The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century (2005) by Steven Watts

Henry Ford may very well be greatest entrepreneur in American history. Few have had a greater impact on their time and culture the way Ford did in early twentieth century America. There are many biographies available on Ford, but “The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century” by Steven Watts may be the very best. It is an erudite and textured history not only of the man and his company, but also his times. Watts sets his story within the context of the so-called “incorporation of America,” which challenged the independent, populist independence of agrarian Middle America.

In many ways, Henry Ford was a simple man. He possessed strong moral values and a clear moral compass; much of it developed by his mother and the McGuffy reader series. But he was also a man of limited formal education with many idiosyncrasies. For instance, he believed in reincarnation and was convinced he had been a Union engineer killed at Gettysburg. He hated public speaking, but loved publicity. He was a rabid anti-Semite, but relatively progressive on African-Americans. He was fascinated with the soybean and believed it held all kinds of wonderful properties. He was, in short, an eccentric.

Ford was also clearly a genius. His triumph was no mere luck. Between 1900 and 1908 no fewer than 501 automobile companies were founded. Ford’s first two attempts were failures from which he took away two central lessons: 1) avoid wealthy backers with purely financial interests; 2) trust your own instincts and values.

Ford was a hands-on entrepreneur in the mold of Thomas Edison, a man he admired greatly. From Edison, whom he first met in 1896, he imbibed his focus on hard work and practical results. Ford never shied away from getting his hands dirty, both literally and figuratively. He was one of the hardest working men in his workshop and put himself front-and-center in building his car brand.

Known most for mass production, Watts credits Ford with recognizing and cultivating consumer leisure capitalism. The more time and money the average American had, the more products they could buy, the more the economy grew. Spending and self-fulfillment was replacing the thrift and self-control of the earlier age. It was a consumer age that Ford did much to foster by introducing the $5 workday ($25/week or $1,300/year in 1915 is only about $30,000 today). Watts is quick to point out that it was certainly not all about generosity. (Human labor proved to be the weak link in the assembly line; in 1914 the company had a 370% turn over of assembly line workers.) It just turned out that it was also a publicity goldmine.

Ford’s treatment of his workers is one of the more vexing elements of his story. He introduced a sociological department to Ford Motor Company and offered an English Language school for recent immigrants. Were these well-meaning “fraternal” reforms or intrusive “paternalistic” abuse of power? Ford equated drinking alcohol with slavery and didn’t hide his anti-cigarette and prohibitionist views, which he did much to foist onto his workers.

Another thing that “The People’s Tycoon” makes clear is that the success of The Ford Motor Company was very much a team effort. Watts gives due credit to a long list of Ford lieutenants, such as James Couzens in finance, Norval Hawkins in sales and marketing, Charles Sorensen in operations, Clarence Avery in the assembly line, and Harold Wills in metallurgy and design.

In closing, “The People’s Tycoon” is a phenomenal business biography that does its great subject justice.