Henry Ford was an Irish-American who not only impacted his country, but the entire world. He was the founder of the Ford Motor Company which, until recent times, has been one of the most successful car manufacturers of all time and an innovator of the modern assembly line.
He was born on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863, one of five children of Irish immigrants William and Mary Ford. Possessed of a quick mind and curious spirit, young Henry became fascinated with machinery at an early age, obtaining a good reputation throughout his community for his ability to repair watches.
After Henry’s mother died, his father tried to pressure him to go into farming, but Henry was resistant, wanting something more for his life. Rebelling against his father’s demands, Henry left and moved away to Detroit, where he became an apprentice in a machine shop at age 16. He did eventually return to his family farm, but his heart was still in machinery and he began servicing steam engines for Westinghouse, while still running a sawmill and taking care of the farm. While working as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company, he started doing some experimenting on the side with power-driven vehicles and produced his first automobile in 1896, building it in his own home garage. He left The Edison Company and, with $28,000 from investors, formed the Ford Motor Company. His early automobiles were driven in races to prove their quality and durability.
Ford’s success was cemented when he created the Model-T in 1908. Up until then, the average person could not afford an automobile and the mass-produced, inexpensive Model-T gave everyday people the opportunity to buy one. The Model-T had a steering wheel on the left, an enclosed transmission and engine and ran on four cylinders. Ford launched a huge advertising campaign, which further influenced folks to buy his cars. With demand high, he introduced assembly belts and, by year 1918, half of the autos driven in the U.S. were Model-T’s. Ford was greatly respected by those worldwide for paying his workers extraordinarily well, as they were paid twice what the normal industrial worker was paid at the time. His popularity even motivated him to run for the Senate, though unsuccessfully. By 1918, Henry Ford and his son Edsel, who had joined him in the business, bought up all their investors’ stocks and the company became totally controlled by the Ford family.
Henry Ford was not without his shortcomings and he could be stubborn to a fault. His refusal to modernize his automobiles and ways of running the company caused the sales in Model-T’s to drop drastically and Ford’s competitors were able to give him a run for the money. The Model-A was presented to the public in 1927, but things did not necessarily run so smoothly, regarding the upper management of the company. Henry had given Edsel control of the company in 1918, but Henry still basically ran things behind-the-scenes and often vetoed plans by Edsel to modernize things. When Edsel died in 1943, Henry took the reins again. By the 1940’s, The Ford Company was losing a million bucks a day due to some of his inflexible policies and, two years prior to his death, his grandson Henry Ford II wrested control of the company out of his hands and forced him into retirement. There really was little other choice, if The Ford Company was to survive and successfully compete.
Henry Ford died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 7, 1947.
Henry II revitalized the company, although he does share the blame for introducing the ultimate clunker-The Edsel.-which lost The Ford Company millions. From 1980 to 1999, Ford was headed by non-family members and then William Clay Ford, Jr. took over. However, he resigned his post in 2006, after the troubles that still plague the company occurred.
To the credit of Henry Ford and his family, The Ford Foundation was established in 1936, which continues to contribute millions of dollars to many good causes.
