George Westinghouse (1846-1914) was the inventor and industrialist who fought for the adoption of ac electric power in the U. S. Westinghouse purchased transformers and an ac generator in Europe and set up an ac power system in Pittsburgh. He bought Tesla's ac motor patents and hired Tesla to adapt the motor for use in his power system. Edison and the proponents of dc power claimed that ac was a menace to human life and to support their argument they arranged for the use of a standard Westinghouse ac generator as the means of execution in New York.