Henry Ford: Difference between revisions

{{use American English|date=August 2019}}

| image             = Henry Ford portrait 1915 original (3x4 cropped).png

| caption           = Ford in 1915

| birth_date         = {{birth date|1863|07|30}}

| birth_place       = {{awrap|[[Springwells Township, Michigan]], U.S.}}

| death_date         = {{death date and age|1947|04|07|1863|07|30}}

| death_place       = {{awrap|[[Dearborn, Michigan]], U.S.}}

| resting_place     = Ford Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan

| occupation         = {{hlist|Engineer|[[Technological and industrial history of the United States|industrialist]]|[[The Dearborn Independent|publisher]]|philanthropist}}

| known_for         = {{blist|list_style=margin-left:0;|Founding and leading the [[Ford Motor Company]]| Pioneering a system that launched the mass production and sale of affordable automobiles to the public}}

| title             = President of [[Ford Motor Company]] {{awrap|(1906–1919, 1943–1945)}}

| years_active       = 1891–1945

| party              = {{plainlist|

| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Clara Jane Bryant]]|1888}}

| children           = [[Edsel Ford|Edsel]]

| family             = [[Ford family (Michigan)|Ford]]

| awards             = [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1928)

| signature         = Henry Ford Signature.svg

Ford was born in a farmhouse in [[Springwells Township, Michigan]], and left home at the age of 16 to find work in [[Detroit]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ford Home – The Henry Ford |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/49763 |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=www.thehenryford.org |language=en}}</ref> It was a few years before this time that Ford first experienced automobiles, and throughout the later half of the 1880s, he began repairing and later constructing engines, and through the 1890s worked with [[DTE Electric Company|a division of Edison Electric]]. He founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 after prior failures in business, but success in constructing automobiles.

Ford was known for his pacifism during the first years of [[World War I]], although during the war his company became a major supplier of weapons. He promoted the [[League of Nations]]. In the 1920s, Ford promoted [[antisemitic|antisemitism]] through his newspaper ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]'' and the book ''[[The International Jew]].'' He opposed his country's entry into [[World War II]], and served for a time on the board of the [[America First Committee]]. After his son [[Edsel Ford|Edsel]] died in 1943, Ford resumed control of the company, but was too frail to make decisions and quickly came under the control of several of his subordinates. He turned over the company to his grandson [[Henry Ford II]] in 1945. Upon his death in 1947, he left most of his wealth to the [[Ford Foundation]], and control of the company to his family.

Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in [[Springwells Township, Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Ford – Visionaries on Innovation – The Henry Ford |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024223215/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp |archivedate=October 24, 2008 |website=www.thehenryford.org}}</ref> His father, William Ford (1826–1905), was born in [[County Cork]], Ireland, to a family that had emigrated from [[Somerset]], England in the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ford.ie/AboutFord/CompanyInformation/HistoryOfFord |title=The history of Ford in Ireland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119153940/http://www.ford.ie/AboutFord/CompanyInformation/HistoryOfFord|archive-date=November 19, 2017}}</ref> His mother, Mary Ford (née Litogot; 1839–1876), was born in Michigan as the youngest child of [[Belgian Americans|Belgian]] immigrants; her parents died when she was a child and she was adopted by neighbors, the O'Herns. Henry Ford's siblings were John Ford (1865–1927); Margaret Ford (1867–1938); Jane Ford ({{c.|1868–1945}}); William Ford (1871–1917) and Robert Ford (1873–1877). Ford finished eighth grade at a [[one-room school]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Henry Ford—Biography, Education, Inventions, & Facts |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Ford |accessdate=February 6, 2022}}</ref> Springwells Middle School. He never attended [[Secondary school|high school]]; he later took a bookkeeping course at a commercial school.<ref>Nevins and Hill (1954), 1:90.</ref>

In his farm workshop, Ford built a "steam wagon or tractor" and a steam car, but thought "steam was not suitable for light automobiles," as "the boiler was dangerous." Ford also said that he "did not see the use of experimenting with electricity, due to the expense of [[trolley wires]], and "no storage battery was in sight of a weight that was practical." In 1885, Ford repaired an [[Otto engine]], and in 1887 he built a four-cycle model with a one-inch [[bore (engine)|bore]] and a three-inch [[stroke (engine)|stroke]]. In 1890, Ford started work on a [[two cylinder|two-cylinder]] engine.

In 1891, Ford became an [[engineer]] with the [[DTE Electric Company|Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit]]. After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to devote attention to his experiments on [[Petrol engine|gasoline engines]]. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled automobiles, which he named the [[Ford Quadricycle]]. He test-drove it on June 4. After various test drives, Ford brainstormed ways to improve the Quadricycle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/showroom/1896/quad.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615125140/http://hfmgv.org/exhibits/showroom/1896/quad.html|title=The Showroom of Automotive History: 1896 Quadricycle<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=June 15, 2010}}</ref>

Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, where he was introduced to [[Thomas Edison]]. Edison approved of Ford's automobile experimentation. Encouraged by Edison, Ford designed and built a second automobile, completing it in 1898.<ref name="birth">Ford R. Bryan, [http://hfha.org/HenryFord.htm "The Birth of Ford Motor Company"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829193220/http://hfha.org/HenryFord.htm|date=August 29, 2012}}, Henry Ford Heritage Association, retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> Backed by the capital of Detroit [[lumber baron]] William H. Murphy, Ford resigned from the Edison Company and founded the [[Detroit Automobile Company]] on August 5, 1899.<ref name=birth/> However, the automobiles produced were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted. Ultimately, the company was not successful and was dissolved in January 1901.<ref name=birth/>

With the help of [[C. Harold Wills]], Ford designed, built, and successfully raced a 26-[[horsepower]] automobile in October 1901. With this success, Murphy and other stockholders in the Detroit Automobile Company formed the [[Henry Ford Company]] on November 30, 1901, with Ford as chief engineer.<ref name=birth/> In 1902, Murphy brought in [[Henry M. Leland]] as a consultant; Ford, in response, left the company bearing his name. With Ford gone, Leland renamed the company the [[Cadillac Automobile Company]].<ref name=birth/>

Teaming up with former racing cyclist [[Tom Cooper (driver)|Tom Cooper]], Ford also produced the 80+ horsepower racer "[[Ford 999|999]]," which [[Barney Oldfield]] was to drive to victory in a race in October 1902. Ford received the backing of an old acquaintance, [[Alexander Y. Malcomson]], a Detroit-area coal dealer.<ref name=birth/> They formed a partnership, Ford & Malcomson, Limited, to manufacture automobiles. Ford went to work designing an inexpensive automobiles, and the duo leased a factory and contracted with a machine shop owned by [[John F. Dodge|John]] and [[Horace E. Dodge]] to supply over $160,000 in parts.<ref name=birth/> Sales were slow, and a crisis arose when the Dodge brothers demanded payment for their first shipment.

In response, Malcomson brought in another group of investors and convinced the Dodge brothers to accept a portion of the new company.<ref name=birth/> Ford & Malcomson was reincorporated as the [[Ford Motor Company]] on June 16, 1903,<ref name=birth/> with $28,000 capital. The original investors included Ford and Malcomson, the Dodge brothers, Malcomson's uncle [[John S. Gray (Michigan)|John S. Gray]], Malcolmson's secretary [[James Couzens]], and two of Malcomson's lawyers, John W. Anderson and [[Horace Rackham]]. Because of Ford's volatility, Gray was elected president of the company. Ford then demonstrated a newly designed car on the ice of [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake St. Clair]], driving {{convert|1|mi|km}} in 39.4 seconds and setting a new [[land speed record]] at {{convert|91.3|mph|km/h|abbr=off}}. Convinced by this success, race driver [[Barney Oldfield]], who named this new Ford model "[[Ford 999|999]]" in honor of the fastest [[locomotive]] of the day, took the car around the country, making the Ford brand known throughout the United States. Ford also was one of the early backers of the [[Indianapolis 500]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum |url=https://imsmuseum.org/fame_inductee/henry-ford/ |website=Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum |access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref>[[File:1909 Ford Advance Catalog - Model T Transmission.png|thumb|Ford's [[Transmission (mechanical device)|Transmission Mechanism]]. (1909)]]

The [[Model T]] debuted on October 1, 1908. It had the [[steering wheel]] on the left, which every other company soon copied. The entire engine and [[Transmission (mechanical device)|transmission]] were enclosed; the four cylinders were cast in a solid block; the [[Car suspension|suspension]] used two semi-elliptic springs. The car was simple to drive, and easy and inexpensive to repair. It was so inexpensive at $825 in 1908 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|825|1908|r=-1}}}} today), with the price falling every year, that by the 1920s, a majority of American drivers had learned to drive on the Model T.<ref>Richard Bak, ''Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire'' (2003), pp. 54–63.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/ |title=The Life of Henry Ford |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011005164558/http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/ |archive-date=October 5, 2001 |access-date=November 28, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Ford assembly line - 1913.jpg|left|thumb|Ford assembly line, 1913]]

Ford created a huge publicity machine in Detroit to ensure every newspaper carried stories and ads about the new product. Ford's network of local dealers made the car ubiquitous in almost every city in North America. As independent dealers, the franchises grew rich and publicized not just the Ford but also the concept of car local [[motor club]]s sprang up to help new drivers and encourage them to explore the countryside. Ford was always eager to sell to farmers, who looked at the automobile as a commercial device to help their business. Sales skyrocketed—several years posted 100% gains on the previous year. In 1913, Ford introduced moving assembly belts into his plants, which enabled an enormous increase in production. Although Ford is often credited with the idea, contemporary sources indicate that the concept and development came from employees [[Clarence Avery]], [[Peter E. Martin]], [[Charles E. Sorensen]], and [[C. Harold Wills]].<ref>Nevins (1954), 1: 387–415.</ref> (See [[Ford Piquette Avenue Plant]].)

Henry Ford turned the presidency of Ford Motor Company over to his son [[Edsel Ford]] in December 1918. Henry retained final decision authority and sometimes reversed the decisions of his son. Ford started another company, Henry Ford and Son, and made a show of taking himself and his best employees to the new company; the goal was to scare the remaining holdout stockholders of the Ford Motor Company to sell their stakes to him before they lost most of their value. (He was determined to have full control over strategic decisions.) The ruse worked, and Henry and Edsel purchased all remaining stock from the other investors, thus giving the family sole ownership of the company.<ref>Nevins and Hill (1957), vol. 2.</ref>

By the mid-1920s, [[General Motors]] was rapidly rising as the leading American vehicle manufacturer. GM president [[Alfred Sloan]] established the company's "price ladder" whereby GM would offer an automobile for "every purse and purpose" in contrast to Ford's lack of interest in anything outside the low-end market. Although Henry Ford was against replacing the Model T, now 16 years old, Chevrolet was mounting a bold new challenge as GM's entry-level division in the company's price ladder. Ford also resisted the increasingly popular idea of payment plans for cars. With Model T sales starting to slide, Ford was forced to relent and approve work on a successor model, shutting down production for 18 months. During this time, Ford constructed a massive new assembly plant at River Rouge for the new Model A, which launched in 1927.<ref>Nevins and Hill (1957), 2: 409–436.</ref>

By 1926, flagging sales of the Model T finally convinced Ford to make a new model. He pursued the project with a great deal of interest in the design of the engine, chassis, and other mechanical necessities, while leaving the body design to his son. Although Ford fancied himself an engineering genius, he had little formal training in mechanical engineering and could not even read a blueprint. A talented team of engineers performed most of the actual work of designing the Model A (and later the flathead V8) with Ford supervising them closely and giving them overall direction. Edsel also managed to prevail over his father's initial objections in the inclusion of a sliding-shift transmission.<ref name="Sorensen1956p223">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|p=223}}.</ref>

The result was the [[Ford Model A (1927-1931)|Ford Model A]], introduced in December 1927 and produced through 1931, with a total output of more than four&nbsp;million. Subsequently, the Ford company adopted an annual model change system similar to that recently pioneered by its competitor General Motors (and still in use by automobiles today). Not until the 1930s did Ford overcome his objection to finance companies, and the Ford-owned [[Universal Credit Corporation]] became a major car-financing operation. Henry Ford still resisted many technological innovations such as hydraulic brakes and all-metal roofs, which Ford automobiles did not adopt until 1935–1936. For 1932 however, Ford dropped a bombshell with the [[Ford flathead V8 engine|flathead Ford V8]], the first low-price eight-cylinder engine. The flathead V8, variants of which were used in Ford automobiles for 20 years, was the result of a secret project launched in 1930 and Henry had initially considered a radical X-8 engine before agreeing to a conventional design. It gave Ford a reputation as a performance make well-suited for hot-rodding.<ref>Nevins and Hill (1957), 2: 459–478.</ref>

Ford astonished the world in 1914 by offering a $5 daily wage (${{Inflation|index=US|value=5|start_year=1914|r=0}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US}}), which more than doubled the rate of most of his workers.<ref>Using the [[consumer price index]], this was equivalent to $111.10 per day in 2008 dollars.</ref> A [[Cleveland, Ohio]], newspaper editorialized that the announcement "shot like a blinding rocket through the dark clouds of the present industrial depression".<ref>Lewis, ''Public Image,'' p. 71.</ref> The move proved extremely profitable; instead of constant employee turnover, the best mechanics in Detroit flocked to Ford, bringing their [[human capital]] and expertise, raising productivity, and lowering training costs.<ref>Nevins, ''Ford,'' 1: 528–541.</ref><ref>Watts, ''People's Tycoon,'' pp. 178–194.</ref> Ford announced his $5-per-day program on January 5, 1914, raising the minimum daily pay from $2.34 to $5 for qualifying male workers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/01/27/267145552/the-middle-class-took-off-100-years-ago-thanks-to-henry-ford |title=The Middle Class Took Off 100 Years Ago ... Thanks To Henry Ford? |work=NPR.org |last=Ciwek |first=Sarah |date=January 27, 2014 |access-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106033815/https://www.npr.org/2014/01/27/267145552/the-middle-class-took-off-100-years-ago-thanks-to-henry-ford|archive-date=January 6, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/jan-5-1914-henry-ford-implements-5-a-day-wage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206105248/https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/jan-5-1914-henry-ford-implements-5-a-day-wage/|archive-date=February 6, 2022|title=Jan. 5, 1914 : Henry Ford Implements the $5-a-Day Wage |website=The New York Times |author=The Learning Network |date=January 5, 2012 |access-date=July 29, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Real profit-sharing was offered to employees who had worked at the company for six months or more, and, importantly, conducted their lives in a manner of which Ford's "Social Department" approved. They frowned on heavy drinking, gambling, and on what are now called [[deadbeat parent|deadbeat dads]]. The Social Department used 50 investigators and support staff to maintain employee standards; a large percentage of workers were able to qualify for this "profit-sharing".<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|year=1915|title=Helpful Hints and Advice to Ford Employes [sic]|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/367411/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119152200/https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/367411/|archive-date=November 19, 2021|access-date=February 13, 2021|website=www.thehenryford.org|publisher=Ford Motor Company|location=Detroit|pages=8–9|language=en}}</ref>

Ford's incursion into his employees' private lives was highly controversial, and he soon backed off from the most intrusive aspects. By the time he wrote his 1922 memoir, he spoke of the Social Department and the private conditions for [[profit-sharing]] in the past tense. He admitted that "paternalism has no place in the industry. Welfare work that consists in prying into employees' private concerns is out of date. Men need counsel and men need help, often special help; and all this ought to be rendered for decency's sake. But the broad workable plan of investment and participation will do more to solidify the industry and strengthen the organization than will any social work on the outside. Without changing the principle we have changed the method of payment."<ref name="Ford_Crowther_1922_p130">{{Harvnb|Ford|Crowther|1922}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4K82efXzn10C&pg=PA130 p. 130].</ref>

Ford was adamantly against [[trade union|labor unions]]. He explained his views on unions in Chapter 18 of ''My Life and Work''.<ref name="Ford_Crowther_1922_pp253-266">{{Harvnb|Ford|Crowther|1922}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4K82efXzn10C&pg=PA253 pp. 253–66].</ref> He thought they were too heavily influenced by leaders who would end up doing more harm than good for workers despite their ostensible good motives. {{Anchor|No_prosperity_without_productivity}} Most wanted to restrict productivity as a means to foster employment, but Ford saw this as self-defeating because, in his view, productivity was necessary for economic prosperity to exist.{{citation needed|date = June 2021}}

He believed that productivity gains that obviated certain jobs would nevertheless stimulate the broader economy and grow new jobs elsewhere, whether within the same corporation or in others. Ford also believed that union leaders had a [[perverse incentive]] to foment perpetual socio-economic crises to maintain their power. Meanwhile, he believed that smart managers had an incentive to do right by their workers, because doing so would maximize their profits. However, Ford did acknowledge that many managers were basically too bad at managing to understand this fact. But Ford believed that eventually, if good managers such as he, could fend off the attacks of misguided people from both left and right (i.e., both socialists and bad-manager reactionaries), the good managers would create a socio-economic system wherein neither bad management nor bad unions could find enough support to continue existing.{{citation needed|date = June 2021}}

To forestall union activity, Ford promoted [[Harry Bennett]], a former [[United States Navy|Navy]] boxer, to head the Service Department. Bennett employed various intimidation tactics to quash union organizing.<ref>Harris, J.: ''Henry Ford'', pp. 91–92. Moffa Press, 1984.</ref> On March 7, 1932, during the [[Great Depression]], unemployed Detroit auto workers staged the [[Ford Hunger March]] to the [[Ford River Rouge Complex]] to present 14 demands to Henry Ford. The [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]] police department and Ford security guards opened fire on workers leading to over sixty injuries and five deaths. On May 26, 1937, Bennett's security men beat members of the [[United Automobile Workers]] (UAW), including [[Walter Reuther]], with clubs.<ref name="Wallace">{{Cite book |last=Wallace |first=Max |url=http://archive.org/details/americanaxis00maxw |title=The American axis : Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and the rise of the Third Reich |date=2003 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-29022-1 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref> While Bennett's men were beating the UAW representatives, the supervising police chief on the scene was Carl Brooks, an alumnus of Bennett's Service Department, and Brooks "did not give orders to intervene".<ref name=Wallace />{{rp|311}}The following day photographs of the injured UAW members appeared in newspapers, later becoming known as [[The Battle of the Overpass]].{{citation needed|date = June 2021}}

The Ford Motor Company was the last Detroit automaker to recognize the UAW, despite pressure from the rest of the U.S. automotive industry and even the U.S. government. A sit-down strike by the UAW union in April 1941 closed the [[River Rouge Plant]]. Sorensen recounted<ref name="Sorensen1956pp266-272">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|pp=266–72}}.</ref> that a distraught Henry Ford was very close to following through with a threat to break up the company rather than cooperate. Still, his wife Clara told him she would leave him if he destroyed the family business. In her view, it would not be worth the chaos it would create. Ford complied with his wife's ultimatum and even agreed with her in retrospect.

Overnight, the Ford Motor Company went from the most stubborn holdout among automakers to the one with the most favorable UAW contract terms. The contract was signed in June 1941.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp266-272" /> About a year later, Ford told Walter Reuther, "It was one of the most sensible things Harry Bennett ever did when he got the UAW into this plant." Reuther inquired, "What do you mean?" Ford replied, "Well, you've been fighting General Motors and the Wall Street crowd. Now you're in here and we've given you a union shop and more than you got out of them. That puts you on our side, doesn't it? We can fight General Motors and Wall Street together, eh?"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reuther Dickmeyer |first=Elisabeth |url=https://archive.org/details/puttingworldtoge0000dick/page/63 |title=Putting the world together : my father Walter Reuther, the liberal warrior |date=2004 |publisher=LivingForce Pub |isbn=978-0975379219 |location=Lake Orion, Michigan |page=[https://archive.org/details/puttingworldtoge0000dick/page/63 63] |oclc=57172289}}</ref>

[[File:Ford 4ATF.jpg|thumb|left|Ford 4-AT-F (EC-RRA) of the Spanish Republican Airline, [[L.A.P.E.]]]]

Ford opposed war, which he viewed as a terrible waste,<ref name="Ford-Bio-A&E">Henry Ford, Biography (March 25, 1999). ''A&E Television''.</ref><ref>Michigan History, January/February 1993.</ref> and supported causes that opposed [[military intervention]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/04/06/examining-american-peace-movement-prior-world-war-i |title=Examining the American peace movement prior to World War I |date=April 6, 2017}}</ref> Ford became highly critical of those who he felt financed war, and he tried to stop them. In 1915, the pacifist [[Rosika Schwimmer]] gained favor with Ford, who agreed to fund a [[Peace Ship]] to Europe, where World War I was raging. He led 170 other peace activists. Ford's Episcopalian pastor, Reverend Samuel S. Marquis, accompanied him on the mission. Marquis headed Ford's Sociology Department from 1913 to 1921. Ford talked to President Woodrow Wilson about the mission but had no government support. His group went to neutral Sweden and the Netherlands to meet with peace activists. A target of much ridicule, Ford left the ship as soon as it reached Sweden.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watts |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplestycoonhen00watt |title=''The People's Tycoon'' |publisher=A. A. Knopf |year=2005 |isbn=9780375407352 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/peoplestycoonhen00watt/page/225 225–249] |url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1915, Ford blamed "German-Jewish bankers" for instigating the war.<ref>Norwood, Stephen Harlan. ''Encyclopedia of American Jewish History''. Vol. 1. Abc-clio, 2008, p. 182.</ref>

According to biographer Steven Watts, Ford's status as a leading industrialist gave him a worldview that warfare was wasteful folly that retarded long-term economic growth. The losing side in the war typically suffered heavy damage. Small business were especially hurt, for it takes years to recuperate. He argued in many newspaper articles that a focus on business efficiency would discourage warfare because, "If every man who manufactures an article would make the very best he can in the very best way at the very lowest possible price the world would be kept out of war, for commercialists would not have to search for outside markets which the other fellow covets." Ford admitted that munitions makers enjoyed wars, but he argued that most businesses wanted to avoid wars and instead work to manufacture and sell useful goods, hire workers, and generate steady long-term profits.<ref>Steven Watts, ''The people's tycoon: Henry Ford and the American century'' (Vintage, 2009). pp. 236–237.</ref>

In 1918, with the war on and the [[League of Nations]] a growing issue in global politics, President [[Woodrow Wilson]], a Democrat, encouraged Ford to run for a Michigan seat in the U.S. Senate. Wilson believed that Ford could tip the scales in Congress in favor of Wilson's proposed [[League of Nations|League]]. "You are the only man in Michigan who can be elected and help bring about the peace you so desire," the president wrote Ford. Ford wrote back: "If they want to elect me let them do so, but I won't make a penny's investment." Ford did run, however, and came within 7,000 votes of winning, out of more than 400,000 cast statewide.<ref>Banham, Russ. (2002) ''The Ford Century.'' Tehabi Books. {{ISBN|188765688X}}, p. 44.</ref> He was defeated in a close election by the Republican candidate, [[Truman Newberry]], a former [[United States Secretary of the Navy]]. Ford remained a staunch Wilsonian and supporter of the League. When Wilson made a major speaking tour in the summer of 1919 to promote the League, Ford helped fund the attendant publicity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watts |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplestycoonhen00watt |title=''The People's Tycoon'' |publisher=A. A. Knopf |year=2005 |isbn=9780375407352 |page=[https://archive.org/details/peoplestycoonhen00watt/page/378 378] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>John Milton Cooper Jr., ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' (2009), p. 521.</ref>

Ford opposed the United States' entry into World War II<ref name="Wallace" /><ref>Baldwin, Neil (2001). ''Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate''. New York: Public Affairs.</ref> and continued to believe that international business could generate the prosperity that would head off wars. Ford "insisted that war was the product of greedy financiers who sought profit in human destruction". In 1939, he went so far as to claim that the torpedoing of U.S. merchant ships by German submarines was the result of conspiratorial activities undertaken by financier war-makers.<ref>Stephen Watts, ''The People's Tycoon'' (2005), p. 505.</ref> The financiers to whom he was referring was Ford's code for Jews; he had also accused Jews of fomenting the First World War.<ref name="Wallace" /><ref>Baldwin.</ref>

In the run-up to World War II and when the war erupted in 1939, he reported that he did not want to trade with belligerents. Like many other businessmen of the Great Depression era, he never liked or entirely trusted the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, and thought Roosevelt was inching the U.S. closer to war. Ford continued to do business with [[Nazi Germany]], including the manufacture of war [[materiel]].<ref name="Wallace" /> However, he also agreed to build warplane engines for the British government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://michiganhistory.leadr.msu.edu/wwii-and-ford-motor-company/|title=WWII and Ford Motor Company – Michigan History}}</ref> In early 1940, he boasted that Ford Motor Company would soon be able to produce 1,000 U.S. warplanes a day, even though it did not have an aircraft production facility at that time.<ref name="LegendOfHenryFord">{{cite book | last=Sward | first=Keith | title=The Legend of Henry Ford | publisher=Rinehart & Company Inc. | year=1948 | url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_d3s5 | access-date=April 26, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|430}} Ford was a prominent early member of the [[America First Committee]] against World War II involvement, but was forced to resign from its executive board when his involvement proved too controversial.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dunn |first=Susan |title=1940 : FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler--the election amid the storm |date=2013 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300195132 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |oclc=847526899}}</ref>

Before the U.S. entered the war, responding to President Roosevelt's call in December 1940 for the "Great Arsenal of Democracy", Ford directed the [[Ford Motor Company]] to construct a vast new purpose-built aircraft factory at [[Willow Run]] near Detroit, Michigan. Ford broke ground on Willow Run in the spring of 1941, B-24 component production began in May 1942, and the first complete [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] came off the assembly line in October 1942. At {{convert|3,500,000|ft2|m2|abbr=on}}, it was the largest assembly line in the world at the time. At its peak in 1944, the Willow Run plant produced 650 B-24s per month, and by 1945 Ford was completing each B-24 in eighteen hours, with one rolling off the assembly line every 58 minutes.<ref name="Willowrun">Nolan, Jenny. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180625103810/http://blogs.detroitnews.com/history/1997/01/27/willow-run-and-the-arsenal-of-democracy/ "Michigan History: Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy."]  ''The Detroit News,'' January 28, 1997. Retrieved: August 7, 2010.</ref> Ford produced 9,000 B-24s at Willow Run, half of the 18,000 total B-24s produced during the war.<ref name="Willowrun" /><ref name="LegendOfHenryFord" />{{rp|430}}

When Edsel Ford died of cancer in 1943, at age 49, Henry Ford nominally resumed control of the company, but a series of strokes in the late 1930s had left him increasingly debilitated, and his mental ability was fading. Ford was increasingly sidelined, and others made decisions in his name.<ref>Watts, ''The People's Tycoon'' (2005), p. 503.</ref> The company was controlled by a handful of senior executives led by [[Charles Sorensen]], an important engineer and production executive at Ford; and [[Harry Bennett]], the chief of Ford's Service Unit, Ford's paramilitary force that spied on, and enforced discipline upon, Ford employees. Ford grew jealous of the publicity Sorensen received and forced Sorensen out in 1944.<ref>Watts, ''The People's Tycoon'' (2005), pp. 522–525.</ref> Ford's incompetence led to discussions in Washington about how to restore the company, whether by wartime government fiat, or by instigating a coup among executives and directors.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp324–333">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|pp=324–333}}.</ref>

Nothing happened until 1945 when, with bankruptcy a serious risk, Ford's wife Clara and Edsel's widow Eleanor confronted him and demanded he cede control of the company to his grandson [[Henry Ford II]]. They threatened to sell off their stock, which amounted to three quarters of the company's total shares, if he refused. Ford was reportedly infuriated, but he had no choice but to give in.<ref>Yates, Brock. "10 Best Moguls", in ''Car and Driver'', 1/88, p. 45.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Maybe an less than perferct RS|date=March 2014}}<ref>Watts, ''The People's Tycoon'' (2005), pp. 522–527.</ref> The young man took over and, as his first act of business, fired Harry Bennett.

{{main|Dearborn Independent}}

In 1918, Ford purchased his hometown newspaper, ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dearborn Independent, February 20, 1926 – Henry Ford |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/488175/ |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=www.thehenryford.org |language=en}}</ref> A year and a half later, Ford began publishing a series of articles in the paper under his own name, claiming a vast Jewish conspiracy was affecting America.<ref name="pbs.org">{{Cite web |title=Ford's Anti-Semitism {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/ |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref> The series ran in 91 issues. Every Ford dealership nationwide was required to carry the paper and distribute it to its customers. Ford later bound the articles into four volumes entitled [[The International Jew|''The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem'']], which was translated into multiple languages and distributed widely across the US and Europe.<ref name="bridgemi.com">{{Cite web |title=Henry Ford and the Jews, the story Dearborn didn't want told {{!}} Bridge Michigan |url=https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/henry-ford-and-jews-story-dearborn-didnt-want-told |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=www.bridgemi.com |date=July 13, 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The International Jew: 1920s Antisemitism Revived Online {{!}} ADL |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-international-jew-1920s-antisemitism-revived-online |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=www.adl.org |language=en}}</ref> ''The International Jew'' blamed nearly all the troubles it saw in American society on Jews.<ref name="pbs.org"/> The ''Independent'' ran under Ford's ownership until its closure in 1927. With around 700,000 readers of his newspaper, Ford emerged as a "spokesman for right-wing extremism and religious prejudice."<ref>Glock, Charles Y. and Quinley, Harold E. (1983). ''Anti-Semitism in America''. Transaction Publishers. {{ISBN|0-87855-940-X}}, p. 168.</ref>

[[Adolf Hitler]] wrote, "only Ford, [who], to [the Jews'] fury, still maintains full independence ... [from] the controlling masters of the producers in a nation of one hundred and twenty millions." Speaking in 1931 to a ''[[Detroit News]]'' reporter, Hitler said "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration," explaining his reason for keeping a life-size portrait of Ford behind his desk.<ref name="WP" /><ref name="bridgemi.com"/> Steven Watts wrote that Hitler "revered" Ford, proclaiming that "I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany", and modeling the [[Volkswagen Beetle]], the people's car, on the Model T,<ref>Watts, p. xi.</ref> which was designed by members of the Austrian-German [[Ferdinand Porsche Jr.|Porsche]] family of sportscar makers. Max Wallace has stated, "History records that ... Adolf Hitler was an ardent Anti-Semite before he ever read Ford's ''The International Jew''."<ref>Wallace, Max. ''The American Axis: Henry Ford, Charles Lindberg and the Rise of the Third Reich'', St. Martin's Griffin, New York, p. 52.</ref> Ford also paid to print and distribute 500,000 copies of the [[antisemitic canard|antisemitic fabricated text]] ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]''<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/the-dark-legacy-of-henry-fords-anti-semitism-commentary/2014/10/10/c95b7df2-509d-11e4-877c-335b53ffe736_story.htmlSemitic |title=Thepamphlets darkwere legacypublished ofin Henrybook Ford's anti-Semitism |last=Rudin |first=Aform. James |date=October 10, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 14, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Eisenstein">{{Cite web |last=Eisenstein |first=Paul A. |title=Mayor's attempt to censor local article about Henry Ford's anti-Semitism draws national attention |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/04/mayors-bid-to-censor-article-on-henry-fords-anti-semitism-goes-viral.html |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=CNBC |date=February 4, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> and is reported to have paid for the English translation of Hitler's ''Mein Kampf.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=ORF-Radiothek {{!}} 100 Jahre Autobahn (Part 2) |url=https://oe1.orf.at/player/20241008/772293/1728372603000 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=oe1.orf.at |language=DE}}</ref> Historians say Hitler distributed Ford's books and articles throughout Germany, stoking the hatred that helped fuel the Holocaust.<ref name="Eisenstein"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/05/elon-musk-henry-ford-antisemitism/|title=Long before Elon Musk, Henry Ford went to war with Jewish groups|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

On February 1, 1924, Ford received [[Kurt Ludecke]], a representative of Hitler, at home. Ludecke was introduced to Ford by [[Siegfried Wagner]] (son of the composer [[Richard Wagner]]) and his wife [[Winifred Wagner|Winifred]], both [[Nazi]] sympathizers and anti-Semites. Ludecke asked Ford for a contribution to the Nazi cause, but was apparently refused. Ford did, however, give considerable sums of money to [[Boris Brasol]], a member of the [[Aufbau Vereinigung]], an organization linking German Nazis and White Russian emigrants which financed the recently established [[Nazi Party]].{{refn|Max Wallace. ''The American Axis: Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and the Rise of the Third Reich'', (Macmillan, 2004), pp. 50–54, {{ISBN|0312335318}}. Years later, in 1977, Winifred claimed that Ford had told her that he had helped finance Hitler. This anecdote is the suggestion that Ford made a contribution. The company has always denied that any contribution was made, and no documentary evidence has ever been found (''ibid'' p. 54). However, according to a captured Nazi document, the German subsidiary of Ford made a personal present to Hitler of 35,000 Reichsmarks in honor of his 50th birthday, in April 1939.<ref name="WP" /> See also [[Neil Baldwin (writer)|Neil Baldwin]], ''Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate'' (Public Affairs, 2002), pp. 185–89, {{ISBN|1-58648-163-0}}.}}<ref>Brigitte Hamann. ''Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship,'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 347–359.</ref>

[[File:Service Cross of the German Eagle.png|thumb|upright=0.9|left|[[Grand Cross of the German Eagle]], an award bestowed on Henry Ford by Nazi Germany on July 30, 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-20 |title=Henry Ford receiving the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi officials, 1938 |url=https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/henry-ford-grand-cross-1938/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=Rare Historical Photos / Associated Press |language=en-US}}</ref> ]]

The distribution of ''The International Jew'' was halted in 1942 through legal action by Ford, despite complications from a lack of copyright.<ref name=Lewis/> It is still banned in Germany. Extremist groups often recycle the material; it still appears on [[antisemitic]] and [[neo-Nazi]] websites. Testifying at [[Nuremberg Trials|Nuremberg]], convicted [[Hitler Youth]] leader [[Baldur von Schirach]] who, in his role as ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of Vienna, deported 65,000 Jews to camps in Poland, stated: "The decisive anti-Semitic book I was reading and the book that influenced my comrades was ... that book by Henry Ford, ''The International Jew''. I read it and became anti-Semitic. The book made a great influence on myself and my friends because we saw in Henry Ford the representative of success and also the representative of a progressive social policy."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Baldur von Schirach before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg |date=May 23, 1946}}</ref>

In 1929, Ford made an agreement with the Soviets to provide technical aid over nine years in building the [[GAZ|first Soviet automobile plant (GAZ)]] near [[Nizhny Novgorod|Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky)]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melnikova-Raich |first=Sonia |year=2011 |title=The Soviet Problem with Two 'Unknowns': How an American Architect and a Soviet Negotiator Jump-Started the Industrialization of Russia, Part II: Saul Bron |journal=[[IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology]] |volume=37 |issue=1/2 |pages=5–28 |issn=0160-1040 |jstor=23757906}}</ref> (an additional contract for construction of the plant was signed with The Austin Company on August 23, 1929).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Building Utopia: Erecting Russia's First Modern City, 1930 |last=Austin |first=Richard Cartwright |publisher=Kent State University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1612773216 |oclc=819325601}}</ref> The contract involved the purchase of $30,000,000 worth of knocked-down Ford cars and trucks for assembly during the first four years of the plant's operation, after which the plant would gradually switch to Soviet-made components. Ford sent his engineers and technicians to the Soviet Union to help install the equipment and train the workforce, while over a hundred Soviet engineers and technicians were stationed at Ford's plants in Detroit and Dearborn "for the purpose of learning the methods and practice of manufacture and assembly in the Company's plants".<ref>Agreement Between the Ford Motor Company, the Supreme Council of National Economy, and the Amtorg Trading Corporation, May 31, 1929, Amtorg Records 1929–1930, Acc. 199, box 1a, Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan.</ref> Said Ford: "No matter where industry prospers, whether in India or China, or Russia, the more profit there will be for everyone, including us. All the world is bound to catch some good from it."<ref>''The New York Times,'' May 5 and 7, 1929.</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10400, Henry Ford in Deutschland.jpg|thumb|left|Henry Ford in Germany; September 1930]]

Most of the directors did not want to see him as president. But for the previous 20 years, though he had long been without any official executive title, he had always had ''de facto'' control over the company; the board and the management had never seriously defied him, and this time was no different. The directors elected him,<ref name="Sorensen1956pp325–326">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|pp=325–326}}.</ref> and he served until the end of the war. During this period the company began to decline, losing more than $10&nbsp;million a month (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000000|1943|r=-4}}}} today). The administration of President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]] had been considering a government takeover of the company in order to ensure continued war production,<ref name="Sorensen1956pp324–333" /> but the idea never progressed.

[[File:Henry Ford grave Ford Cemetery Detroit.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Ford grave, Ford Cemetery]]

His health failing, Ford ceded the company presidency to his grandson [[Henry Ford II]] in September 1945 and retired. He died on April 7, 1947, of a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] at [[Fair Lane]], his estate in Dearborn, at the age of 83. A public viewing was held at Greenfield Village where up to 5,000 people per hour filed past the casket. Funeral services were held in Detroit's [[Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit|Cathedral Church of St. Paul]] and he was buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit.<ref name="AP-1947.04.08">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/04/08/archives/pioneer-in-autos-leader-in-production-founded-vast-empire-in-motors.html |title=Leader in Production Founded Vast Empire in Motors in 1903. He had Retired in 1945. Began Company With Capital of $28,000 Invested by His Friends and Neighbors. Henry Ford Is Dead. Founder of Vast Automotive Empire and Leader in Mass Production |date=April 4, 1947 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 1, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126044543/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/04/08/archives/pioneer-in-autos-leader-in-production-founded-vast-empire-in-motors.html |archive-date=January 26, 2020 |agency=Associated Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lochbeiler |first=Don |date=July 22, 1997 |title=I think Mr. Ford is Leaving Us |url=http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=117 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715093956/http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=117 |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |access-date=October 29, 2010 |work=[[The Detroit News]] Michigan History |publisher=detnews.com}}</ref>

A compendium of short biographies of famous [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], published by a Freemason lodge, lists Ford as a member.<ref name="Denslow2004p62">{{Harvnb|Denslow|2004|p=62}}.</ref> The [[Grand Lodge of New York]] confirms that Ford was a Freemason, and was raised in Palestine Lodge No. 357, Detroit, in 1894. When he received the 33rd degree of the [[Scottish Rite]] in 1940, he said, "Masonry is the best balance wheel the United States has."<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-i.html |title=Famous Masons |date=January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110010123/http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-i.html |archive-date=November 10, 2013 |publisher=MWGLNY}}</ref>

In 1923, Ford's pastor, and head of his sociology department, Episcopal minister Samuel S. Marquis, claimed that Ford believed, or "once believed," in [[reincarnation]].<ref>Marquis, Samuel S. ([1923]/2007). Henry Ford: An Interpretation. ''Wayne State University Press.''</ref>

Henry Ford had a long-held interest in [[Materials science|materials science and engineering]]. He enthusiastically described his company's adoption of [[vanadium]] [[Alloy steel|steel alloys]] and subsequent [[Metallurgy|metallurgic]] [[Research and development|R&D]] work.<ref name="Ford1922pp18_65-67">{{Harvnb|Ford|Crowther|1922}}, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4K82efXzn10C&pg=PA18 18],[https://books.google.com/books?id=4K82efXzn10C&pg=PA65 65–67].</ref>

In 1927, Ford partnered with [[Thomas Edison]] and [[Harvey Samuel Firestone]] (each contributing $25,000) to create the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in Fort Myers, Florida to seek a native source of rubber.

He also had a vacation home (known today as the "Ford Plantation") in [[Richmond Hill, Georgia|Richmond Hill]], Georgia, which is now a private community. Ford started buying land in this area and eventually owned 70,000 acres (110 square miles) there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/bryan/henry-ford-at-richmond-hill |title=Henry Ford at Richmond Hill |last=Seibert |first=David |website=GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac |publisher=Digital Library of Georgia |access-date=November 7, 2016}}</ref> In 1936, Ford broke ground for a beautiful [[Greek revival]] style mansion on the banks of the [[Ogeechee River]] on the site of a 1730s plantation. The grand house, made of Savannah-gray brick, had marble steps, air conditioning, and an [[elevator]]. It sat on {{convert|55|acre}} of manicured lawns and flowering gardens. The house became the center of social gatherings with visitations by the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and the DuPonts. It remains the centerpiece of The Ford Plantation today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordplantation.com |title=Home |website=The Ford Field & River Club |access-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110212304/https://fordfieldandriverclub.com/|archive-date=January 10, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> Ford converted the 1870s-era rice mill into his personal research laboratory and powerhouse and constructed a tunnel from there to the new home, providing it with steam. He contributed substantially to the community, building a chapel and schoolhouse and employing numerous local residents.

Ford had an interest in [[Americana (culture)|Americana]]. In the 1920s, he began work to turn [[Sudbury, Massachusetts|Sudbury]], Massachusetts, into a themed historical village. He moved the [[Redstone School|Redstone schoolhouse]], supposedly referred to in the "[[Mary Had a Little Lamb]]" nursery rhyme, from [[Sterling, Massachusetts|Sterling]], Massachusetts, and purchased the historic [[Wayside Inn (Sudbury)|Wayside Inn]]. The historical village plan never came to fruition. He repeated the concept of collecting historic structures with the creation of [[Greenfield Village]] in [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]], Michigan. It may have inspired the creation of [[Old Sturbridge Village]] as well. About the same time, he began collecting materials for [[The Henry Ford|his museum]], which had a theme of practical technology. It was opened in 1929 as the [[The Henry Ford|Edison Institute]]. The museum has been greatly modernized and is still open today.

[[File:Mr and Mrs Henry Ford in his first car.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Henry and Clara Ford in his first car, the [[Ford Quadricycle]]]]

* In 2023, Ford was featured in an episode of the Youtube comedic series ''[[Epic Rap Battles of History]]'', rapping against [[Karl Marx]].

* Brinkley, Douglas G. ''Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress'' (2003)

* Watts, Steven. '' The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century'' (2005)

* Bryan, Ford R. ''Beyond the Model T: The Other Ventures of Henry Ford'' Wayne State Press 1990.

* [[John Kenneth Galbraith|Galbraith, John Kenneth]]. "The Mystery of Henry Ford" ''The Atlantic'' (March 1958) [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1958/03/the-mystery-of-henry-ford/641305/ online] famous debunking essay.

* Roediger, David, ed. "Americanism and Fordism—American Style: Kate Richards O'hare's 'Has Henry Ford Made Good?'", ''Labor History'' 1988. 29(2): 241–252. Socialist praise for Ford in 1916.

* Tedlow, Richard S. "The Struggle for Dominance in the Automobile Market: the Early Years of Ford and General Motors", ''Business and Economic History'' 1988. 17: 49–62. Ford stressed low price based on efficient factories but GM did better in oligopolistic competition by including investment in manufacturing, marketing, and management.

* Thomas, Robert Paul. "The Automobile Industry and its Tycoon", ''Explorations in Entrepreneurial History'' 1969. 6(2): 139–157. argues Ford did NOT have much influence on US industry,

* Williams, Karel, Colin Haslam and John Williams, "Ford versus 'Fordism': The Beginning of Mass Production?", ''Work, Employment & Society'', Vol. 6, No. 4, 517–555 (1992), stress on Ford's flexibility and commitment to continuous improvements.

{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Michigan]]<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 2]])|years=[[1918 United States Senate election in Michigan|1918]]}}

[[Category:American founders of automobile manufacturers]]

[[Category:American people of English descent]]

[[Category:American steel industry businesspeople]]

[[Category:Family of Henry Ford]]