Describes how Henry Ford promoted his anti-Semitic views in "The Dearborn Independent" and other publications and examines the response of the Jewish community in America as well as Ford's impact on the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe before World War II.

NO OF PAGES: 416 SUB CAT I: Anti-Semitism SUB CAT II: Holocaust SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Henry Ford was not only one of America's great industrialists, he was also one of America's great haters. With "his rambling mouth" and his "volatile passions and budget less financial resources," Ford became famous around the country and the world for his rabid anti-Semitism. "He did not like the Jews because he believed they were warmongering, manipulative, and alien," writes Neil Baldwin. A pacifist, Ford blamed the First World War on "German-Jewish bankers." In the 1920s, he published The Dearborn Independent, which featured notorious articles such as "The International Jew: The World's Problem." In 1938, he became the first American recipient of a Nazi award bestowed upon non-Germans. Baldwin details Ford's views and activities and also describes the phenomenon of anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Henry Ford once declared, infamously, "History is more or less the bunk." His descendents seem to disagree. "Beginning with Henry Ford II," writes Baldwin, "succeeding generations of Fords have sought to put an end to Henry Ford's dark legacy" by supporting Israel and Jewish charities. Their actions bear out what one Jewish newspaper said in response to Ford in 1920: "We are firm in our belief that stupidity cannot triumph."NOTES: Purchased from Amazon.com. SUBTITLE: The Mass Production of Hate

A mediocre book about an important subject, as Baldwin appreciates that Ford's anti-Semitism was something more than traditional attitudes filtered through populist politics. The Henry Ford of this book is a man who comes to be dominated by a conspiratorial view of the world, at the same time that he is trying to keep personal control of his empire. That said, the writing is pedestrian and the author's admission that, as a Jew, he didn't appreciate the depth of American Anti-Semitism in the first half the 20th century does not exactly inspire confidence. Still, this is a useful case study of how Ford ran his media operation, as we again live in a period where we are afflicted with malefactors of great wealth sliming the political arena with their selfish and mean-spirited attitudes. ( )