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Henry Ford: The Blind Business Visionary

KEITH KEITH

in The Arts of Leadership

This chapter returns to the business world to look at Henry Ford, whose leadership inaugurated a qualitative leap from craft to mass production and gave rise to the term ‘Fordism’. It discusses how ... More

This chapter returns to the business world to look at Henry Ford, whose leadership inaugurated a qualitative leap from craft to mass production and gave rise to the term ‘Fordism’. It discusses how Ford enabled vast numbers of Americans to own cars because his prices were so low, but he persisted in assuming that price was critical long after many of his former customers had drifted away to the cars of General Motors and Chrysler, where the competitive edge was in novelty and product enhancements not simply price. It notes that Ford was a pacifist who spent a vast personal fortune leasing a ‘peace ship’ to sail to Europe and stop the First World War—but he simultaneously made an even bigger fortune with his production of munitions, boats, tanks, planes, and jeeps in both wars.Less

Henry Ford at a Crossroads: Inkster and the Ford Hunger March

Beth Tompkins Bates

in The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

This chapter focuses on the Inkster Project, Henry Ford's experiment on philanthropy. The village was said to be destitute when Ford intervened, providing electric lights, organizing police ... More

This chapter focuses on the Inkster Project, Henry Ford's experiment on philanthropy. The village was said to be destitute when Ford intervened, providing electric lights, organizing police protection, and establishing a bank. Although the Inkster Project rehabilitated the village and saved many black Ford families from physical destitution, it did not succeed in reestablishing unquestioned loyalty to Ford. The chapter also discusses the Ford Hunger March on March 7 1932, when 3,000 to 5,000 unemployed workers, most laid off by Ford, marched from Detroit to the employment office of Ford's River Rouge plant in Dearborn to present a list of demands to Ford.Less

Parting Patriarchs of the Family Firms

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

in The Hero’s Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire

The conflict and confusion that follow in the wake of monarchic departures can be found as well following the other leadership departure styles if they occur in a family firm. To gain further ... More

The conflict and confusion that follow in the wake of monarchic departures can be found as well following the other leadership departure styles if they occur in a family firm. To gain further insights into the succession tensions that confront family firms, the chapter surveys a group of chief executives who belong to the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). In addition, this chapter examines three very different family successions in detail. The first focuses on Dunkin' Donuts and explores an entrepreneur's ambassador-like departure and transfer of power of the chief executive to his son. The second concerns Corning Glass Works. Here, the chapter describes the transfer of command of a 130-year-old firm between brothers. The third example illustrates how Henry Ford II stabilizes the troubled firm founded by his namesake. Here, the passage of top office to non-family management is observed.Less

The Populist Roots of Mass Production

Stefan J. Link

in Forging Global Fordism: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Contest over the Industrial Order

This chapter traces mass production to its beginnings in the United States, where it emerged from the distinctive ideology of Midwestern populism. Why did Detroit, of all places, pioneer the industry ... More

This chapter traces mass production to its beginnings in the United States, where it emerged from the distinctive ideology of Midwestern populism. Why did Detroit, of all places, pioneer the industry that would shape the twentieth century like no other? Was Detroit simply lucky, as it were, to count a Henry Ford and a Ransom Olds among its citizens — incarnations of the American genius for innovation and entrepreneurship? Figures like Ford and Olds acted within the political economy of the Midwest and shared the characteristic populist commitments that suffused the region. These two factors — political economy and political ideology — go a long way toward explaining why, at the turn of the twentieth century, southeastern Michigan was in an auspicious position to get ahead of rapid technological developments and to spread its fruits widely. Experts with machines and metal, Midwestern mechanics gave their producerism a characteristic technological spin. This kind of producer populism permeated Detroit politics. The chapter then looks at a series of very different conflicts which honed Henry Ford's conviction that automotive mass production should reflect a producer-populist orientation.Less

Ford’s Bible of the Modern Age

Stefan J. Link

in Forging Global Fordism: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Contest over the Industrial Order

This chapter discusses how European postliberals on both the left and the right grasped Fordism as a compass by which to navigate the economic and ideological confusions of the 1920s. It studies ... More

This chapter discusses how European postliberals on both the left and the right grasped Fordism as a compass by which to navigate the economic and ideological confusions of the 1920s. It studies Henry Ford's My Life and Work (1922). What accounts for this book's astonishing impact? Part of the answer lies, as historians have long recognized, in the fascination that all things American exerted upon the world after the Great War. Dazed and diminished by the war, Europeans squinted across the Atlantic and saw an image of the future: a new type of civilization, characterized by mass production and mass-consumption, skyscrapers and Hollywood, assembly lines and flapper dresses. Like no other phenomenon, Henry Ford's factories seemed to exemplify this new American modernity: here the machine-like uniformity of modern industrial production begot a high standard of living and new possibilities for extravagant consumption and cultural expression. Ford's book went straight to the heart of the fierce Soviet debates about socialist industrial development. In essence, My Life and Work and its successor volumes elaborated a producerist agenda for the twentieth century.Less

Internal Combustion Engines

Vaclav Smil

in Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact

Invention and commercialization of automotive internal combustion engines was a multistranded process that began during the 1880s in Germany with design by Benz, Daimler and Maybach, and then ... More

Invention and commercialization of automotive internal combustion engines was a multistranded process that began during the 1880s in Germany with design by Benz, Daimler and Maybach, and then received critical contributions from France, the UK, and the United States. Otto-cycle gasoline engines became the dominant prime movers in passenger cars as well as in the first airplanes, while diesel engines were initially limited to heavy-duty maritime and railroad applications. Line assembly introduced by Henry Ford provided a long-lasting solution to the mass manufacturing. The car industry eventually became the leading sector of modern economies and car culture has had a profound effect on many facets of modern life.Less

Ford's Megaphone

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

In America, it was common for industrial magnates to acquire newspapers or start their own. One of them was Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company. In late 1918, Ford's public image suffered, ... More

In America, it was common for industrial magnates to acquire newspapers or start their own. One of them was Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company. In late 1918, Ford's public image suffered, in part due to his legal battles with the Chicago Tribune and Ford Motor Company's minority shareholders. Ford blamed the national press for these troubles and decided to buy his own newspaper. That newspaper turned out to be the Dearborn Independent, which he bought for $1,000 and served as his print version of a megaphone that would amplify—but not modify—everything he wanted to say. This chapter focuses on the events surrounding Ford's acquisition of the Dearborn Independent and some of the people he hired to run it, including William J. Cameron, Fred Black, and Ernest Gustav Liebold. It also looks at the Independent's publication of a series of anti-Semitic articles based on the document Protocols of the Elders of Zion that explicitly racialized views of Jews and took anti-Semitism to a different level.Less

The Politics of Unemployment in Depression-Era Detroit, 1927–1931

Beth Tompkins Bates

in The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

This chapter examines Henry Ford's and Frank Murphy's different responses to the national economic crisis, the Great Depression, and the shifting of loyalties within black Detroit. Frank Murphy was a ... More

This chapter examines Henry Ford's and Frank Murphy's different responses to the national economic crisis, the Great Depression, and the shifting of loyalties within black Detroit. Frank Murphy was a prominent political leader and a staunch opponent of Henry Ford's agenda. In the Ossian Sweet case, Frank Murphy gained support within the black community, paving the way for political activism of black Detroiters. During the first phase of the Depression, 1929–31, black Detroiters, participated in Murphy's campaign to deal with rising unemployment. This period marked the shifting of loyalties in Detroit as black Detroiters threw their allegiance strongly behind the political campaigns of Frank Murphy.Less

Apology, Retractions, and Recriminations

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

Judge Fred M. Raymond's declaration of a mistrial in Sapiro v. Ford ended the public drama between Henry Ford and Aaron Sapiro, but not their legal battle. The two parties were expected to return to ... More

Judge Fred M. Raymond's declaration of a mistrial in Sapiro v. Ford ended the public drama between Henry Ford and Aaron Sapiro, but not their legal battle. The two parties were expected to return to court, but Ford decided to end the dispute outside the courtroom. To do so, he enlisted an unlikely ally, Louis Marshall, who was watching the developments from the sidelines. The “Jewish question” that emerged during the trial reawakened Marshall's concerns about the implications of the case for Jewish civil rights. He believed that the case was not in accord with the strategy that he and the American Jewish Committee had maintained for more than six years. In Detroit, Raymond arranged a hearing to discuss a new trial date. Meanwhile, the Ford Motor Company was undergoing a big transformation as it tried to endure sluggish sales. This chapter focuses on the settlement negotiations between Ford and Sapiro that eventually led to the former's issuance of an apology that was written by Marshall himself.Less

Trial and Mistrial

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

Sapiro v. Ford was held in Detroit's “Million Dollar Courtroom,” where Henry Ford's defense made a last-ditch attempt to avoid trial while the plaintiff tested Judge Fred M. Raymond's willingness to ... More

Sapiro v. Ford was held in Detroit's “Million Dollar Courtroom,” where Henry Ford's defense made a last-ditch attempt to avoid trial while the plaintiff tested Judge Fred M. Raymond's willingness to permit group-libel claims into the case. Clifford B. Longley and James A. Reed, two members of Ford's defense team, submitted a plea that was described by Aaron Sapiro's lawyer, William Henry Gallagher, as irrelevant and confusing. Gallagher and Sapiro attempted to force Ford to defend the Dearborn Independent's explicitly anti-Semitic statements, a motion that was rejected by Raymond. Gallagher vowed to prove that charges of a conspiracy involving a network of prominent American Jews were totally unfounded. This chapter provides an overview of the litigation process, including the selection of the jury, and the judge's decision to declare a mistrial.Less

Introduction

Beth Tompkins Bates

in The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

Henry Ford employed innovative mass-production strategies, industrial policies, and maverick business practices at the Ford Motor Company (FMC), which redefined his road to success under industrial ... More

Henry Ford employed innovative mass-production strategies, industrial policies, and maverick business practices at the Ford Motor Company (FMC), which redefined his road to success under industrial capitalism. After World War I, Ford hired thousands of African American men to work for FMC. This book traces the relationship between Henry Ford, the FMC, black workers, and Detroit's black community as they were formed and transformed during the years between World Wars I and II. It aims to capture how African Americans in Detroit used the foundation provided by their jobs at FMC to improve their lives.Less

Enforcement Without Law

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

Even before the impact of Henry Ford's apology that ended his legal battle with Aaron Sapiro could be felt in the United States, Louis Marshall knew that the document would be useful abroad. Aware of ... More

Even before the impact of Henry Ford's apology that ended his legal battle with Aaron Sapiro could be felt in the United States, Louis Marshall knew that the document would be useful abroad. Aware of the fact that American citizens enjoyed constitutional protections, Marshall thought that anti-Semitism had more pernicious effects in other countries, especially in Eastern Europe where Jews were suffering from discrimination and violence. Ford's apology became the basis for his continuing relationship with Marshall, rather than his libel opponents. Ford made several promises that Marshall hoped he would keep, but kept only one: he shut down the Dearborn Independent. In writing the apology, Marshall was hoping that The International Jew, which he dubbed “the Anti-Semites Bible,” would no longer be published in the United States and Europe. Anti-Semitic publishers from Germany and South America challenged both the terms of Ford's apology and the arguments presented by Marshall to substitute the apology for law.Less

Taking It to the Streets

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

In December 1920, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) published a pamphlet, “The Protocols, Bolshevism, and the Jews,” in response to the anti-Semitic articles that appeared in Henry Ford's newspaper ... More

In December 1920, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) published a pamphlet, “The Protocols, Bolshevism, and the Jews,” in response to the anti-Semitic articles that appeared in Henry Ford's newspaper Dearborn Independent. The pamphlet generated a wave of positive publicity for AJC, which was framing the debate according to Marshall's strategy: an attack on Jewish civil rights was also an attack on American civil rights. Marshall wanted to end Ford's war on Jews by reminding Americans of the danger of violating their rights as citizens. He and his fellow Jews found allies in urban mayors and police chiefs, who relied on criminal libel laws to ban sales of the Independent on city streets. Also condemning Ford's anti-Semitism were former U.S. Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, who signed a protest statement together with more than a hundred church leaders, politicians, artists, literary figures, and educators. This chapter examines the wave of protests generated by Ford's anti-Semitic articles and focuses on some of the prominent figures involved, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Herman Bernstein.Less

With the Wind at Their Backs: Migration to Detroit

Beth Tompkins Bates

in The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

This chapter discusses the social and economic world that greeted African Americans migrating to Detroit during and after World War I. By the time black newcomers arrived in large numbers, ... More

This chapter discusses the social and economic world that greeted African Americans migrating to Detroit during and after World War I. By the time black newcomers arrived in large numbers, industrialists had spent several years grappling with the best ways to manage a diverse and foreign-born work force. Henry Ford and other industrials had constructed a new social order based on a unified work force, shaping them to conform to the American way of life. Henry Ford led this endeavor with his Americanization Plan to organize and control his overwhelmingly immigrant work force.Less

Epilogue

Beth Tompkins Bates

in The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

Henry Ford played a major role in transforming the lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. By opening the door to economic opportunity for black workers at the Ford Motor Company (FMC), ... More

Henry Ford played a major role in transforming the lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. By opening the door to economic opportunity for black workers at the Ford Motor Company (FMC), Ford raised expectations and hope for what was possible in America. This epilogue summarizes the relations between Henry Ford, black Ford workers, and the black community, including the host of problems that threatened Ford's automotive empire.Less

The Gospel of Wealth and the Gospel of Art

Peter W. Williams

in Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression

The Episcopal church had no firm policy on how the riches of the wealthy elite should be spent philanthropically, but it during the Gilded Age it was entering a period of considerable and often ... More

The Episcopal church had no firm policy on how the riches of the wealthy elite should be spent philanthropically, but it during the Gilded Age it was entering a period of considerable and often heated debate as to what form charitable giving might best take and who was responsible for the plight of the poor. The Social Gospel movement, in which Episcopalians participated actively, was one major theological and institutional response to these questions. Another philanthropic issue of the day was the provision of cultural institutions like museums and libraries. Episcopalians were not unique among American Christians in discovering the religious potential of the material world. Wealthy Episcopalians donated or made available to the public their private collections of art, or funded public cultural institutions. The culture of urban America was manifestly enriched by their benevolences under the aegis of a church that had room for both the prophetic judgments of the Social Gospel and the sensual opulence of the Gospel of Art.Less

Conclusion: Refashioning Fordism Under American Hegemony

Stefan J. Link

in Forging Global Fordism: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Contest over the Industrial Order

This concluding chapter explains that American-style postwar “Fordism” was only one pattern in the mottled global legacy left behind by Henry Ford. It was not the least ideological effect of American ... More

This concluding chapter explains that American-style postwar “Fordism” was only one pattern in the mottled global legacy left behind by Henry Ford. It was not the least ideological effect of American hegemony that in the 1960s modernization theory could universalize this unique historical arrangement — what can be called “high mass-consumption” — as the target of successful development itself. Responding to the crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, social scientists added a next phase: “Post-Fordism” or “post-industrial society” signaled deindustrialization to some and the promise of a “service and information economy” to others. What united these constructs was a thinking in sequential stages, a preoccupation with national patterns of development, and a theory of causation centered on self-generating forces. It has become clear that cycles of industrialization and deindustrialization are inseparable from concerted efforts to restructure the global division of labor, that productive dual-use technologies are fiercely contested by states and corporations alike, that investment and disinvestment cannot be dislodged from contests over the terms of globalization, and that capital has no autonomous power outside of the designs and struggles of political actors.Less

The Other War

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

In April 1924, Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent started publishing a series of articles attacking Aaron Sapiro. However, the newspaper made crucial mistakes that Sapiro would exploit in his lawsuit, ... More

In April 1924, Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent started publishing a series of articles attacking Aaron Sapiro. However, the newspaper made crucial mistakes that Sapiro would exploit in his lawsuit, including inaccurate and false reporting. Meanwhile, Ford continued to eye Muscle Shoals. After January 1922, the Independent stopped publishing negative comment about Jews, but Ernest Gustav Liebold and Fred Black secretly commissioned a series of articles designed to bolster Ford's Muscle Shoals campaign, burnish his rural image, and reveal how trusts and financial institutions exploit American farmers. One of the Independent's contributors was freelance writer Harry H. Dunn, who wrote the series of articles attacking Sapiro, Jewish involvement in agriculture, and international Jewish financiers' subversion of the cooperative movement. Sapiro knew that libel law was on his side in his legal battle with Ford, whom he knew would never be converted from his anti-Semitism. On April 22, his lawyer, William Henry Gallagher, filed a libel suit against Ford in Detroit's federal court, ushering in the saga of Sapiro v. Ford.Less

The Lawsuit

in Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

Aaron Sapiro filed his libel lawsuit against Henry Ford and his newspaper, Dearborn Independent, in April 1925, and the trial finally got under way in 1927. Both sides used the intervening period, ... More

Aaron Sapiro filed his libel lawsuit against Henry Ford and his newspaper, Dearborn Independent, in April 1925, and the trial finally got under way in 1927. Both sides used the intervening period, known in the civil litigation process as the discovery phase, to gather evidence and depose witnesses. Sapiro discovered that Ford had no intention of defending his newspaper's anti-Semitic articles, and instead wanted to focus on Sapiro's Jewishness. Instead of trying to vindicate all Jews, Sapiro and his lawyer, William Henry Gallagher, emphasized conventional individual libel grounds. Ford's team, which included Missouri Senator James A. Reed, sought to regain the moral high ground by denying explicit anti-Semitism. For both sides, Sapiro v. Ford was about Sapiro, Jews, and cooperatives.Less