Chapter 6

Growing Fame

Henry Ford enjoyed the attention he received as the world’s most successful carmaker. He gave many interviews, and at times he even let reporters come with him on his vacations with his friend Thomas Edison. The two famous inventors, along with friends John Burroughs and Harvey Firestone (the tire manufacturer), became known as the Four Vagabonds.

They camped in the woods while still enjoying many comforts. In 1919, Ford brought along a special truck that was like a rolling kitchen, with a stove and refrigerator. A cook prepared their meals. And all four men slept on cots with a mattress and pillow. The Four Vagabonds, who were given that nickname because they liked to roam and wander freely, spent their time exploring nature and talking. They also enjoyed chopping wood and climbing trees. The reporters who came along loved seeing the famous carmaker and his friends behaving like boys at summer camp.

Being famous and having reporters around much of the time meant that Henry’s opinions were widely published. In July 1914, war broke out in Europe. Great Britain, France, and Russia united to fight Germany and its allies. The British and their allies wanted to stop Germany from controlling large parts of Europe. Henry believed all war was wrong, and he began to speak out against the fighting in Europe, which eventually became known as World War I. He even disliked talk in America of preparing for war. He wrote, “Preparation for war can only end in war.”

In 1916, some Americans who opposed the war and liked Henry’s business skills hoped he would run for president. He said no, but two years later he accepted a request from President Woodrow Wilson to run for the US Senate in Michigan. Ford lost a close race. By 1918, the United States was also fighting World War I in Europe, and the Ford Motor Company was busy manufacturing Model Ts for military use and tractors for British farmers. Personally, though, Henry still opposed the war.

The war years saw a different member of the Ford family begin to play a major role in the Ford Motor Company. In 1916, Edsel took over as secretary of the board of directors, one of the top positions. He handled all the company’s communications and some of its record keeping. Around this time, Edsel also married his high- school sweetheart, Eleanor Clay.

In 1917, they had a baby boy they named Henry II. Their family grew to include two more sons, Benson and William, and a daughter, Josephine.

Eleanor came from a wealthy Detroit family, and Edsel enjoyed spending time with her friends. His father, however, had never really liked the wealthy people of Detroit. He disapproved of drinking alcohol, and he disapproved of people who flaunted their money. Henry believed in working hard and living a simple life. Edsel liked to go to parties and museums and to golf and sail boats. To Henry, Edsel wasn’t tough enough to run the Ford Motor Company.

Still, Edsel was his only child. In 1919, Henry named Edsel president of the company. Edsel soon realized that he was not really in charge. Henry would always be the one to make key decisions. Edsel rarely argued with his father because he respected him as a businessman. But he must have wondered if his father ever truly respected him. Charles Sorensen worked closely with Henry Ford for many years. He said that Ford’s “greatest failure was his treatment of . . . Edsel.”