The COMPLICATED Life of Henry Ford: FULL DOCUMENTARY

The COMPLETE Life Story of Henry Ford | A Classic Car Documentary

If you’ve seen my 2-part series on the life of Henry Ford, then you will recognize this as the two parts merged into one complete video, with some minor tweaks. To those of you who asked that the two parts be joined into one complete video on the life of Henry Ford, here you go.

Discover the fascinating life story of Henry Ford, the man behind the iconic Ford cars. This classic car documentary explores the rise of one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history.

Get an in-depth look at Ford’s life and business journey, from his early struggles and failures to the founding of the Ford Motor Company and the creation of the Model T. Perfect for business enthusiasts and entrepreneurs in cars, this documentary will provide valuable insights and inspiration. Don’t miss out on this must-watch business story!

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00:00 The History of Henry Ford
01:08 Young Henry Ford
06:30 The Quadricycle
11:28 First Failed Company
14:11 Second Failed Company
17:15 Ford Motors
19:52 Model-T
24:10 Ford Workers
25:25 Ford Investors
29:40 WWI
31:50 The 1920s
33:30 Creating The Model-A
34:24 Fordism
36:28 Fordlandia
38:33 Antisemitism
41:03 The 1930s
42:25 Ford Massacre
43:05 The V8
44:21 UAW
45:35 Stiff Competition
46:53 Final Years
47:50 Death Of Son Edsel
48:53 WWII
49:50 Legacy of Henry Ford

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Henry Ford lived two lives. the first half of his  life was about building a company to become one   of the most successful men in the country. the  second half of his life was about maintaining   that success. hope you enjoy this documentary  I made on the life of Henry Ford. what do you  

Do when you’re one of the richest and most  powerful men in the country? when your name   is on over 50% of all vehicles on the road?  when you’ve revolutionized Mass manufacturing   for the Industrial Age, building a gigantic  business Empire from nothing and creating  

Scores of enemies along the way? before Henry  Ford was one of the world’s most powerful men   he was a humble boy on a farm with no money  no ideas and no future. throughout his life   he grew to nearly autocratic proportion,  becoming entangled with countless World  

Figures from presidents to Thomas Edison and  even German Chancellor Adolf H*tler. Ford’s   journey to building the world’s most successful  company is the single greatest Underdog Story   and it all begins with a pocket watch. this  is the amazing full story of Henry Ford.

It was soon after the end of the Civil War  on a small farm in Detroit Michigan when a   hardworking God-fearing couple William and Mary  Ford gave birth to their eldest of six children   a boy named Henry to Henry’s Father William an  Irish immigrant he finally had a son to one day  

Take over the back breaking work of running  the Family Farm however as he grew it quickly   became clear that young Henry Ford was Cut From a  Different Cloth than his father he had no passion   whatsoever for the tedious drudgery of Agriculture  while Henry did his best to help out his parents  

He hated the sheer idea of working at the farm  many assumed he was just lazy as even when he   dropped out of Springwell Middle School in  the eighth grade a one room school he still   wouldn’t put his hours in the field but they were  wrong Henry had a passion in mechanics his innate  

Curiosity for understanding how machines work led  him to enthusiastically dismantle and reassemble   every single piece of equipment he encountered  when Henry’s father gifted him a pocket watch   at the age of 12 he mastered taking it apart and  rebuilding it in minutes before long he gained  

Renown as an expert neighborhood watch repair  man fixing time pieces for locals and this Talent   would serve well in life at 13 Henry’s life was  altered with a vision and a tragedy his vision   was in nearby Detroit when Henry saw his first  vehicle that wasn’t powered by a horse it was  

A tractor powered by a Nichols and Shepard steam  engine the engineer had fixed the chain from the   axle of the machine to the wheels sort of a crude  self-propelling motorc car it was a vehicle that   filled his Mechanical Mind with dreams to one day  built his own Horseless vehicle however around  

The same time Henry saw tragedy when his mother  died due to complications during childbirth being   very close to his mother Henry was devastated  beyond words and his grief aggravated his already   considerable disdain for the farming lifestyle  which now felt suffocating with memories of his  

Mom around every corner to deal with his grief  Henry immersed himself in consuming everything   he could learn about engines even constructing  his own crude steam engine model by age 15 but   Henry felt steam engines were too heavy and not  suitable for lightweight vehicles and the boiler  

Was too dangerous nonetheless with his mother  gone his father needed Henry more than ever on   the farm and life at home between Henry and his  father was getting contentious by 16 the Restless   Henry had had enough yearning escape from a future  he now hated he abandoned his home walking 9 miles  

Into Detroit seeking both fortune and an escape  from farming the ambitious Henry plunged into   the burgeoning world of Industry taking shape in  Detroit the city had become a beacon for young   Engineers as steam power had rapidly mechanized  production eager to reinvent himself Henry Dove  

Head first into learning everything about machines  he landed an entry-level job with the Michigan   car company works but as inexperience led to  dismissal just 6 days later undeterred Henry   eventually secured an apprentice ship with the  James flower and Brothers Machine shop toiling  

For a meager $2.60 a week it wasn’t enough to even  cover a room and board so leveraging his childhood   watch repair Mastery Henry cleaned and fixed  tickers 6 hours a night six nights a week for   an extra $3 a week despite working two grueling  jobs Henry’s passion for tinkering never ceased  

Any spare moment found him studying machinist  books or experimenting on scrap metal hen Henry   then found a job working on Motors on iron boats  at the dry do company and after 3 years as their  

Apprentice Henry felt he had learned all he needed  and he was also getting homesick so in 1882 at age   19 he went back to his father’s Farm in Spring  Wells Michigan back home he did as little farm   work as possible instead constantly fine-tuning  a portable Westinghouse steam engine his dad had  

Recently purchased to mechanize harvesting in fact  before long Henry became so Adept at operating and   maintaining the device that a neighbor farmer  paid him $3 just to utilize it on his land for   one season impressed Farmers spread the word  quickly of a young wizard who could coax the  

Temperamental steam Contraptions into optimal  production and this soon captured the attention   of Westinghouse company’s regional manager who  hired Henry to service and install their steam   tractors across rural Southern Michigan and Ohio  the machines that had been Henry’s ticket out of  

Detroit Detroit now tethered him back to the  countryside he dreaded but they also connected   him to his first love Clara Bryant whom he met at  a New Year’s party in 1885 she was a friend of his   sister Mary and though Clara at first resisted  Henry’s advances eventually the two married and  

Moved on to a 40 acre plot gifted by Henry’s  father but it didn’t settle Henry’s ambition   the Industrial Age was taking root in big cities  and Henry wanted to be part of the excitement in 1891 at 28 years old Henry and Clara packed  up their meager belongings in rural Michigan  

And moved into a tiny apartment in bustling  Detroit Henry was driven by Whispers he’ read   in a British magazine about an exciting new  invention taking place in Germany the gasoline   engine unlike noisy belching steam engines  needing half an hour to build pressure before  

Use these gasoline fuel Motors generated power  via small controlled explosions right inside   the contraption itself Germany was scrambling  to roll out production versions but in America   in the early 1890s gas engines were virtually  unheard of Henry felt positively electrified  

Reading about this development he had to see one  up close after months of fruitless searching Henry   eventually located a soul gas engine specimen  in a Detroit Warehouse owned by an eccentric   polish inventor known for tinkering Henry peer  the man with endless questions pleading to see  

It run and once witnessed firsthand Henry was  positively a struck by The Roaring power and   throaty hum he returned nearly daily offering to  labor unpaid if the inventor would explain its   inner Mysteries try as he might the technical  complexities of igniting fuel Vapors through  

Perfectly timed electric Sparks eluded Henry’s  understanding but he knew gasoline would be a   much better way of powering Wheels than  Steam faster and more lightweight and he   grew determined to someday build one himself  without knowing the first thing about shaping   metal Electronics or Machining intricately fitted  Parts craving proximity to Industrial technology  

And electricity in 1892 Henry eagerly accepted a  night shift job maintaining a giant steam engine   and Dynamo at Detroit Edison’s illuminating  company Plant in a short time he rose through   the ranks promoted to Chief engineer his expertise  mending Farm steam tractors qualified him for the  

$40 monthly salary role ensuring uninterrupted  electrical flow to Detroit’s 1,000 wired homes   most nights as the engine hummed reliably Henry  enjoyed ample time to hungrily pour through   electrical manuals in the engineering room and  in 1893 by age 30 he confidently felt he could  

Wire anything that same year Henry proudly  watched his family grow by won with the birth   of his son ET O’Bryant Ford and just months  later rewards of his diligent self-education   and hard work showed in a promotion to chief  engineer with double his previous salary now  

Earning $100 a week Henry funneled every spare  Penny towards his next Obsession building his   first gasoline engine prototype using secondhand  scraps fueled by months of frustration on a dim   chilly night in early October Henry erupted in  triumphant cheers that rattled his tiny garage  

His crude handbuilt Contraption sputtered then  steadied into the unmistakable throaty hum of   success one explosion led to the next as Henry  watched hypnotized feeding and tweaking his   beautiful creation and in the wee hours of June  4th 1896 1:30 a.m. to be precise Henry achieved  

His next Milestone under cloak of Darkness  to avoid prying eyes Henry wheeled out an odd   bicycle like Contraption from his lab and pedal  furiously through the sui Detroit Dawn sandwiched   between two rubber wheeled metal Cycles was a  pulsating engine fueled by drops of gasoline  

Clanking and bucking with each Power Stroke  Henry’s experimental quadricycle represented   four years of secret Relentless midnight trial and  error though crude bulky and nearly uncontrollable   the quadricycle indeed moved by engine power  alone confirming Henry’s core theory that a  

Portable gas motor could Propel a carriage lacking  horses when Henry had a chance meeting with Thomas   Edison at the illumination company he told  the enterprising inventor about it Edison   encouraged Henry to keep going Henry made several  adjustments over the next year including cooling  

The engine to prevent catastrophic overheating  in 1898 when a curious British industrialist   offered to buy his history making prototype for  200 dollars. Henry took the money to make a more   improved version. Henry envisioned that perhaps  one day there would be a way to create a simple  

Reliable gas- powered car affordable to average  workers trying to escape a life of only moving   as fast as their feet or horses could carry them  people call him a fanciful dreamer but Henry felt   confident he could make this dream a reality what  he needed was investors and failure was not an

Option. with support from Detroit’s mayor  Henry feverishly constructed his second   larger experimental automobile prototype sturdier  and heftier than his previous creation this model   caught the eye of William Murphy a wealthy Lumber  merchant after personally test driving Henry’s   ungainly but roaring vehicle Murphy proposed  a partnership on the spot Henry managed to  

Acquire a total of 12 investors and a capital  of $15,000 and on August 5th 18 1999 Detroit   automobile company was birthed as America’s 17th  Motorcar startup while Henry was the mechanical   superintendent and could make a car run he  wasn’t capable yet of manufacturing enough  

Of those cars to make a company run there were  many other brands of Horseless carriages at this   point and all of them were handmade and extremely  expensive and because of this cars only serve the   function as a luxury item for the rich but Henry  was thinking different while director pressed for  

Sensible production of sailable motor carriages  for the elite Henry sank company resources into   radical personal pet projects unlikely to deliver  near-term Revenue he built a delivery wagon model   for hauling light Goods but unfortunately  it wasn’t what his shareholders wanted they  

Wanted a variety of different Vehicles all built  as quickly as possible to sell for top dollar to   Rich hobbyists but Henry was a perfectionist and  worked slow also Henry relied on outside vendors   to supply most components so delays and tentative  Supply chains meant entire Factory shutdowns  

While awaiting backordered Parts crippling  any efficiency gains Henry was in constant   conflict with shareholders who grew furious with  constant production delays eventually Henry’s   Venture capsized just a year later sinking under  the weight of his lofty Ambitions colliding with  

Boardroom pragmatism after 2 years of operation  a mere 20 Vehicles had been con constructed an   abysmal total with cash reserves evaporated Henry  was unceremoniously dismissed from his own company   but true to his irrepressible nature he remained  unfazed taking it as a lesson learned not a legacy  

Cemented failure is only the opportunity to more  intelligently begin again he said in truth Henry   also felt reliefed to be unburdened from the  executive duties and impatient investors who   couldn’t see the trailblaze in Long View as he  did he was now free to build purely as he wished  

Without compromise and he decided to get into  racing and this time he wouldn’t [Music] fail   understanding that winning races carried publicity  value far exceeding actually selling Motorcars   to the ultra wealthy Henry pivoted his next  venture to designing Speedy Nimble race cars to  

Pit against rival car makes Henry felt strongly  that race cars exuded visceral excitement many   Americans craved and beating other backers cars  would broadcast Henry’s engineering Wizardry   for all to see attracting possible new investors  for all his future endeavors Henry saw that other  

Race cars at the time were too focused on power so  Henry thought he would focus on weight he started   on a lightweight 26 horow two-cylinder race car  which he used to win his first race a 10-lap   competition at the Detroit driving Club Henry’s  newly constructed race car faced off against  

The Fearsome machine of legendary Cleveland car  builder Alexander Winton piloted by America’s top   professional driver to the shock of all Henry’s  26 horsepower strip down Speedster triumphed and   as word spread it vaulted Henry’s confidence and  credibility to attempt forming a new automobile  

Firm so much so in fact that some of Henry’s old  investors from his first company including mayor   Murphy and karon Alexander Malcomson reapo him  to create a second company which they called The   Henry Ford Company the goal of the newly formed  Henry Ford company was to produce lightweight  

City cars however Henry’s recent success in racing  had his mind racing about building more race cars   and so very quickly just like his first failed  company Henry was at odds with the shareholders   of his namesake company tension simmered with  Henry continually dedicating the firm’s Capital  

Towards further race car development rather than  the sensible passenger models that his executive   board expected would turn actual profit once again  investors were extremely frustrated with Henry   Ford and eventually replaced him as chief engineer  thus Henry Ford left the Henry Ford Company his  

Company was now headed up by Master engineer Henry  Leeland who would have great success after the   Henry Ford company was renamed to the founder  of Detroit Cadillac Henry Ford had two failed   businesses but he wasn’t going to give up that  easily he continued to work on race cars and in  

1901 he created the groundbreaking 80 horsepower  Ford 999 and 2 years later his next car broke All   American Driving records with a top speed of 56  mph and this success in the racing World helped   Henry Forge reputation which once again attracted  the attention of investors who wanted to work with  

The determined mechanic and engineer this time  Henry thought there must be some way to turn   his Innovative mind into making a profitable car  and if the third time is a charm in 1903 Henry   put his efforts into his third business venture  the Ford motor [Music] company two-time business  

Failure Henry Ford now at the age of 40 was about  to experience success beyond anything he dreamed   possible colar and Alexander Malcomson still  believed in Henry and he along with Henry gathered   several new investors for Forge third attempt  at building a car company investors included  

John and Horus Dodge as well as malson’s Uncle  his secretary and two of his lawyers in total   they all put up the $28,000 needed to launch  the newly formed Ford Motor Company and Henry   told his Ford Motors stakeholders I will build  a motor car for the great multitude it will be  

Large enough for the the family but small enough  for the individual it will be constructed of the   best materials by the best men it will be Solo  in price that no man making a good salary will  

Be unable to own one Henry focus on creating an  easy to operate No Frills car simple enough for   ordinary citizens to purchase at the time most  models cost upwards of $11,000 pricing them   beyond all but the wealthiest 2% of America  so Henry’s populace notion was Radical 1903  

When cars remained play things for the rich and  Henry’s top-notch engineering team and Clarity   of vision was put to use churning through over 20  experimental prototypes in 2 years before arriving   at his minimalist Model A A 2C Runabout with 8  horsepower 12200 lb at a top speed of 28 mph in  

1903 Henry sold his first Model A to a Chicago  dentist in less than a year over 500 100 model   A’s had been sold at the same time the Ford Motor  Company was upgrading the line with the model B  

It was bigger more powerful and considerably more  expensive than the model A there was even a model   C with 10 horsepower but Henry Ford just couldn’t  get comfortable with the notion of a luxury car   he wanted to keep it simple but even as demand  outpaced production capacity affirming Henry’s  

Belief and pent up desire in an affordable usable  car the manufacturing still crept along in 19th   century fashion one vehicle at a time each  component was painstakingly handcrafted then   combined to form a complete automobile skilled  workers clustered around a slowly emerging  

Chassis like surgeons hovering over a patient  however everything changed during a visit to   a Chicago [Music] slaughterhouse it was 1904 in a  cold Chicago Meat Packing plant when Henry witness   livestock effortlessly gliding past workers  performing single disassembly tasks as the cow  

Bodies moved along a conveyor belt each butcher  performed one specific task it was unbelievably   quick and efficient and Henry decided to adopt  the innovation of this assembly line for his own   car factories by splitting the production process  into a series of small individual tasks he could  

Assign workers to one task each which they could  quickly complete over and over again with no skill   and no experience required if aligned properly  a car under construction could travel pausing   only for each employee to efficiently add the  respective elements to incubate this production  

Line concept Henry constructed a massive factory  in late 1904 and fine-tuned installation of the   unprecedented mechanized approach ingenious  machines stamped out identical chassis and   body parts conveying them to workers strategically  doing small repetitive installation steps as the   unit tled through the plant immediately Factory  efficiency increased by 500% and Henry was able  

To quickly expand and hire 300 new employees  since he could hire cheap low skilled labor   to do these repetitive tasks as output climbed  prices correspondingly dropped putting ownership   Within Reach of America’s swelling middle class  and Henry put his assembly line concept to use  

With his next line of automobile in 1908 came  Henry’s piece to resistance the defining Model   T and apotheosis of Dependable uncomplicated  Mobility priced initially around $850 the   model T’s smart design targeted reliability  over features and it attracted a fanatical  

Following it had the steering wheel on the left  which every other company soon copied the entire   engine and transmission were enclosed the four  cylinder ERS were cast in a solid block and the   suspension used two semi-elliptic Springs 15,000  orders flooded forward within days and owning the  

Entire manufacturing chain was Central to Henry’s  vision for scaling affordability to that end he   constructed a maze of maximally efficient  factories supplying every conceivable part   subassembly and raw material this unprecedented  coordination of mass production enabled sweeping   economies of scale by 1910 booming demand for  model T’s forced Henry to construct an enormous  

New Factory in Highland Park capable of producing  over 700 cars daily rather than workers walking   around to fix chassis the Model T frame now came  to them snaking through the plant stations were   strategically spaced allowing each employee to  efficiently bolt on their two parts as the vehicle  

Glided by this revolutionary workflow collapsed  12-hour build times down to just 90 minutes and   every model te rolled out of the factory with  the same color and same interchangeable parts   it was an immediate best seller and it brought  in huge profits for the company allowing them to  

Ramp up production even further by 1914 Henry was  selling more cars than all other car manufacturers   in America combined generating over 300,000  cars annually in just 5 years output roared   from a meager 20,000 units to over 1 milli ion and  Henry continued chopping prices in lock step with  

Their swelling manufacturing prowess as volumes  doubled yearly Henry slashed Model T prices in   fact by 1916 the Model T that once cost 850 was  now selling for less than 400 his Blockbuster   recipe seemed bulletproof optimized production cut  cost pump savings into greater output and lower  

Sticker prices further to exploit demand before  long 50% of the cars on the road were Fords and   Henry Ford was a household name on his way to  becoming one of the richest and most powerful   men in [Music] America when the Model T car chassi  was put into motion along a human assembly line  

Forever transforming how cars would be made it  also created Problems by hiring cheap labor to   do simple repetitive tasks it began to wear down  the workers mental well-being being they would lay   in bed at night dreaming they were still at the  factory working and it was creating High turnover  

Rates new enthusiastic employees would quickly  realize that the job wasn’t so easy after all and   turnover was getting so high that it would take  1,000 men just to fill 100 positions also Henry   Ford had been known for slowly speeding up the  assembly line each week just to squeeze a few more  

Cars a day into the system and Henry also knew  that he couldn’t have the assembly line stop or   it would crash the entire operation so Henry Ford  did the nearly Unthinkable he doubled the average  

Worker’s wage from roughly $2 per day to $5 a day  an unheard of salary for manual labor in the early   1900s $5 a day easily solved the workers turnover  rate but higher wages only created yet another   problem angry investors since Henry didn’t want to  raise the price of the automobile for consumers he  

Decided the money would come out of the profits  he would pay as dividends and his investors were   not happy they didn’t understand why he would  choose to give his profits to his workers and   given the high demand of the Model T why wouldn’t  Henry raise his price instead he was lowering his  

Price it went against the basic laws of supply  and demand two of his biggest investors John and   Horus Dodge felt demand was so high and so too  should be the price PR John and horse Dodge were   experts in car design and Manufacturing and were  currently supplying thousands of parts to Ford as  

Car experts they had also been suggesting to Henry  ways to improve his Model T but it was falling   on deaf ears after multiple failures success was  going to Henry Ford’s head he thought his Model T  

Was perfect he didn’t want to listen to any advice  on changes or improvements the Model T came one   way and only in one color and people bought it if  it’s not broke don’t fix it this Clash would lead   the Dodge Brothers into going into competition  with Henry Ford creating their own car company  

The Dodge Brothers Motor Company and in 1914 they  created their own four-cylinder car the Dodge   model 3035 touring car marketed as a slightly more  upscale competitor to the Ford Model T it offered   an all steel body unlike the wood frame of the  Model T and it had 35 horsepower power compared  

To the model T’s 20 horsepower the Dodgers sold  their car for over $800 even while Henry was still   lowering his Model T to half that price the Dodge  logic was that if someone wanted a better quality  

Car they’d be willing to pay more for it John  Dodge was once quoted as saying someday people who   own a Ford are going to want to buy an automobile  and by 1916 Dodge cars were ranked second in Us  

Sales behind only Ford Henry Ford’s response was  severe the way Henry saw it his two other car   companies had failed due to investor meddling  and this time now a massive success Henry Ford   felt he no longer needed to answer to his Board  of investors especially the Dodge Brothers who  

Were also now his competition so Henry Ford simply  stopped paying his investors their dividends and   instead spent his money on expansion creating  the iconic gigant antic River Rouge Factory to   further expand his car production soon after the  Dodge Brothers sued Henry between not paying his  

Dividends raising workers wages and lowering the  price of the cars without the board’s consent they   questioned Henry’s ability to responsibly lead  the company during the trial the judge sided with   the Dodge Brothers and Henry Ford was ordered to  pay out millions of dollars in Lost dividends and  

Penalties but Henry Ford now with the money to do  what he wanted still shocked everybody with two   unheard of moves first he resigned as president  of the Ford Motor Company naming his only son etel   aged 26 as president of Ford Motors it shocked the  financial world that Henry Ford would resign as  

Head of Ford motors and the stock prices crashed  then Ford turned around and bought out nearly all   of the investor company shares essentially putting  the majority of the ownership of Ford motors Under   the Umbrella of the Ford family name it cost  him today’s equivalent of nearly $700 million  

But from that point on Henry was the dictator of  Ford Motors he didn’t have to answer to anyone   else whatever Henry wanted Henry got ironically  only one year later in 1920 both John and Horus   Dodge would die due to the Spanish flu epidemic  Henry Ford’s success was growing so quickly that  

He was starting to believe in narrative about  himself that as a man who revolutionized the Auto   industry and modernized the workforce in America  that he alone also knew how to solve the rest of   the world’s [Music] problems during the same years  as the Model T was taking off Henry Ford was now  

Becoming worldly as a farm boy he was raised as  a passivist who opposed war and he also supported   causes that opposed military intervention but now  now as rich and Powerful Henry Ford’s arrogance   was starting to Cloud his judgment he thought  I’m The Man Who revolutionized the world with  

The Model T and the $5 work day why can’t I  speak out about other worldly things and in   1915 with tensions breaking out in Europe Henry  thought he had the power to single-handedly stop   World War I from happening Henry Ford chartered  an oceanliner the Oscar 2 and headed to Europe  

As a peace ad on a diplomatic mission to broker  peace in Europe before the war escalated Ford   had reached out to President woodro Wilson for  support but Wilson felt that Henry was doing   a Fool’s errand and declined even Henry Ford’s  Friend Thomas Edison declined joining the peace  

Ship to Europe nonetheless Henry Ford thought he  could create peace in Europe and set out November   15th his efforts were a disaster with reporters  claiming of infighting on the cruise liner of   amongst other pacifists dubbing the trip A Ship  of Fools upon arriving in Norway 3 weeks later  

Henry quickly realized the error of his ways and  turned around and went home clearly he had built   the PowerHouse company but that didn’t mean he had  the power to stop World War but it wasn’t all bad  

Upon his return to the United States people hailed  Henry as a hero for trying and throughout the   eventual War Ford would support the United States  war effort supplying weapons including Liberty war   plane engines and a submarine Chaser the eagle  booat after World War I ended President Wilson  

Urged Ford to run for US Senate Henry said that  he would run but he wouldn’t invest any of his own   money on a campaign he lost by a narrow margin  of just 7,000 [Music] votes for Henry Ford his  

Need for power and control were growing even his  things were starting to loosen from his grasp even   though Henry Ford was no longer president of his  namesake Ford Motors Company he had no intention   to move away from the day-to-day of running the  company in fact just the opposite as the way Henry  

Saw it his son etel was the perfect puppet to be  president and Henry now got to run the company   as its Chief investor and final decision maker  Henry and his son etel were very different men  

Etel was a soft gentler Family Man raising four  small kids and had grown up in a life of luxury   Henry was a farmer’s boy hardworking stubborn shy  and tough as nails and Henry resented his son etel  

For not being tougher Henry Ford never drank but  etel was more social enjoying a night out dancing   and drinking cocktails and as a man growing up  in the Roaring 20s etel had a better sense of the   mind of the Modern Man edel personally liked the  newer flashier automobiles he was seeing on the  

Road and he begged his father for updates to the  model te but Henry refused to change Henry just   couldn’t see what edel saw that car designs could  change like styles of clothing and types of music  

Henry Ford would shoot down any idea Edsel had for  an update even as it became clear competition was   starting to creep up on the Model T especially  from General Motors the 1920s were known for its   economic Prosperity Social and cultural change  and though it would take years for that to fully  

Become clear to Henry Ford eventually the slowing  sales of the Model T along with edel’s insistence   of a need for an updated car gave way for Henry to  okay the development of Ford’s next major vehicle  

The model A in 1927 around the time that the last  Model T came off the assembly line the first Model   A was released now available in four colors  and not just black the 40 horsepower vehicle   came in nine Styles including coups convertibles  sedans and more selling 3 million in the first 3  

Years Henry Ford had done it again with another  Blockbuster car but deep down Henry was never   comfortable in the modern world that he helped  shape he liked an older America more than he   liked change meanwhile in the factories times were  also changing with disgruntled Factory workers  

Becoming vocal talks of Union organizing within  the factory Halls had a real chance of ending the   Ford Motors machine Henry had been instrumental in  making solid helpful changes for his workers and   for the betterment of their lives even beyond  the impressive $5 a day salary increase Ford  

Offered classes to let immigrants learn English  or as some called it americanizing immigrants and   Ford also reduced the number of worked days in the  week from 600 down to 5 an unheard of benefit at   the time and something that we still use today  additionally taking a suggestion from his wife  

Clara he lowered the work day to just 8 hours  a day another standard that still exists today   while it benefited the workers it also benefited  Henry who could now run three 8 hour shifts in the   plant creating 24 hours of continuous assembly  line production yet despite these benefits for  

Employees Henry harbored no soft spot whatsoever  for independent labor activism which he despised   as a betting laziness and restricting output  so all of these benefits came with a caveat   that the workers would take his kindness and  not complain he called this approach fordism  

And to ensure his workers didn’t get out of hand  Henry Ford created a service department a group of   tough thugs whose job it was to intimidate and  punish workers who got out of hand and didn’t   follow fordism rules to discourage organizing  Henry enlisted Harry Bennett a ruthless former  

Navy boxer to head internal security squads to  storm strike lines swinging clubs with impunity   his men acted as Ford’s intimidating shock troops  against early unionization efforts by United Auto   Workers leaving workers bloodied and defeated and  this violent battle would play out at Ford for  

Decades [Music] one of the secrets to keeping the  price of his cars low in addition to the assembly   line was that Henry Ford knew that as long as  he could make his own Parts he wasn’t at the  

Mercy of outside vendors however there was one  part that was out of his control the rubber to   make tires so in the late 1920s Henry had another  Grand Vision to build a rubber Plantation deep in   the Brazilian jungle Henry set his sights on  Brazil buying up millions of Acres of rugged  

Wilderness with grand plans to farm rubber trees  and it wasn’t just about securing rubber supplies   Henry also wanted to create a Utopian community a  slice of Rural America in the heart of the Amazon   for all the plantation workers to call home he  dubbed this ambitious colony fordlandia and it  

Was truly astonishing single family homes shops  a school golf of course even a modern hospital at   its peak over 7,000 Souls called it home but there  was a dark Underside to this wouldbe paradise you   see Henry imposed Draconian set of rules on  the town folk no drinking no smoking no sports  

Or card playing even in the privacy of one’s  home a police force was tasked with enforcing   Ford’s Stern edict as you can imagine this didn’t  exactly endear the workers to either the place or   or Henry and this was just the beginning of Ford  Landa’s troubles the merciless jungle climate  

Wrecked Havoc floods and diseases crippled  rubber production worker discontent festered   finally boiling over into open revolt against the  overbearing American managers despite the mounting   fiascos Henry kept doubling down on his jungle  Utopia pouring in millions more but eventually  

A leaf blight ravaged the rubber Plantation  sealing Fort Landa’s fate as a failure of Epic [Music] Proportions when Henry was growing up  on the farms in the midwest anti-Semitism was   actually very common it fell under a general  mistrust of the banking systems and those in  

Power but as Henry Ford entered his later years  those deep held feelings began to surface with   an increasing Obsession blaming Jews for pretty  much everything thing he didn’t like in the world   the Jew caused the War the Jew caused thievery  in the country the Jew caused problems in our  

Navy and while this anti-semitic rhetoric isn’t  new what was new is that Henry Ford now had the   money and the power to publish his ideas on  paper and spread it around the world it was   a mix of primitive bigotry alongside conspiracy  theory jealousy over Jewish business success and  

Progressive Era social control all all aimed at  cultural assimilation to propagate these paranoid   anti-semitic delusions Henry Ford bankroll  a newspaper the Dearborn independent filled   with jew-hating propaganda and Henry Ford  required every Ford dealership Nationwide   to purchase newspaper subscription for free  customer distribution to boost circulation  

At its peak it had over 700,000 weekly readers  lapping up its bigoted B he even published his   own toxic series entitled The International Jew  the world’s foremost problem consisting of over   60 hate-filled diet tribes Jewish advocacy  groups boycotted Ford Motor Company purchases  

Over Henry’s refusal to Halt publication  or recant views meanwhile in Europe the   Dearborn independent hate found eager promotion  by Rising fascists like Hitler who revered Henry   Ford as an inspiration German translation of his  anti-semitic pamphlets and book series continued   stoking ominous anti-jewish sentiment across  Central Europe in 1938 Henry Ford accepted  

The Nazi officials German Grand Cross the highest  honor the third right could bestow on a foreigner   in tacd endorsement of their racial ideologies  despite International outcry over newsreels   exposing fascist atrocities and oppression  though it is said that when Henry Ford learned  

About the the atrocities that happened during  the second world war he was horrified for what [Music] transpired in October 1929 the stock  market crashed millions of people were out of   work and though Ford would certainly have enough  money not to personally feel the financial pinch  

His sales slowed due to consumer spending Henry  Ford felt he needed to be part of the solution a   terribly shy person and frightened public speaker  Henry Bo nonetheless joined forces With Friends   Thomas Edison and tire magnet Harvey Firestone  in a radio broadcast offering advice during the  

Depression saying if a young man makes up his mind  to work there’s no limit to what he can do but if   he makes up his mind to go at it without the idea  of work why he hasn’t much changed his words of  

Encouragement however would not stop the eventual  slowdown of car sales and after only 3 years on   the market Model A sales fell dramatically also  Chevrolet had a six-cylinder engine and it was   cutting into Ford’s market share Ford was forced  to shut down production and send workers home and  

Those who stayed found their wages cut frustration  boiled over and during those years a young labor   organizer named Walter Ruther had been part of  forming a union called the United Auto Workers   and they had recently folded GM and Chrysler under  their umbrella and they were setting their sites  

On Ford on a bitterly cold day a crowd gathered to  march on the Rouge Plant and confront Henry Ford   with a demand for more jobs at the Dearborne  City Limits local police had amassed but the   Marchers ignored their orders to disperse Ford’s  service department showed up and things got out of  

Hand police attacked and a fullscale riot broke  out machine gun fire dispersed the crowd it was   dubbed the Ford Massacre in the aftermath of the  fighting four young Marchers lay dead a fifth died   several days later and there were no new jobs  but during the Slowdown it did make Henry go  

Back to the drawing board coming up with his last  great Triumph the V8 engine Chevrolet had brought   out a six-cylinder engine which was more powerful  than Ford’s 4 and Henry didn’t like six cylinder  

Engines so he went on ahead to the V8 and a Ford  V8 could probably 70 to 80 mph tributes from all   over celebrated forge’s return to genius fan mail  from notorious gangsters like John Dillinger and   Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde Fame wrote  to Henry Ford thanking him for making a car  

That at the time was faster than a police vehicle  and the engine helped bring workers back to the   factory with the success of the V8 Ford found  time to turn his attention to Herbert Hoover’s   1932 reelection campaign Ford was still painfully  shy about public speaking but he offered these  

Words I support the best man for the job Herbert  Hoover should be allowed to carry out his program   and I think he will however Americans in record  numbers disagreed with Henry Ford’s politics in   1932 and President Franklin Roosevelt was elected  in a Landslide by now due to the layoffs and the  

Violent service department working at Ford in the  19 1930s was a living nightmare Ford was the long   holdout company that did everything in his power  to keep the union away it was Henry Ford’s ability   to wield incredible power and fear and it worked  it wasn’t until April 1st 1941 when Andy derer one  

Of the workers in the steel Rolling Mill changed  labor history at Ford Andy got into an argument   with the foreman and then finally decided he  had enough he started chanting strike strike   strike and all along the assembly line the chant  kept picking up and that was it the workers just  

Stopped Henry Ford Was preparing for a long fight  when something unexpected happened his wife Clara   joined the battle siding with the workers  clar for demanded that he settle with the   Union it was totally out of character for her to  interfere but Clara was afraid the situation would  

Explode into real violence and she threatened  to leave leave her husband if he didn’t put an   end to the hostilities Henry Ford finally caved  [Music] in Henry’s ears stiffened Against The   Winds of Change blowing through the automobile  industry as Sleek stylish Challengers like Chevy  

Surged Henry dismissed it as fads he remained  adamantly convinced working folks still prized   function over flash he wrote off appeals from  executives and his own son edil to develop an   updated automobile that could compete with General  Motors increasingly ritzy Diversified offerings  

Catering to shifting consumers tastes GM sold  variety and affordability Ford sold status quo   moreover Alfred Sloan’s management structure at GM  encouraged Innovation and accountability through   decentralized divisions unlike Ford’s dictatorship  under the stubborn ill-willed Henry who still   person controlled every aspect from design to  manufacturing by 1936 Ford had slipped to third  

In sales behind GM and Chrysler and the dazzling  V8 engine just wasn’t enough mounting setbacks   finally confronted Henry with the painful Legacy  of his refusal to relinquish control for all his   gifts of engineering and vision he lacked the  flexibility to adapt to new realities and Henry  

Wasn’t getting any younger by by the early 1940s  Henry Ford approaching 80 years old had endured   cardiovascular incidents leaving him mentally  inconsistent and suspicious while he should   have felt confident in his son zel’s ability to  run the Ford motor company instead Henry Ford  

Spent more and more time relying on his henchmen  and head of service department Harry Bennett a   man who started spending time with Henry Daly  even in his home Henry Ford felt that there was   nobody else in this world world that he could  truly trust to do whatever he said and wanted  

And it started to put a strain on Henry and the  Ford family there was even a rumor that Harry and   Henry had begun to conspire on how to have Harry  Bennett claim control of the Ford company and all  

Of this took in an emotional and physical toll  on the Ford family a story that would play out   over Henry Ford’s final years in 1943 Henry’s son  edil Ford tragically died of cancer a number of   illnesses actually stomach cancer liver cancer and  ironically undulant fever as a result of drinking  

Unpasteurized milk from his father’s Dairy Henry  Ford was never the same after his son’s death and   trusting no one in the company the frail Henry  impulsively decided to resume leadership of Ford   Motors at 80 years old and in failing Health once  again Henry Ford became president of his namesake  

Company most board directors grimaced at the  prospect of the elderly Founder retaking The Wheel   but for 20 years prior Henry had always asserted a  defacto control irregardless of official executive   title so the board reluctantly elected Henry  out of a long ingrained habit of cow toeing  

To his imposing will the move quickly proved  disastrous however accelerating the company’s   decline as Henry’s grasp of modern realities faded  additionally with World War II plaguing the world   World Ford Motors had been enlisted by President  FDR to help with wartime efforts Ford was asked  

To produce Jeeps troop carriers trucks tanks  and the B24 Liberator bomber it was a strained   relationship between Henry and President Roosevelt  with FDR at one point considering folding Ford   Motors into the government to make things smoother  Ford was hemorrhaging over 10 million monthly in  

Today’s terms in September 1945 as losses mounted  with bankruptcy becoming a serious risk Henry’s   wife Clara andel’s Widow Eleanor confronted Henry  and demanded he seed control of the company to his   grandson Henry Ford II they threatened to sell  off their stock which amounted to nearly 3/4 of  

The company’s total shares if he refused Henry  was infuriated but had no choice but to give in   Henry Ford immediately retired from operations  after a half century fight firmly at the helm of   his industry in failing Health from successive  Strokes Henry became increasingly reclusive at  

Feran his palacial Dearborn estate he passed  away there on April 7th 1947 at age 83 from a   cerebral hemorrhage less than 2 years after his  storied career quietly concluded at his funeral   attended by dignitaries over 5,000 admirers per  hour filed past Henry’s casket during public  

Viewing at the icon a Greenfield Village Museum he  built to enshrine American Ingenuity he was laid   to rest near the factory where his revolutionary  vision for putting the world on Wheels first took   shape although controversial for past prejudicial  revews Henry Ford’s broader Legacy still stands  

Tall as epitomizing American industrial might at  its apex he fulfilled his Solem words etched near   his final resting place a man can Triumph if he  says he can today Ford Motor Company remains an   iconic American institution with a value of nearly  100 billion he fulfilled his own motto life is a  

Series of experiences each one of which makes  us bigger Henry Ford certainly made the world   he inherited dramatically bigger and if you’re  interested in going even deeper into the world   of Henry Ford you’re in luck here’s a video  on what happened next with Henry Ford II as  

Well as the entire Ford family and Henry  Ford’s goon Harry Bennett all that you can   watch right here right now if you like what  you saw be sure to subscribe to the channel   and give this video a like thank you so much  for watching and I’ll see you in the next one