In 1915, the price of the Model T's went down to $490 (Lacey, 27 -29). Fords assembly lines didn't always manufacture cars. In early 1941 the Ford was granted government contracts whereby he was to manufacture parts for bombers and later, the entire airplane. He then launched the construction of a huge plant at Willow Run, Michigan. By the end of the War, the plant had manufactured more than 8000 planes (Collier, 160).In the period of 1937 to 1941, the Ford Company became the only major manufacturers of automobiles in the Detroit area that had not recognized any labor unions as the collective bargaining representative of employees. The company was later found guilty of repeated violation of the national Labor Relations Act (Nevins, 69 -70).Henry Ford was active in many other fields besides those of automobile and airplane manufacturing. In 1915, he had world peace on his mind. He chartered a peace ship, which carried him and a number of like-minded individuals to Europe, where they attempted without success to persuade the close-minded to end WWI (Lacey, 33). While still working at his company, Henry was also nominated for the U.S. Senate for the state of Michigan in 1918, though he was defeated. In 1919 Ford laid out 7.5 million of his own money to erect the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit (Head, 27 - 28). As Ford was getting older, he retired from the active direction of his gigantic enterprise in 1945. Two years later, on April 7 1947, Ford died in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford left behind a personal fortune estimated between 500 and 700 million (Lacey, 20-21).In conclusion, Henry Ford was a very important part of our society. He was responsible for many inventions, including the Model T. His biggest contribution was revolutionizing and perfecting the assembly line. ...
