Ford: We Never Called Him Henry

by Harry Herbert Bennett, Paul Marcus

~~~Henry Ford helped shape America when he created the standardized car and produced it with assembly-line methods for the common man. In only 23 years, Ford's original investment of $28,000 returned profits of nine hundred million dollars. ~~~During World War I, Ford used his assembly-line methods to produce 5000 Liberty motors and thousands upon thousands of trucks, ambulances and steel helmets foe the American forces. His techniques produced the overwhelming materiel superiority of the Allies in WWII. ~~~Ford's reputation for reliability was so good that a half million customers made down payments on the new Model A Ford sight unseen. ~~~Henry Ford's executives rarely had formal titles, but he searched for and used the ablest men he could find - men who then graduated from Ford to run the other automobile companies. Men like Lee Iacocca. ~~~In the two decades during which he worked for and with Henry Ford, Harry Bennett became the individual described as the most perfect second self the world's premier auto magnate ever had. Harry Bennett was the man closest to Henry Ford - he understood his boss. In this book he tells the unvarnished story of an opinionated man of incredible vision and strange contradictions - a genius of American industry.

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

He was best known as the head of Ford’s Service Department, or Internal Security.

Reviews

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a collection of anecdotes of the oddballs and weirdos around Henry Ford in the 20s, 30s and 40s, and a description of the Ford family disfunction during that era. It’s entertaining enough but rather thin. There’s plenty here to whet the appetite for a mor expansive biography, but very little depth. Though the author was at the center of Ford’s efforts to resist unions, there’s precious little about it here. I got to wonder about a company executive who feels comfortable hauling off and socking one of his fellow execs.

Some of the stories are pretty funny. Our author kept pet lions. He wasn’t that good about keeping them out of people’s cars. Also featured are some incredible anecdotes about Henry Ford’s marriage.

My copy was a Gold Medal paperback original. I wonder what type of person picked this up on the newsstand to read on the train.

[Tom Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

In every other biography of Henry Ford, Harry Bennett, who worked for Ford 30 years, is always cast as the villain. However, having read Bennett's own story, I find myself seeing him as actually just a friend to the old man who was Henry Ford from ages 53-83.

Bennett was making the best of a bad situation. In contrast to Bennett's portrayal in the other bios, he was not a mean person. He was not just a thug looking for a fight. He actually protected Henry from a host of threats. He was, in short, not the monster portrayed in the other 20-odd bios I have read of Henry Ford.

Highly readable book!

[KS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting insider view of Henry Ford and Ford Co. Seems like Bennett wants to be absolved from his sins and understates his role (and blames lots on Henry Ford). He was a consigliere and enforcer but he makes himself out to be a person who was just a puppet of Ford's. Lacked credibility.