Raised in the Great Depression and shaped by World War II, they changed the business world and helped build modern America ...Kindred Spirits tells the story of Harvard Business School's remarkable class of 1949, which included some of the most innovative business visionaries of the postwar era. Among the members of this exceptional class, 28 percent retired as presidents, chairmen, or CEOs. Kindred Spirits shows how these businessmen shaped the business trends that transformed America: from the advent of modern marketing techniques, fueled by television and a growing middle class, to the rise of high technology as key driver of the American economy and the importance of using Wall Street to leverage wealth and build companies. Among the legendary figures intimately profiled are Marvin Traub, who built Bloomingdale's; Jim Burke, who guided Johnson & Johnson's tremendous rise and saw the company through the trauma of the Tylenol poisonings; and Peter McCullough, who transformed a little-known company into the powerhouse Xerox. Kindred Spirits is more than a story of an extraordinary group of business leaders; it is a story of how today's America came to be.