Henry Ford: Industry Icon (The good, the bad, and the ugly)
the average American. At one point he was seriously considered as a Presidential candidate. He ran for a U. S. Senate seat in Michigan.
Ford once launched a million-dollar libel suit against the Chicago Tribune, for calling him an ignorant idealist. The trial proved to be a significant public embarrassment for Ford, and the judge added the final insult by declaring the Tribune guilty of libel, and awarding Ford damages-of six cents!
After this Ford became increasingly paranoid. His personal conspiracy theories abounded, and he became more vocal in his condemnations and accusations. He acquired a small weekly newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, for the purpose of supporting Woodrow Wilson's post-war reconstruction agenda. But before long, Ford's increasing paranoia coupled with his lack of education and his newfound ability to directly espouse his opinions in print, produced an ugly result. The Dearborn Independent started running a scathing anti-Semitic series of articles on the Jews as "the world's problem."
While it was never substantiated that Ford "supported" Adolf Hitler's agenda for the world, the accusation was made, and widely circulated. The notion arose from Ford's acceptance in 1938 of the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, from the Nazi regime. And after Ford's prolific anti-Semitic displays in print, it was an easy jump to the "pro-Nazi" assumption.
When the United Auto Workers union was formed, Ford saw it as proof of his conspiracy theories. After the glow from the Five Dollar Day dissipated, Ford Motor Company had the worst record in the industry for its labor relations. Ford fought unionization long after Chrysler and GM had accepted it. And some of the battles were brutal, rife with corporate intimidation of union representatives.
Despite his 'common man' appeal, Ford dabbled in many extravagant financial pursuits. He even bought a railroad and operated it successfully for several years. In 1922 he expanded the Ford name and company focus, by purchasing a luxury car builder, the Lincoln Motor Car Company. Ford remained committed to the Model T as its only product under the Ford name, but the addition of Lincoln spelled an interest in other areas. It would have proven far healthier for the company to expand into these other interest areas earlier. But this did not happen. Ford stuck to the Model T concept for far too long. When it finally became apparent-even to Henry-that the T had outlived its usefulness, the production facilities had to be entirely shut
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