Henry Ford 's Empire

Henry Ford bought 2000 acres of land near his boyhood home in Dearborn and built a majestic mansion called Fair Lane. It had a bowling alley, an indoor swimming pool, a skating pond, a golf course, and a man-made lake. It also had its own hydroelectric power plant.

Henry Ford expanding his vast empire

Meanwhile Henry Ford began to expand his vast empire so he could control every step of the Ford Motor cars production process. Henry Ford opened factories in other cities and shipped them supplies so they could manufacture cars locally. Henry Ford purchased a railroad, 16 coal mines, 700,000 acres of timberland, a sawmill, a fleet of ships to carry ore from his Lake Superior mines, and a glassworks company - all from the profits of the Ford Model T. At the height of his success, Henry Ford 's holdings stretched from iron mines in northern Michigan to the jungles of Brazil where he obtained his rubber, to 33 countries around the world. Never before had one man controlled so enormous an industrial empire.

Henry Ford during the First World War

When World War I broke out, Henry Ford again became a controversial figure. This time it was because Henry Ford took a strong stand against America's involvement in the war, and against war in general. Henry Ford became something of an international pacifist.  Henry Ford chartered a special boat, at his own expense, and sailed to Europe with 170 other anti-war activists, to help arbitrate a peace. 

But on the voyage to Europe, the pacifists quarreled among themselves. When the ship docked, Henry Ford deserted and hurriedly took the next ship home.

Henry Ford and his political career

Shortly after the end of World War I, Henry Ford decided to run for senator from Michigan as a Republican. When the Republicans failed to nominate him, Henry Ford switched allegiance to the Democratic Party, which did nominate him. When Henry Ford lost the senate race, he hired agents to find and reveal corruption in his opponent's campaign, and forced the man's resignation. That done, Henry Ford decided he would run for President instead. An advertisement he took out in a magazine said: "The next President of the United States will be a man who can read a blueprint and who understands the problems of production and how to keep men employed."

Henry Ford gathered huge support for his campaign - both from the public and the press - but just when that support was at a peak, he mysteriously dropped out of the race, saying he was not a politician after all and couldn't be considered a candidate.