88 UTAH INTERNATIONAL: A BIOGRAPHY OF A BUSINESS was to be hired away from Kaiser and to be made assistant to Les Corey. All of a sudden, it was clear that the W. H. family didn’t have the same ambitions that we had.” News of Seale’s appointment enraged Paul Wattis, who planned to challenge the move at the next board meeting. In an attempt to calm the waters, Ed Littlefield (E. O.’s grandson) wrote to Wattis from Washington, D.C., on February 18, 1944: You have indicated that with or without the support of the other family [W. H.] you plan to battle on March 7th. What is your strategy? What can you possibly achieve by fighting alone? I see no earthly reason in this case to fight unless you can win. If, without hope of success, you further antagonize Eccles and the existing management, the result is merely to expend your ammunition, alienate possible allies, lose your position, and impair your ability to strike effectively at some future strategic moment. You may lose everything and you can gain nothing. Let’s make haste slowly. Let’s not commit the blunder of leading the attack. Either the Eccles group or the W. H. interests or ourselves must find an ally in the other two to assume control. At the moment the two of them are split asunder, and I suspect that sooner or later one or the other will seek our support. You have diligently tried to get the two families together, but the W. H. family will not move to a joint attack on the comprehensive problem [of which person manages the company]. Certainly the past experience points to the fact that they are difficult to work with. Why don’t we just sit tight for once? As long as the Eccles interests are at odds with the W. H. interests, we are in a beautiful position for neither one dares to antagonize us too far. I am quite sure that we would find MSE [Eccles] quite receptive to our suggestions, and we might well accomplish much of our program on a friendly basis. Certainly this is a wiser course than fighting without chance of victory. While he thus worked to keep the lid on tempers, Littlefield suggested to Dumke and Wattis that he visit with Eccles in