Henry Ford

On a farm in Greenfield Township, Michigan, Henry Ford first learned to take things apart. Born on July 30, 1863, he grew up in a house in what is now Dearborn, the son of William Ford, whose family roots reached back to Ireland and England, and Mary Ford, born in Michigan to Belgian immigrant parents. Ford finished eighth grade in a one-room school and never attended high school, though he later took a bookkeeping course. At 12, he received a pocket watch from his father. By 15, he was dismantling and reassembling the watches of friends and neighbors often enough to earn a local reputation as a repairman.

That same age of 12 brought another sight that stayed with him: a Nichols and Shepard road engine, the first vehicle he had seen that was not drawn by horses. Farm life did not hold him. His mother’s death in 1876 devastated him, and although his father expected him to take over the family farm, Ford later wrote that it was not the farm he loved, but “the mother on the farm.” In 1879, at 16, he left home for Detroit to work as an apprentice machinist. He later returned to Dearborn, became skilled with Westinghouse portable steam engines, and was hired to service them.

Ford’s thinking was shaped by practical trial, failure, and the search for a machine that could be made lighter, cheaper, and more useful. In his farm workshop he experimented with steam vehicles, but decided steam was not suitable for light automobiles. He repaired an Otto engine in 1885, built a four-cycle model in 1887, and by 1890 had begun work on a two-cylinder engine. In 1891, he became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit, and after becoming Chief Engineer in 1893 he had more time and money for gasoline-engine experiments. In 1896, he completed and test-drove the Ford Quadricycle. That year he also met Thomas Edison, who encouraged his automobile work.

After earlier business failures, Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. The introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908 is credited with revolutionizing both transportation and American industry, and in 1911 Ford received a patent for the transmission mechanism used in the Model T and other automobiles. Through the system later called Fordism, he helped make automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans. As sole owner of the company, he became one of the wealthiest people in the world. His steady push to lower costs brought technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that placed car dealerships across North America and in major cities on six continents. He was also among the pioneers of the five-day work-week.

Ford’s public life was complicated. He believed consumerism could help bring about world peace and was known for pacifism during the first years of World War I, though his company later became a major supplier of weapons. He promoted the League of Nations. In the 1920s, he also promoted antisemitism through his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, and the book The International Jew. He opposed American entry into World War II and served for a time on the board of the America First Committee. After his son Edsel died in 1943, Ford resumed control of the company, but was too frail to make decisions and soon came under the control of subordinates. In 1945 he turned the company over to his grandson, Henry Ford II. He died on April 7, 1947, leaving most of his wealth to the Ford Foundation and control of the company to his family.

Ford’s words still attract readers because they often sound like they came from a workshop bench rather than a podium. They value action, repair, and learning by doing. “The only real mistake is one from which we learn nothing” fits the pattern of a life spent testing machines, revising designs, and trying again after failure. It is a plain sentence, and that is part of its strength.