So Chairman Lew Platt, having brought in Harry Stonecipher as his CEO just over a year ago, is now pushing him out on the basis that he has broken some sort of Boeing moral code. Interesting, there was a French farce of a movie with links to that code, starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, “Boeing, Boeing” (1965), banging doors and all.
Stonecipher, 68, a grandfather, was declared out of order for pursuing a relationship with a female executive while at the same time being married, and successfully running his company. What a guy! Nevertheless, he was asked to resign and forfeit some retirement benefits.
What some people need to know is that a healthy affair 1. can save what may have been a stagnating marriage (and it cuts both ways of course, goose/gander recipe) and 2. can contribute to saving a company going through hard times, because it might be said that it enables rather than hurts good performance in the work place.
President Clinton recognized the synergy, and could speak well on this topic. He knew how to start his day, and it wasn’t just with a cup of coffee.
UPDATE March 13: Oh dear, his wife, Joan, 68, just filed for divorce, a month short of their 50th wedding anniversary, which means they got married at 18. Was that due to the media poking fun? Was all this entirely necessary? We want to know more. We want to see a Happy Ending. This is America.