All Americans should revere Henry Ford and the Model T. The man and the car simply revolutionized America as we know it., there are two sides to Henry Ford. There is a great side---a truly great side. This man understood the importance of his brand. He understood just how important and historic this product would be. Unfortunately, he also has a terrible and vile side---a truly terrible side and vile side.
Henry Ford was a common man himself. He came from a farm. He came to Detroit and worked as a mechanic. He was renowned as probably the top mechanic in a town for known for machinery. He lived in a world in which the per capita income for an American was $500 a year. Henry Ford understood the importance that the automobile would bring to the average American. This is why he was adamant about creating a “car for the masses”.
This was not easy. He fought with his early investors. The Ford Motor Company was his third motor company. His investors wanted Henry to create a car for the rich---this is where they thought the greatest payback would be. Ford thought the greatest payback, long-term, would be entry level. Ford did want to become rich. He also wanted to create a product that would revolutionize America and make the average person’s life a lot better. The intent was two-fold on the side of Ford. His $5 a day wage changed America. It created a middle class. We feel Henry Ford’s influence today.
When $ 5 a day was announced, it brought blacks from the south, into the north, to work. Now they could vote. You cannot win the Presidency of the United States if you do not carry Michigan and Ohio. These are states that are traditionally Democratic---but still winnable for Republicans.
To win these states, the Republicans have to field a moderate candidate. The Republican Party is a very conservative Party. Radical Republican candidates cannot win a national election. Our recent political history was created by the voting coalitions created by Henry Ford. The New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, George Bush I and II, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama owe their Presidencies to the development of the car.
There is also a tragic and terrible downside to Henry. Henry was probably the most significant racist and anti-Semite this nation has ever had. It is just hard to understand how one man has done so much and created so much turmoil for African Americans than has Henry Ford.
No man has done more for the average American worker than Henry Ford. But no man has hurt the worker as much as Henry has, either. The Labor Strikes at Ford in the 1930’s are historic for their violence. Men were beaten and killed violently simply because they wanted a safe place to work.
Adolph Hitler loved Henry Ford because of his organizational skills, but mostly for his Anti-Semitic views. Why was this man so hurtful in the latter years of his life? When Henry Ford came on the scene he was not a young man. There is a strong possibility that dementia overtook Henry.
To their everlasting credit, no one in America has tried to quell Anti-Semitism as much as the contemporary Ford Family . They have given millions to Jewish organizations. Bill Ford should be lauded for the work he has done in creating understanding between Jew and non-Jew. If you know Bill Ford, please shake his hand and thank him.
Let us take Henry Ford in his entirety. Let us focus on the wonderful things that he has done. Again, no man has influenced America in a way that he has.
Dean Hambleton
dnhambleton@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment