The customers at the Fort Shelby Hotel bar in Detroit recognized an old face. James Francis Dewey, looking like a billiken in a black Homburg hat, was back in town, this time to settle the General Motors fight.
For many years—ever since "Puddler Jim" Davis took Dewey into the Labor Department—he has been bouncing back & forth between Washington, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, spreading balm. A onetime railroad telegrapher, 59-year-old Jim Dewey has become the government's ace mediator. His methods are simple: get 'em together, keep 'em cool, let 'em talk.
Last week he got them together on the fifth floor of the General...