Charles Francis Adams IV

Charles Francis Adams IV ( born 2 May 1910 in Boston, Massachusetts, † 5 January 1999) was an American business leaders and entrepreneurs as well as president of the defense and electronics company Raytheon.

Life

Adams was born into the traditional Adams family. His great great great grandfather was John Adams, the second president of the United States, his great-great grandfather John Quincy Adams was the sixth holder of the office. He was also the great great great grandson of Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, the Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Madison and Monroe, the great-grandson of Congressman Charles Francis Adams Sr. and the grandson of General Charles Francis Adams junior. His father, Charles Francis Adams III was Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of President Herbert Hoover.

He himself began after visiting the St. Mark's School in Southborough study at Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1932. He then completed a postgraduate course at Harvard Business School. After graduation he was employed in the private sector and was initially 1937 to 1948 Partner of the securities broker Paine Webber, and at the same time from 1938 to 1942 Member of the Board of Directors of Raytheon. During the Second World War he served between 1942 and 1945 his military service in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

After leaving Paine Webber, he became in 1948 the first president of Raytheon and took office again from 1962 to 1964, after serving as 1960-1962 Chairman of this company. Last Adams was 1964-1972 president of Raytheon again. During this time, in 1948 the introduction of the first commercial transistor, the CK703 point contact transistor.

Besides his work at Raytheon Adams was temporarily a member of the Board of Directors of The Gillette Company, Liberty Mutual, the hotel chain Sheraton and Pan American World Airways. In addition, he was a member since 1959 ( Fellow ) of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Pilgrims Society.