Henry Ford Creator of the Ford automobile brand Date of Birth: 30.07.1863 Country: USA

1. The Life and Contradictions of Henry Ford
2. A Visionary and Innovator
3. A Family Man
4. The Secret Life of Henry Ford

The Life and Contradictions of Henry Ford

Henry Ford, the creator of the Ford automobile brand, is an embodiment of the traditional American dream that became a reality. In America, such individuals are called "self-made men." Born on a farm near the town of Dearborn, Michigan, he left school at the age of 16 and died a billionaire at the age of 83. His life is filled with contradictions.

A Visionary and Innovator

Ford was a brilliant organizer who doubled the minimum wage of workers, reduced their working hours, and introduced two sliding days off to accelerate the technological process. However, he also hired informers to spy on workers and fought against unions using brute force and terror. He often showed contempt for people and even turned against his own friends. He was a philanthropist but also published a series of sharp anti-Semitic articles and received a medal from Adolf Hitler in 1938.

A Family Man

Ford's family life seemed ideal. He first laid eyes on Clara Jane Bryant, a farmer's daughter, at a festival in a small town and fell in love with her at first sight. They married when he was 24 years old and she was 22. Four years into their marriage, they had a child. Clara was an intelligent and calm woman, and Ford, who devoted himself entirely to work, always felt her care and support. Clara never interfered in her husband's actions, except for one time when she begged him to end the war with the unions, and Ford followed her advice.

Throughout her life, Clara spent millions of dollars on charitable causes. At the same time, she was very frugal, sewing up holes in clothes and mending Ford's socks even after he became a millionaire. Clara passed away in 1950, three years after Ford's death.

The Secret Life of Henry Ford

The publication of John Dillinger's book "The Secret Life of Henry Ford" in 1978 caused a sensation. According to Dillinger, he was born in 1923, and his father was Henry Ford. As Dillinger writes, Ford immediately noticed a beautiful young girl named Evangeline Cote when she started working at his factory. Evangeline was 30 years younger than Ford, but this did not bother him. He arranged for Evangeline to marry one of his employees named Ray Dillinger. He ordered the construction of a magnificent house for the newlyweds next to his own home.

The Dillinger's house had a secret passage that led directly to Evangeline's bedroom. When she gave birth to a child some time later, Ford visited the young mother in the hospital, causing a commotion among the nannies and doctors. Ford showered little John Dillinger with gifts and attention, and he was always allowed to play with the billionaire's grandchildren. Once, when an artist needed a model to depict Ford as a child, Henry asked Dillinger to pose for the portrait instead of one of his own grandchildren. Both Evangeline and her husband held important positions in the Ford company until his death.

In his book, John Dillinger also claimed that the new management of the company, led by Henry Ford 11, was aware of the secret relationship between Ford and the Dillinger family and tried to completely destroy all traces and evidence of this connection.