FORD, HENRY

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863–April 7, 1947), who gained international fame as an innovator and entrepreneur in the automobile industry, was born into a farm family in present-day Dearborn, Michigan. Ford channeled an engineering background and a notable stint as a motorcar racer into a career as a pioneer in the development of mass production systems and the manufacture of low-priced vehicles, beginning with the Model T in 1908. The spectacular expansion of the Ford Motor Company between 1910 and 1923 established it as the country's leading automobile producer, transformed the automobile industry, and enabled Henry Ford to secure complete control of his business. The associated publicity established Henry Ford's international reputation as the inventor of mass production and a symbol of successful entrepreneurship. Prominent aspects of this public persona included the introduction of the $5 per day wage, peace campaigning during World War I, and a virulent anti-Semitism that was propounded through Ford's own newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, between 1920 and 1927. Henry Ford's anti-Semitic views reflected a strand of midwestern populist thought that was also reflected in his distrust of financial interests and international agencies. It created considerable controversy that tarnished his public image considerably by 1927.

Although Ford Motor Company was the industry leader and extended its multinational operations considerably from 1911 to 1926, General Motors and Chrysler were potent competitors after 1923. Ford's investment in associated enterprises, such as mines, steelworks, and shipping, and the firm's focus on a single model imposed higher fixed costs than the less integrated General Motors, which offered a range of models. Moreover, Henry Ford's autocratic style alienated key managers and delayed modernization of the Model T. Model T production ended in 1927, and the Ford Motor Company's vast River Rouge plant was shut down for retooling in preparation for the manufacture of the new Ford Model A. Thousands of auto workers were left idle. Public interest in the new Model A focused on the Ford Motor Company's reputation and status, and initial sales were promising, with Ford regaining its leading position in 1929 and 1930. But industry sales slumped from more than 5 million new cars in 1929 to 1.4 million in 1932, and sales recovered only slowly. For such a capital-intensive industry, the result was persistent overcapacity, even after the failure of many small firms. The Ford Motor Company's own sales and profits fell steeply, and the firm followed the general pattern of dismissing workers and operating shorter hours. Although Henry Ford's financial control precluded external threats from banks, the crisis diminished his reputation for transcending economic trends. The virtues of mass production as a means of extending consumption and, thus, employment became associated with fear of technological unemployment during the 1930s.

Although Ford remained a major public figure during the Depression years, his self-help ideals associated him with aspects of a discredited form of conservatism. In addition, his company's competitive strength ebbed as the aging Ford's arbitrary and intermittent authority impeded technological changes and inhibited an effective succession to his only son, Edsel Ford. The Ford Motor Company's management systems were weak compared to those at General Motors. Above all, Henry Ford's opposition to labor unions created a sour atmosphere within the company. The company's pioneering and paternalistic labor practices, including the $5 per day wage and the sociological department, which administered the scheme, were attempts to support and stabilise the firm's expanding and diverse workforce. Sociological Department's inspectors used questionnaires and home visits to determine whether workers qualified for the highest hourly rates. Despite positive aspects, the system had an authoritarian edge that contained the seeds of later problems. By the late 1920s Ford's industrial relations were explicitly coercive, especially in the giant Rouge plant. Henry Ford placed control of labor policies in the hands of Harry Bennett and his Service Department. Bennett oversaw a network of spies, employed violence to intimidate workers, awarded catering contracts to underworld associates, and parlayed his control of personnel and his close relationship with Henry Ford into wider influence. The latter element compounded the disunity and turnover among executives, but the consequences were more direct for the workers. Competitive pressures translated into wage reductions and "speed-up" of the assembly line, as well as an intense work regime, favoritism, and a repressive management culture. By the 1930s Ford was among the worst examples of industrial practices in American manufacturing.

Always eager for complete control, Ford was hostile to New Deal initiatives and to the emergence of union organizing campaigns. This was demonstrated graphically on March 7, 1932, when three thousand people marched to the River Rouge demanding work-sharing, union representation, and reforms to labour practices. The Dearborn police and members of Ford's service department acted violently to disburse the crowd, eventually firing directly into them. Four people were killed and at least twenty seriously wounded. Antipathy to the New Deal, combined with distaste for trade associations, was reflected in Ford's refusal to participate in the automobile industry code under the National Recovery Administration (NRA) between 1933 and 1935. Since the industry monitored its trade practices effectively, the NRA code centered on labor relations. Despite federal rhetoric, Ford's opposition to the NRA had little adverse impact on the company. However, union organizing activities gained momentum with the creation of United Automobile Workers (UAW) in 1935 and its transfer to the newly formed Committee for Industrial Organization, later called the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Legal support for the union came from the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. A series of sit-down strikes and organizing drives, plus the revival of business, persuaded General Motors and Chrysler to recognize the UAW in 1937. Yet Henry Ford ensured that his firm continued to resist unionization through intimidation and legal challenges. The most striking public images of this opposition came in May 1937 when photographers captured the "Battle of the Overpass" at the Rouge plant as Bennett's men assaulted UAW organizers. Similar tactics were used at Ford plants in Dallas and Kansas City. Finally, in 1941 Ford faced a more unified UAW after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the firm's labor practices. A strike and blockade of the Rouge plant in April convinced Ford to negotiate, and the UAW emerged from the resulting National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election as the representative union. The first union contract was signed in June in spite of Henry Ford's opposition.

During the 1930s Henry Ford's other interests included opening Greenfield Village, a museum that symbolized the rural childhood that had shaped his attitudes, including his preference for political isolationism and his suspicion of financiers. Ford also promoted "village industries" by locating plants in rural areas, and he promoted experiments in the cultivation of soybeans and their use in manufacturing. World War II revived Ford's pacifist ideals: In 1940 he refused to manufacture Rolls Royce engines for Great Britain. Once the United States entered the war, Ford concentrated the company's production on defense contracts, including trucks, jeeps, munitions, and aircraft. After a stroke in 1941, Ford became less active, though more capricious, in management, and the death of his son Edsel in 1943 weakened the firm's leadership. Henry Ford became company president and his grandson, Henry Ford II, was released from the navy to join management. Bennett's ambitions for control were thwarted by Clara Ford and Eleanor Ford, the wives of Henry and Edsel respectively, who mobilized the family's financial power and Clara's influence over Henry to ensure a transition to Henry Ford II. In 1947, Ford died quietly at the Fair Lane estate. His lying "in state" in Greenfield Village attracted thousands and his funeral was a major civic occasion.

FORD, HENRY

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