Henery Ford Essay -- essays research papers

Henry Ford was a genius in many aspects of our everyday life. He changed industry, production, and everybody's lifestyle. Many people know about him inventing some of the first automobiles, but what came out of it for America was a new encouragement for technology and an easier lifestyle for the average American replacing the popular railroad system. Also Henry Ford has changed the perspective of industries around the world. His invention of the assembly line and his five-dollar a day wage for the average worker brought about a total new change in factories. Ford's style and ingenuity helped America to be more prosperous and created a large amount of opulence for America in the early 1900's, all because of one man's creativity and determination to achieve a dream that would help out the common man and the entire world. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, on a farm a few miles from Detroit. As a boy Henry was very creative and liked to work with tools. However, he hated doing chores and he always wanted to make things easier to do in life. This would be Henry's motto in life, always wanted to make things easier to do in life, at home or work. Ford was so creative that in 1893, he built his first engine and in 1896, he completed what he called the quadricycle, which ran for several years and sold it for $200. Ford had his second car finished in 1898 which was lighter and stronger than most cars around then. Soon enough many automobile companies were looking for somebody like Ford to help get their company going. However, Ford would go into automobile racing and then build his own car company. Ford's years in automobile racing was his way to improve the car and a chance to test it under competition. Soon though, he would get out of racing by a tough minded and ambitious James Couzens, who developed plans for a car company. Couzens was able to start out the company with $28,000 in cash, and $21,000 in notes. The Ford Motor Company came out with the model A, the model B, and the model K in their beginning years. However, most of these cars were too expensive for the common man. So Ford decided that he would make a car that was affordable to the ordinary worker. For a few years, Ford and his technicians began building their next and most important car in history. In 1908, Ford brought out for the first time the Model T. It was an ugly car, seven feet high w... ... narrowly defeated. In 1936 he and his son Edsel established the Ford Foundation, to which they bequeathed much of the company's stock. Henry Ford became a victim of his own success in that he clung to the Model T too long, refusing to recognize that its popularity was fading, and consequently lost first place in the automobile industry to General Motors in 1926. He had turned the presidency of the Ford Motor Company over to Edsel in 1919 but never gave Edsel effective authority. Edsel struggled vainly against this situation, and the frustrations of his position undoubtedly contributed to his death at the age of 50. Edsel's oldest son was released from the navy and made an executive vice-president. Unlike his father, who had not been allowed to go to college, Henry II attended Yale University. Henry Ford II recruited talent from outside the company and effected a sweeping reorganization. The company secured firm control of second place in the American automobile industry. In the 1960s it expanded into electronics and astronautics by purchasing the Philco Corporation, and Henry Ford II was regarded as an industrial statesman. He retired from his top company posts in 1979 and 1980.