Henry Ford was one of America’s leaders in the car manufacturing industry he
pioneered the beginning of the automotive industry. Beginning as early as 1896,
Henry Ford had established his first automobile in a brick garage behind his
house on Bagley Avenue in Detroit. He had assembled one of the first successful
automotive runs on pure gasoline. It was a simple two cylinder, two stroke
engine. Edward Keller’s, “Mr. Ford-What have you done?” depicts much of
Ford’s life in the automotive industry. The book talked about how Ford had
started his empire. How when he was 16 years old, he left home to pursue his
dream in inventing “mechanical things” that would benefit the common need of
all families in the United States. How he got a job in a steam engine factory
making a mere $2.50 a week but due to his rent being $4.00 a month, he had to
get a second job repairing watches for $2.00 a week. Later on Ford then got a
job working for Detroit Edison Electric Company where he was fortunate enough to
meet the very famous Thomas Edison. After meeting Thomas, Ford’s career began
to take off as an automotive producer. In 1888, Henry Ford married Clara Bryant
and shortly there after, he moved to Detroit. After saving some money working
for the electric company with the help of A. J. Malcomson, Ford was able to
start up his Ford Motor Company. On June 16, 1903, the Ford Motor Company was
incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford
Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor
Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000 capital. After
this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000
capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated
with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was
incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford
Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor
Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000 capital. After
this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000
capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated
with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford Motor Company was
incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor Company, the Ford
Motor Company was incorporated with $28,000 capital. After this, Ford Motor
Company quickly emerged as the nations leading automobile producer. Edward
Keller was able to completely outline the life of Henry Ford from the beginning
of his automobile industry up until the day he died. Edward Keller was able to
tell us about Ford’s early life as well as what everyone knows him for. From
the beginning of the model “N”, “K”, and finely the mass production of
the model “T”, he was clearly able to outline the life of Henry Ford through
his success in the development of the Ford Motor Company. Many topics were
covered in the story about Henry Ford. From the beginning of his years working
at the electric company up into his death in the evening of April 7,1947. His
successes as well as his failures were all generalized into one book about his
life. From the upside and early mass production of Ford cars, to the downfall
with the lawsuit by the Dodge family who owned 10% of the stocks of Ford Motor
Company. The subject of this book was very comprehensive as well. It covered all
aspects of Henry Ford’s life that dealt with his automotive industry. The
subject was treated as such that the reader felt like he/she was growing up with
Henry Ford in a sense. Beginning with his early years and finding yourself
emerging almost like you were with Ford in his successes. Edward Keller was very
careful in outlining Henry Ford’s life. He introduced the readers to Ford in a
clear and comprehensive chronological order. The book was very carefully
organized in outlining both the good and bad parts of Henry Ford’s life. The
author wanted in a sense to give his readers an overview of what Henry Ford was
really like. He didn’t want to put Ford up on a pedestal or tear him down. He
wanted to give the reader a real life depiction of who Ford was, how he
accomplished what he did, and how he overcame some of his battles. In a sense,
maybe to inspire his readers to look at themselves that maybe they will say
“hay, maybe I can do this”. Finally, the author sums it up in his final
statement, “In America, Henry Ford made one of the greatest contributions ever
to peace and prosperity”. I think when Edward Keller wrote this book, he was
writing it in truth to show who he felt Henry Ford really was. He argued how
when the United States went to war in World War II, Ford would not support the
efforts that the United States was trying to make overseas he told the United
States defense department that he would not produce any war materials used to
kill human beings or to be sold to other countries. The book was in sum about
how Henry Ford was a good man. How he helps the economy and the people of the
United States and strived so hard for peace and prosperity. I believe the
author’s intentions in writing this book was to inform the general public
about all that Henry Ford accomplished for the people of the United States as
well as mankind. Edward Keller showed in his book that he felt Ford was indeed a
great man and he strived to help humanity in the best way he could: To get all
of America on wheels and moving. The author did not try to bias the book by any
means however, because he showed that Henry Ford had both good and bad times
throughout his life The main idea that I see the author trying to get across is
the accomplishments of Henry Ford. How he accomplished what he did, and why he
deserved it. How and why he was a good man in the sense of helping humanity and
sharing the profits his company made with many less fortunate people. The author
wanted to show his readers who Henry Ford was. He wanted to show what kind of
person Henry Ford really was. Basically, just right a book depicting Henry
Ford’s entire life. Many questions arose about Henry Ford while his company
flourished. Did he cheat the Dodge family out of their end of the deal, etc? The
author answered many questions pertaining to both sides of the story. He
didn’t put Ford up on a pedestal or just talk about the good things of Henry
Ford. The author also kept it fair by showing the bad things about Henry Ford.
The author accepted the fact that Henry Ford was wrong in buying out the Dodge
family. The Dodge family had just as much of a right to the shares as he did. HE
kept discussion about Ford very open and non-biased. In a sense I guess you
could say that the author was trying to persuade the readers into seeing his
point of view. He did make Henry Ford sound like a very great man. The idea that
could be argued is that the author was trying slightly to persuade the readers
that Henry Ford was a great man and did not support war efforts at all. He did
make Henry Ford sound better than he really was in a sense. Not much factual
information was given in the book to persuade me that this book was 100%
accurate however. He did quote some publications from the industrial productions
era. All his graphs were clearly identified where exactly he got his graphs from
however; he did not identify where he found out dates for certain topics.