The famed leader of industry we know today was born on July 30, 1863 in Wayne County, Michigan. He had worked on his family's farm for most of his childhood and had demonstrated many characteristics that would make him a success. He had learned how to fix watches on his own and had organized teams of boys to build rudimentary steam engines. He exhibited leadership and mechanical skills when he performed these tasks, and when he reached the age of 16, he left home to be an apprentice in Detroit where he could learn the mechanical skill he used in his life.
In 1888 he had married Clara Bryant and had a son called Edsel, and he had to return to farming to support his family. He later in 1891 had been hired into the Edison Illuminating company and used it as an opportunity to learn more about manufacturing and machinery. His useful skills earned him a promotion to chief engineer in 1893; During those years Henry ford developed a plan for a horseless carriage model. He built it in 1896 and called it the "Ford Quadricycle". In that same year he had a meeting with Thomas Edison and showed him the plans of his horseless carriage. Thomas Edison supported his ideas and encouraged him to build an improved model. Throughout building these models Henry Ford did not work alone, he had help from friends who supported his vision and helped him become one of the most influential people in modern industry.
With some help he had made several companies and cars that eventually didn't make it. For some time people stopped supporting him, until he came up with the idea of making racing cars. His success lead people to support once again and he finally made the company known today as The Ford Motor company. Through his failures he learned how to manage his businesses and started to create his dream. This company was not like the others, he had success in this company when he came up with the plans for many new cars. He made many cars which sold many and started the success of the company. The true success of this company came when they introduced the plans for a new better and cheaper car. It was called the Model T. He wanted everyone in the entire world to be able to use his invention, and he wanted everyone to be able to afford it. As a result, the Ford Model T was reliable, easy to repair, and was affordable to everyone, making it an immediate success. It was a successful car it sold all that were made, but Henry Ford wanted to produce all he could sell. That is when he and a couple of engineers had concepts from many assembly lines from many types of jobs and produced the first moving assembly line. He had to hire 53,000 more people to keep 14,000 jobs filled in for the infinitely moving line. But then Henry Ford came up with another brilliant idea and doubled the workers wages to $5 per day, which is $110 in 2011. This way the workers who made the cars could also afford the cars they make. While the price of the Model T declined, the sales of the car rose and by 1922 half the cars in America weer Model T's and at a price of $269.
In 1919, Henry Ford was not happy with the interference of the investors in the company. Henry decided to buy them all out. Doing this action made his company decline in sales because of his ignorance. He also named his son Edsel Ford President of the company, but he didn't have any power in the company. Henry was the only person who had real power in the company. While dealing with the company, Henry Ford thought that the Model T was forever going to be the most superior car in America. He ignored the decline in sales. But by the late 1920's Henry Ford couldn't ignore the decline in sales of the Model T. The company Chevrolet was becoming the most popular car company in America. Henry Ford then decided to end the production of the Model T car. The Ford Motor Company started to design a new car that would be called the Model A. In 1917, Henry started construction at a new site in Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. By 1927 every single step of manufacturing a car took place in the factory. The Model A was only competitive for only 4 years and it was replaced by a new car design. He then created a lightweight, inexpensive V8 engine. Even this new invention wasn't enough to stop the decline of the Ford Company's sales. It had fallen to third place in the U.S. market. Not only was Henry Ford having a tough time in the marketplace, he was also having a tough time in the workplace. He was having a tough time during the Great Depression, He was forced to lower wages and lay off workers. The United Auto Worker Union tried to organize The Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford refused to let any interference get in his company. But he was forced to sign a union contract in 1941.
When World War II began in 1939 Henry Ford, fought to keep the United States from taking sides. But after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Ford Motor Company became one of the major US military contractors, supplying airplanes, engines, jeeps and tanks.
Henry Ford's influence was declining while he aged. Hi son Edsel Ford died in 1943 and two years later Henry Ford officially turned over control of the company to Henry II, Edsel’s son. Henry Ford retired to Fair Lane, his estate in Dearborn, where he died on April 7, 1947 at age 83.
Images above
(Top left) Henry Ford working (Top right) Young Henry Ford (Center Right) Henry Ford's Family (Bottom Right) Henry Ford's Model T