Henry Ford (1863–1947) businessman and automaker

Born near Dearborn, Michigan, Ford attended school for eight years before becoming an apprentice in a Detroit machine shop at age 16. He first learned about power plants while working for the Detroit Drydock Company, a shipbuilding firm. In 1891, he moved to Detroit permanently and became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company, and two years later he became its chief engineer. During his spare time, he experimented with gasoline engines at a small shop at his home.

After working for others until he was 33, Ford introduced his first automobile in 1896 after years of development. He dubbed it the “Quadricycle.” He received $200 for the car and used the money to build another. After a humble start, he formed the Henry Ford Co. in 1903. From the beginning, Ford decided to manufacture automobiles that could be bought by the average citizen, as cheaply as possible. This was a radical departure in the early automobile industry because most cars were priced higher and aimed at a more well-heeled customer.

The competition in the early motor industry was intense. Michigan alone was home to 15 different manufacturers, and more than 80 existed in the United States. Ford incorporated the FORD MOTOR COMPANY in 1903 with capital of $150,000, mostly from outside investors. After an internal battle about what sort of car to produce, Ford won the day with his concept of an inexpensive car that could be sold to the general population. Ford bought the closely held shares of his opponents in the firm and emerged as president, free to produce his concept car. His first attempt at a car for the masses was the Model N, which sold originally for $700. The car was very popular, and the company’s earnings soared to $1 million.

In 1908, Ford introduced what would become his best-selling car, the Model T. The original price was $825, and the car could be ordered only in black. It became an immediate hit with the public and reached almost a quarter of a million units in 1914. In order to facilitate production, Ford introduced the moving assembly line at his Highland Park, Michigan, plant. Within two years, the 1-millionth car rolled off the assembly line, and the plant was producing 2,000 units per day. And the price continued to fall in both real and absolute terms. The price of a Model T in 1916 was in the mid-$300s, $500 less than the originals in 1908. He also introduced innovations on the shop floor that made him a legend among his workers. Worker rotation, year-end bonuses, a profit-sharing plan, and the introduction of the $5 day made his workers extremely loyal, especially since the wage was twice the industry average at the time. By the early 1920s, more than 5 million Model Ts had been produced.

During World War I, Ford emerged as an opponent of the war, although he did put his factories at the government’s disposal after hostilities began. The company made all sorts of vehicles necessary to the war cause, and Ford was a strong supporter of Woodrow Wilson, although he had been a Republican most of his life. He became a candidate for the Senate in the election of 1918 with the support of Wilson but lost. He soon blamed Jews for his defeat, and the result set off a torrent of anti-Semitic remarks that would plague him for the rest of his life.

After the election defeat, Ford subsequently purchased a newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, which reflected his extremely conservative political views and became best known for a series of anti-Semitic articles that it ran in continuing installments. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the Muscle Shoals power plant in Alabama, which the government was thinking of selling to the private sector. The facility later became the base for the TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY.

Although the Model T was the most popular car of its day, Ford held only about 56 percent of the American market for new cars and in the 1920s faced increased competition from the newly reorganized GENERAL MOTORS and Chrysler. In the 1930s, Ford spent less time with the company and more on outside projects such as the Greenfield Village, a museum in Dearborn. He suffered a stroke in 1938, removing him from the company even more and helping senior executives and his only son, Edsel, to greater positions of power. He assumed the presidency of the company again after Edsel Ford died in 1943.

Ford and his wife, Clara Bryant Ford, established the Ford Foundation in 1936, mainly to maintain family control of the company after Ford’s death. The foundation held 95 percent of Ford stock, with family members holding the remaining 5 percent. The foundation became a major benefactor of social causes around the world and one of the major forces in philanthropy. Ford died in 1947.

See also CHRYSLER, WALTER PERCY; CHRYSLER CORP.; DURANT, WILLIAM CRAPO.

Further reading

• Bak, Richard. Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley, 2003. 
• Brinkley, Douglas. Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903–2003. New York: Viking Press, 2003.