Henry Ford

Throughout the 1920s, workers at The Rouge pumped out hundreds of thousands of Model T's, but the marketplace was changing and Ford began to fall behind the times. Ford had met its first serious competitor-Chevrolet. While Ford had dedicated the past 20 years to producing only one model, Chevrolet had developed a counterstrategy of releasing a new, improved model every year. The counterstrategy worked, and Chevrolet soon surpassed Ford in sales. Chevrolet's success proved that people wanted style, not just utility.

In this new era, Ford's "Tin Lizzie" was hopelessly outdated. A change was needed, but it wouldn't come without cost. In May 1927, Ford laid off thousands of workers while he figured out a way to get back into the marketplace. At the age of 64 he was starting over. With the release of a brand new Model A, Ford came roaring back to life. When the stock market crashed in October 1929, Ford Motor Co. was better off than most of its competitors. Thanks to the success of the new Model A, the company rode out the first two years of the Depression relatively untouched. Henry Ford even raised his workers' wages while dropping the price of his automobile. But he could only hold out for so long.

In 1931, the Depression caught up with Ford. After three years on the market, Model A sales fell dramatically. Chevrolet, with its new six-cylinder engine, and a new model from Plymouth cut into Ford's market share. Once again Ford was forced to shut down production and send workers home. What brought the workers back was yet another of Henry Ford's inspirations-the Ford V-8. This innovative eight-cylinder engine put Ford back on top.

But those who went back to work for Ford found that working conditions had changed. The young, humanistic idealist had become a hardened industrialist who believed the average worker wouldn't do a day's work unless he or she was trapped and couldn't get out of it. To ensure his workers put in a full day's work, Ford created the Service Department, a foreman and a group of supervisors, many of whom were ex-cons and boxers, who ruled the plant through fear and coercion.

When World War II erupted, the government asked Ford to build the B-24 Liberator Bomber. Ford had suffered a stroke in 1941, and due to his rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health, supervision of the project fell largely to Ford's only son, Edsel. Optimistic Ford spokespeople predicted that B-24s would roll out of the factory at the rate of one per hour. But by the end of 1942, only 56 planes had been built. Plagued by medical problems of his own, the project and the pressure proved to be too much for Edsel. In May 1943, 50-year-old Edsel Ford died. So at the age of 80, in spite of his clearly diminished capacities, Henry Ford once again took up the reigns of Ford Motor Co.

The news alarmed President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As the nation's third-largest defense contractor, Ford was a major part of the war effort. Aware of Ford's increasing mental incompetence, Roosevelt toyed with the idea of bringing in outside managers, or even nationalizing the plant. Instead, in August 1943, the Navy sent Ford's 26-year-old grandson home in hopes that Henry Ford II could bring order to the chaos that Ford had become. For months Clara Ford tried to convince Henry to step down and let their grandson take over. But Ford held out. Finally, Edsel's widow, Eleanor, threatened to sell her considerable holdings in the company if her son wasn't immediately named president. Henry Ford relented, and in September 1945 the crown was passed to Henry Ford II.

After stepping down as president, Ford went into seclusion, appearing only occasionally at company events. The raging fire that him driven him for more than eight decades had died out. On an April evening in 1947, Ford laid his head on his wife's shoulder and died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 84. Tens of thousands of people lined up to view Henry Ford's body as it lay in state. Some factories closed, while others shut down for a moment of silence. In all, it's estimated that several million workers were involved in some kind of demonstration of sympathy for the man who had irrevocably changed their lives and taught America to drive.