Fathers Day, 2015

Edsel Ford introduces the Model A and saves his father’s company.

Time:  October 20, 1927
Place:  Detroit

Famous men find it difficult to be good fathers, acquiring and maintaining fame being demanding of a father’s time and energy.  The same is even worse for fathers who are both famous and powerful.  Henry Ford was such a father.

His son Edsel Ford was in the dilemma of the son of such a father.  Inheriting his father’s interest in the car business, he was also the designated heir to the Ford Motor Company empire.  So how should he behave?  What should he do?  Throughout history sons had two choices:  just staying on the sidelines, doing what the father wanted or grasping for power themselves.  If the son found neither of these choices was acceptable then it only remained for him to exit the field, finding some other field of endeavor or just abandoning himself to play.

In the mid 1920’s the Ford Motor Company was failing.  The Model T, the car that the father thought was the perfect car, was being judged by the public as obsolete.  General Motors, American Motors, and other companies were pushing Ford to oblivion.  Something had to be done.

Amid much conflict with his father, Edsel helmed the new model that would take Ford Motors to the next decade, the Model A.  Edsel let his father take the credit and saved Henry’s reputation and his legacy.  – One of the great gifts to a father in history and our story for this Father’s Day.