Henry Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947) was one of the most significant pioneers of industry in history and his development of the assembly line used in the mass production of automobiles revolutionized not only the transportation industry, but also how companies and corporations produced goods. From automobiles to electronics to beverages to candy to meat, so many products used every single day by consumers are produced using the assembly line. Henry was born on a farm in rural Michigan and determined as a boy that farming was not the life for him. As an inquisitive youth, Ford disassembled watches and reassembled them, teaching himself about the inner workings of the timepieces while learning the mechanic engineering principles that would serve him for years to come. Despite his father’s wishes that he take over the family farm, Henry left for Detroit in 1879 to become a machinist apprentice. By 1891, he became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company and by 1893 was Chief Engineer. In 1896, Ford built a self-propelled vehicle that he called the Ford Quadricycle and he presented his invention to Thomas Edison as the two attended an executive meeting that same year. Edison, perhaps the world’s greatest inventor, encouraged Ford to build the vehicle, but it was Henry who determined the best method to mass-produce them. Ford teamed with a handful of backers and investors to form an automotive company and after a couple failed attempts to incorporate successfully, the Ford Motor Company was introduced on June 16, 1903.

In 1908, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T, a mass-produced affordable conveyance that was soon copied and duplicated as the automobile industry grew. The Model T was simple to operate, handled well and was easy and cheap to maintain and repair. By 1918, half the cars in the United States were Model Ts. Almost all black. Ford was heard uttering that, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” In 1918, Ford turned the company over to his son Edsel to form another car company as a ruse to gain total control of the Ford motor Company from its investors. His ploy worked. As new car companies emerged, such as General Motors, and began producing vehicles with styling features and options, Ford reluctantly agreed to produce a new model and the Ford Model A was introduced in 1926. From then on, the Ford Motor Company adopted a policy of an annual model change. In 1914, stunned the nation when he increased the daily wage of his employees from $2.34 to $5.00 per day and created the five-day, 40-hour workweek. Mechanics, engineers and laborers flocked to Detroit to work at Ford. Henry believed that by increasing wages, the economy would subsequently enjoy a jolt and his employees would be able to spend more, including purchasing the vehicles they were producing, thereby stimulating economic growth.

Ford stood in strong opposition to labor unions as he felt union leaders, though trying to do well by their members, were often more concerned with their own personal well being as opposed to those they represented. He felt management should be smart and treat their employees well, keeping them happy, and thereby maximizing their own profits. Despite strongly opposing to World War I, Ford, a pacifist, built airplanes for the United States Armed Forces, but refocused on automobiles when the war ended. Ford hired both African-Americans and women during the 1920s and 1930s, long before the practice was commonplace, but he was an ardent anti-Semite with issues against the Jewish community. German Chancellor and maniacal dictator Adolph Hitler kept a photograph near his desk of the renowned automaker and Ford was the only American mentioned in Mein Kampf. Henry Ford revolutionized the transportation industry, both in the United States and around the world and by 1932, over 1/3 of the cars in world were produced by the Ford Motor Company.