The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company

by David Lanier Lewis

This book is a portrait of that enigmatic folk hero, Henry Ford, and of the company he built from scratch. David Lewis focuses on the fame, popularity, and influence of America's most unconventional businessman and traces the history of public relations and advertising within Ford Motor Company and the automobile industry.

600 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1976

About the author

David L. Lewis was professor of business history at the University of Michigan, from which he received his doctorate in economic history.

Reviews

[Joe Keefhaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This big 1976 book provided much insight into how Henry Ford promoted himself and his products over the years, including his ambitious ventures into motion pictures and radio, as well as the company's early embrace of television after his death. There is considerable information about his work in aviation and tractors. Those familiar with Ford's life will find much about the Selden patent case, the Mount Pleasant trial, the Peace Ship and other defining moments in his life. The author delves deeply into Henry Ford's anti-semitism and flirtations with the Nazis. The author addresses in a fleeting manner Ford's behavior toward his son Edsel and his dependence on the thugish Harry Bennett. But the relationship with Evangeline Dahlinger isn't mentioned at all. Her name doesn't appear in the book.

[Dan Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewis was a PR man for Ford and later a business school professor at the University of Michigan. He offers a clear-eyed view of his former boss and provides invaluable footnotes that cite no end of useful contemporaneous quotes and articles about Henry Ford. It is a useful corrective to the work of Allan Nevins and Frank Hill's three-volume history of Ford.

It is fair and balanced.

[Tom Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely book. As it was focused on the advertising and public relations aspects of Ford, it was a unique look and a thoroughly enjoyable read.