Robert Wood Johnson II

Robert Wood "General" Johnson II (April 4, 1893 – January 30, 1968) was an American businessman.

Early life

Johnson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on April 4, 1893. His father was Robert Wood Johnson I, co-founder of Johnson & Johnson, and his mother was Evangeline Brewster Armstrong Johnson. Johnson grew up with three siblings: Roberta Johnson, John Seward Johnson I, and Evangeline Johnson. When he was sixteen, their father died, leaving him an estate of $2,000,000 . He attended Rutgers Preparatory School before dropping out to start working full-time at Johnson & Johnson.

Career

Johnson became vice president at J&J in 1918. Johnson also had an abiding interest in politics, and served a term as the mayor of Highland Park, New Jersey from 1920 to 1922. He was elected president of Johnson & Johnson from 1932 to 1938, and became chairman of the board of J&J in 1938. Johnson also held a reserve commission in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps during the 1930s. During 1943, firms with under 100 employees were awarded 86,000 contracts, about 35% of the total number awarded (241,531), but worth only 3.5% of the total value ($35.3 million) of all contracts awarded by the SWPC. This infuriated Johnson's military superiors in the War Department, who realized that the diversion of materials to peacetime production meant less factory capacity for new weapons and increased production of war materiel just as victory seemed to be within the grasp of Allied forces. The Credo states that the company's first responsibility is to “the doctors, nurses and patients, the mothers and all others who use our products”, and also sets out responsibilities to customers, suppliers, distributors, employees, communities and stockholders.

In 1962, Johnson, as chairman of the board of J&J, fired his nephew, John Seward Johnson II. In 1965, he fired his own son, Robert Wood Johnson III.

Personal life In 1916, Johnson married Elizabeth Dixon Ross. They had one child: Robert Wood Johnson III. Their marriage lasted until 1928, when they began a two-year trial separation, ending in divorce. In 1930, Johnson married Margaret (Maggi) Shea. They had one adopted child, Sheila Johnson Brutsch (born 1939). The couple divorced in 1943 after Bob met Evelyn Vernon.

Johnson died in 1968 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City; Johnson was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

Recognition In 2008, Johnson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.