Gerard SwopeAmerican electronics businessman (1872-1957) Gerard Swope Gerard Swope (December 1, 1872 - November 20, 1957) was an American electronics businessman. He served as the president of General Electric between 1922 and 1940, and again from 1942 until 1945. During this time Swope expanded GE's product offerings, reorienting GE toward consumer home appliances, and offering consumer credit services.

Biography Swope was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Ida and Isaac Swope, Jewish immigrants from Germany. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1895. He married Mary Dayton Hill. He was the brother of Herbert Bayard Swope, and father of Henrietta Swope and John Swope, the Hollywood and Life Magazine photographer who married actress Dorothy McGuire.

He is possibly best known for his labor relations innovations. At General Electric, Swope implemented numerous labor reforms, making conditions better for employees with voluntary unemployment insurance, profit-sharing, and other programs that were considered radical in their day. Swope increased sales and overall efficiency (economics), earning high profits and market share and focused on employee training, retention, and loyalty. Before the passage of the Wagner Act, Swope "had long supported labor legislation."

He served as Chairman of The Business Council, then known as the Business Advisory Council, for the United States Department of Commerce in 1933. Swope's other Roosevelt administration roles included member, Industrial Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration (NRA) (1933); member, Bureau of Advertising and Planning of the Department of Commerce (1933); chairman, Coal Advisory Board (1933); member, National Labor Board (1933); member, President's Advisory Council on Economic Security (1934); and member, Advisory Council on Social Security (1937-1938). In 1939, after reaching the GE mandatory retirement age of 67, he became chairman of the New York City Housing Authority, a full-time job. He left that post in 1942 to resume the presidency of G.