Henry Ford, a major architect of modern America, has lived on in the imagination of his fellow citizens as an enduring figure of fascination, an inimitable individual, a controversial personality, and a social visionary from the moment his Model T brought the automobile to the masses and triggered the consumer revolution. But never before has his outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as by Steven Watts in this major new biography. Watts, the author of the much acclaimed "The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life, has produced a superbly researched study of a man who was a bundle of contradictions.
Ford was the entrepreneur who first made the automobile affordable but who grew skeptical of consumerism's corrosive impact on moral values, an employer who insisted on a living wage for his workers but stridently opposed unions, who established the assembly line but worried about its effect on the work ethic, who welcomed African Americans to his company in the age of Jim Crow but was a rabid anti-Semite. He was the private man who had a warm, loving marriage while siring a son with a mistress; a father who drove his heir, Edsel, so relentlessly that it contributed to his early death; a folksy social philosopher and at one time, perhaps, the most popular figure in America, who treated his workers so harshly that they turned against him; creator of the largest, most sophisticated factory in the world who preferred spending time in his elaborate re-creation of a nineteenth-century village; and the greatest businessman of his age who haplessly lost control of his own company in his declining years.
Watts poignantly shows us how a Michigan farm boy frommodest circumstances emerged as one of America's richest men and one of its first mass-culture celebrities, one who became a folk hero to millions of ordinary citizens because of his support of high wages and material abundance for everyday workers and yet also excited the admiration of figures as diverse as Vladimir Lenin and Adolf Hitler, John D. Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson.
Disclosing the man behind the myth and situating his achievements and controversies firmly within the context of early twentieth-century America, Watts has given us a comprehensive, illuminating biography of an American icon.
Henry Ford, a major architect of modern America, has lived on in the imagination of his fellow citizens as an enduring figure of fascination, an inimitable individual, a controversial personality, and a social visionary from the moment his Model T brought the automobile to the masses and triggered the consumer revolution. But never before has his outsized genius been brought to life so vividly as by Steven Watts in this major new biography. Watts, the author of the much acclaimed "The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life, has produced a superbly researched study of a man who was a bundle of contradictions.
Ford was the entrepreneur who first made the automobile affordable but who grew skeptical of consumerism's corrosive impact on moral values, an employer who insisted on a living wage for his workers but stridently opposed unions, who established the assembly line but worried about its effect on the work ethic, who welcomed African Americans to his company in the age of Jim Crow but was a rabid anti-Semite. He was the private man who had a warm, loving marriage while siring a son with a mistress; a father who drove his heir, Edsel, so relentlessly that it contributed to his early death; a folksy social philosopher and at one time, perhaps, the most popular figure in America, who treated his workers so harshly that they turned against him; creator of the largest, most sophisticated factory in the world who preferred spending time in his elaborate re-creation of a nineteenth-century village; and the greatest businessman of his age who haplessly lost control of his own company in his declining years.
Watts poignantly shows us how a Michigan farm boy frommodest circumstances emerged as one of America's richest men and one of its first mass-culture celebrities, one who became a folk hero to millions of ordinary citizens because of his support of high wages and material abundance for everyday workers and yet also excited the admiration of figures as diverse as Vladimir Lenin and Adolf Hitler, John D. Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson.
Disclosing the man behind the myth and situating his achievements and controversies firmly within the context of early twentieth-century America, Watts has given us a comprehensive, illuminating biography of an American icon.
PROLOGUE: The Legend of Henry Ford
PART ONE: The Road to Fame
One—Farm Boy
Two—Machinist
Three—Inventor
Four—Businessman
Five—Celebrity
Six—Entrepreneur
PART TWO: The Miracle Maker
Seven—Consumer
Eight—Producer
Nine—Folk Hero
Ten—Reformer
Eleven—Victorian
Twelve—Politician
PART THREE: The Flivver King
Thirteen—Legend
Fourteen—Visionary
Fifteen—Moralist
Sixteen—Positive Thinker
Seventeen—Emperor
Eighteen—Father
Nineteen—Bigot
PART FOUR: The Long Twilight
Twenty—Antiquarian
Twenty-one—Individualist
Twenty-two—Despot
Twenty-three—Dabbler
Twenty-four—Educator
Twenty-five—Figurehead
EPILOGUE: The Sage of Dearborn
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Steven Watts is a historian and writer who has charted the sweeping
evolution of American culture in a number of highly-praised books.
His series of biographies of major figures-Henry Ford, Dale
Carnegie, Walt Disney, Hugh Hefner-has explored the shaping of a
modern value-system devoted to consumerism, self-fulfillment,
leisure, and personality. Two earlier books on the Early Republic
era examined the shift from an older society of republican virtue
to a 19th-century Victorian era devoted to self-control, individual
character, and the self-made man.
Watts' books have led to involvement in a number of media projects,
including several films for PBS, the History Channel, and
documentary venues in Germany and Brazil. He also has appeared in a
variety of programs on CBS, NBC, CNBC, NPR, Fox, Fox News, C-Span,
Bloomberg News, MSNBC, BBC, and Irish National Radio. He is
currently a professor of history at the University of Missouri.
“The implicit claim of Watts’s admirable book is almost inarguable–that it’s impossible to understand 20th-century America without knowing the story of Henry Ford.” –The New York Times“Ford has had many biographers. . . . None, however, comes close to Steven Watts. . . . He brilliantly reveals the nature of Ford’s genius.” –Chicago Tribune“Steven Watts attempts the most integrated understanding to date of Ford’s enormous influence and varied appeal. . . . The fascinating result may change the way Henry Ford is remembered.” –San Francisco Chronicle
"The implicit claim of Watts's admirable book is almost inarguable-that it's impossible to understand 20th-century America without knowing the story of Henry Ford." -The New York Times"Ford has had many biographers. . . . None, however, comes close to Steven Watts. . . . He brilliantly reveals the nature of Ford's genius." -Chicago Tribune"Steven Watts attempts the most integrated understanding to date of Ford's enormous influence and varied appeal. . . . The fascinating result may change the way Henry Ford is remembered." -San Francisco Chronicle
In this outstanding biography, Watts (history, Univ. of Missouri), author of the intriguing and well-received The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life, turns his considerable talents to an in-depth and remarkable investigation of the life and times of Henry Ford. Building on earlier studies, such as Allan Nevins's three-volume biography, and complementing recent work on the Ford family and the company by historians like Douglas Brinkley (Wheels for the World), Watts brings to life the complicated Ford, who could promote educational attainment for all children while at the same time fomenting unbridled hatred toward all Jewish people. Watts provides a sophisticated analysis and helps readers understand both Ford and the culture within which he thrived. An exceptional biography of an exceptional man; highly recommended.-Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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