Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863. He was the son of William and Mary .
Ford went to school in a one-room schoolhouse along with helping his father with .
the harvest. He did not like school or farm life so he walked to Detroit at age 16 in .
search of a job. .
In 1888, Henry married Clara Bryant. Several years later he was made chief engineer .
at the Detroit Edison Company. The position allowed him time to experiment. He .
experimented with gasoline-powered vehicles and horse-less carriages before his first .
vehicle was completed. In 1896 the Quadricycle, a vehicle with a buggy frame mounted .
on four bicycle wheels, was completed.
In 1903, Ford formed the Ford Motor Company and produced an automobile he was .
ready to market. He introduced the successful Model T in 1908, which was .
manufactured for 19 years. Unfortunately, Ford's successes still had problems. He .
fought many legal battles but won his case in 1911. .
Ford was able to market the Model T to the public due to his advanced production of .
technology. The introduction of the assembly line reduced production time in 1913. .
Automobiles were made more available and cheaper as a result of the assembly line. .
Ford also claimed that the $5.00 a day minimum wage increased productivity. .
Ford began losing sales to General Motors because the Model T was becoming .
outdated in 1926. After the Ford plants were shut down for five months, he introduced .
the Model A and later the V-8. The models had moderate success but were outsold by .
General Motors and Chrysler.
The problems Ford Motor Company had were due to Ford's stubborn and .
authoritarian management style. Ford refused to sign the contracts with the United .
Automobile Workers. He hired spies and company policed to prevent his workers from .
unionization. Finally, Ford was persuaded to sign the contract with the United .
Automobile Workers in 1941.
Ford resumed his son's presidency in 1943.