In many ways, Fred Smith — entrepreneur extraordinaire, innovator and super patriot, at a time when we so needed patriots — was the Ben Franklin of our time.
He was rightfully proud of his time in the United States Marines serving in combat in Vietnam.
Smith came up with the idea of Federal Express while he was a student at Yale University. In a now-famous undergraduate economics paper, he proposed an integrated air-to-ground system specifically designed to meet time-sensitive shipping needs — something that didn’t exist at the time. Although his professor reportedly gave the paper a mediocre grade, Smith later turned the concept into a revolutionary business.
He founded Federal Express in 1971, and the company officially began operations in 1973. Smith’s vision transformed the logistics industry and helped pioneer the modern express delivery model.
The financing, the logistical expertise, the grit and gumption, audacity and stick-to-it-ism of pulling this off and building the mightiest transportation company across the globe is unimaginable.
Who else could have pulled it off?
He “absolutely, positively” masterminded one of the most memorable and effective advertising slogans and campaigns in TV history.
He had a healthy contempt for big and bureaucratic government and often only half-joked that he was blessed with competing against one of the most incompetent bureaucracies ever invented: the U.S. Postal Service. FedEx’s on-time arrival record was far superior to the Postal Service or any airline.
FedEx had more planes than any other enterprise in the world other than the U.S. Air Force. The company fully takes over scores of airport operations throughout the night. He used his own weather service, air traffic control system and security system because “the government isn’t reliable.”
He employed half a million Americans and made multimillionaires out of many thousands of investors.
On a point of personal privilege: He was one of the very first donors to my group Unleash Prosperity and was always the first to send an unsolicited, generous donation at the start of every year, always with an inspiring note of approval.
Even to the very end, he hid from us all how sick he was. Just a few weeks ago, he called us up bitching about the amount of money the Postal Service was losing and urging us to “get on this” with all the gusto of someone who was going to live 20 more years, not 20 more days.
Every president since Ronald Reagan called on “Fred-ex” — as some of his friends called him — for expert advice in times of crisis.
Among his many patriotic acts to the nation, he kept FedEx running during those turbulent first six months of COVID when most every other business closed its doors. The nation panicked. Fred didn’t. He helped keep the U.S. economy from imploding, and FedEx employees, of course, maintained an exemplary health record.
The nation and the planet seem somehow diminished.
Stephen Moore is a contributor to the Daily Caller News Foundation, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and Heritage Foundation visiting senior fellow.
