boy” may make him a better choice than some of the other clowns Trump could pick for the gig.