THE MARK OF A MAN

[Applause] the greatest drama the memorable story of the great Among Us written by you the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] people this chapter the of a man the story of Henry [Music] Ford April 7th 1947 spring storms lashed the Midwest turning the River Rouge into a flood that swept over the grounds of the Henry Ford Estate the old man now 84 went out to inspect the damage the effort was too much he returned to the mansion and a few hours later it was like a mighty tree had fallen his passing marked the end of an era he was born into the horse and wagon age of the last century but the slow motion of the times was not for him he sped up the temple swiftly into luxury Autos more than any other man Henry Ford was responsible for the modern vehicles that have changed the face and habits of America he gave Americans a CR of success one that had served him well in an early radio broadcast with Thomas Edison he said a young man makes up his mind to work there's no limit to what he can do if he makes up his mind to go at it without the idea of work but he hasn't much chance he must study and work and he must go back in any art as far as he can just dig up the very beginning and he must the more he goes back the further he will be to see ahead yes Henry you preached and practice the virtue of hard work but ironically your hatred of farm labor was the cause of your success born on a farm during the Civil War you went to a country school didn't get much of an education you were 24 years old when you and your wife moved to Detroit in 1893 the year your son edel was born you experimented with a new fangled contraption a Horseless Carriage a queer looking thing you gave it a queer name the quadricycle folks laughed at the notion but you carried on encouraged by your [Applause] wife late one night you pushed it out of the shed you chose the late hour because you didn't want the neighbors to laugh at you if it didn't work but go it did that moment was worth the years when you'd begged borrowed and went hungry to raise the money to build the quadricycle it worked and you were in business the automobile business to advertise your gasoline buggies you designed and built a racing car the famous 999 you hired a speed crazy bicycle racer named Barney Oldfield to drive it you took the monster to a nearby racetrack Oldfield had never driven a car before he hit six 60 MPH a week later the Ford Motor Company was organized the first cars were expensive for those days only the rich could afford them Henry wanted to bring the price down but how the answer by speeding up production but again how Henry found a solution the assembly line the first assembly line was crude little by little he improved it 193 $850 in 1914 $550 you saw them everywhere the good old model T known affectionately as the Tin Lizzy you cranked her up motorcycle carop Henry had come a long way since the days of the little shop behind the house he now owned huge factories and foundaries he was rich Beyond his wildest early dreams walking through a plant one day he saw a worker glaring at him the man hated him but why was it because he had so much and theand so little Henry resolved to change that a few days later he issued an announcement it shook industry to its roots Business Leaders predicted that Henry would shortly go bankrupt but he knew what he was doing he had a new idea a big idea he figured that a well-paid worker would be happier and more productive he reasoned that a man with money in his pocket would buy an automobile it sounded like insane logic in 1914 but Henry was right the with a crash business recession of 1921 hit Henry hard he had always avoided dealing with Wall Street now Wall Street Bankers offered him a badly needed loan if he would make one of their men treasurer of the motor company Henry called a meeting of his Executives should he accept a loan and turn control of the company over to the moneymen it was the hardest decision of Henry life a crucial meeting to decide the future of the Ford Motor Company Henry Turned Down the Wall Street loan instead by economy measures he re reduced the price of his cars result the assembly lines began to move again by 1928 when the last Model T came off the line Henry had built and sold 15 million of them a year later you were called to the White House the stock market crash had turned the country into Panic asked by President Hoover to help restore public confidence you responded with the general wage increase at a time when wages were being slashed you were 61 years old one of the wealthiest men in the world but your most precious possessions were your grandchildren your tastes were simple tinkering with an old steam engine was fun you love to ice skate on a frozen pond and dance the well-remembered country dances of your youth for relaxation from business you went on camping trips with Tom Edison and John Burrows you were with President Hoover in Edison's laboratory on his 83rd birthday by that little invention you multiplied the life in the world by a thousandfold another old friend was Arville Wright inventor of the airplane but your most constant companion was your son edel together you and edil campaigned with Al Landon the Republican presidential candidate in 1936 you were proud of your cars together you examined the new car models in 1939 those cars were displayed at the World's Fair later that year at the fair you and edel entertained Al Smith and fella lagaria those were the good days then came the second world war and you shifted to war production Edsel drove the first Scout car to come out of the plant at Willow Run near Detroit you built a huge new plant for the production of bombers you and edil checked the first planes to come off the new assembly lines edel was your right hand more and more you depended on him so when the blow fell in 1943 the effect on you was devastating 80 years old you had outlived your son you grieved with your grandson Henry second for his father in all your eventful life you had never suffered a blow half so severe grief stricken you and your wife brought edel to his last resting place edel gone it's hard to believe seems impossible why you can recall his face as it was only yesterday edel gone who will take his place not Henry second edel's oldest son he's in military service Benson also in military service no one to take edel's place but yourself 80 years old now Henry resumed the post of president of the company the position edel had held for years back into harness in old age Henry supervised production of bombers when Army officials came the old man was there to show them around it was a heavy load and four score years had taken their toll of his strength Henry was weary on his 83rd birthday a moment that gladed the old man a visit with Children of the neighborhood he had always loved children but now they reminded him of the past later that day a visit to the place where it all began again the quadricycle an old friend just about the only survivor of the old days sitting there in the machine Henry's thoughts drifted back to that fateful year 1893 himself as a Young Man the machine that was to revolutionize travel and make his fortune well both Ambitions had been achieved few men had lived a fuller life a year after that visit with a quadricycle Henry Ford was dead gone but forever present in the cars he helped to create his memorial the concrete Highway speeding the country on its way he' built Scout cars and bombers to defend the United States without him the face of the land would not be the same of Henry Ford it may well be said he left his mark on [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] America be with us again next week at this time when the greatest drama true film biographies of the great Among Us Again comes your way n [Applause]