Henry Ford is usually remembered for the Model T, the assembly line, and the five-dollar day. But there’s a much darker side to his legacy that people often gloss over in history class. From 1920 to 1927, Ford used his massive wealth and influence to publish a series of pamphlets and articles known as The International Jew. It wasn't just a side project. He bought a whole newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, specifically to give these views a platform.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s messy. But honestly, if you want to understand American industrial history and the roots of modern conspiracy theories, you have to look at how the world’s most famous businessman became its most influential anti-Semite.
Why Ford Bought a Newspaper
Ford didn't start out as a media mogul. He was a tinkerer. A farm boy who hated the physical toll of manual labor and thought machinery could save the world. By 1918, he was arguably the most famous man on the planet. But he felt misunderstood by the "big city" press in New York and Chicago. He thought they were out to get him.
So, he did what any billionaire would do: he bought his local weekly, the Dearborn Independent.
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At first, the paper was just a mouthpiece for his quirks. He’d write about birdhouses or the "evils" of jazz music and cigarettes. But by May 1920, the tone shifted. The front page began a series of articles titled "The International Jew: The World’s Problem." This wasn't just some fringe hobby. Ford required his Ford dealerships across the country to distribute the paper. If you bought a car, you often got a subscription. At its peak, the Dearborn Independent had a circulation of 700,000. That made it one of the largest papers in the country.
The Content of The International Jew
The series basically recycled old European tropes and repackaged them for an American audience. It leaned heavily on a forged document called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Even though the Times of London proved the Protocols were a total fake in 1921, Ford didn't care. He famously told the New York World, "The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is that they fit in with what is going on."
He blamed "International Jews" for everything he didn't like about the modern world.
- The decline of American agriculture? Their fault.
- The "filth" of the movie industry? Their fault.
- Short skirts and "vulgar" music? You guessed it.
- Even the high cost of living or the outbreak of World War I was laid at their feet.
The writing was repetitive and often contradictory. One week, Jewish people were accused of being "ultra-capitalist" bankers controlling the gold supply. The next week, they were "Bolsheviks" trying to overthrow the government. It didn't have to make sense. It just had to provide a scapegoat for the massive social changes happening in the 1920s.
The Global Reach and the Hitler Connection
This is where things get truly heavy. Ford wasn't just influential in Detroit. His book, a four-volume compilation of the newspaper articles, was translated into sixteen languages.
In Germany, the book became a bestseller.
History is pretty clear on the link between Ford and the rise of the Nazi Party. Baldur von Schirach, the head of the Hitler Youth, later testified at the Nuremberg trials that he became an anti-Semite after reading Ford’s work. He said, "We saw in Henry Ford the representative of success, also the exponent of a progressive social policy."
Even Adolf Hitler himself was a fan. In Mein Kampf, written in 1924, Ford is the only American mentioned by name. Hitler told a Detroit News reporter in 1931, "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration." He even kept a life-sized portrait of Ford next to his desk. In 1938, the German government awarded Ford the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal a foreigner could receive from the Nazi regime. Ford accepted it.
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The Lawsuit That Ended It All
Ford thought he was untouchable, but he finally hit a wall in 1927. A Jewish farm cooperative organizer named Aaron Sapiro sued Ford for libel. Sapiro argued that the Dearborn Independent had defamed him and Jewish farmers by claiming they were part of a global conspiracy.
Ford tried to dodge the trial. He even staged a car accident to avoid testifying. But as the legal pressure mounted and a boycott of Ford cars began to actually hurt the company's bottom line, he folded.
He didn't just settle; he issued a "comprehensive apology." He claimed—and this is the part nobody really believed—that he had no idea what was being published in his own newspaper. He said he was "shocked" by the content. He shut down the Dearborn Independent and ordered the remaining copies of The International Jew to be burned.
But the damage was done. The books were already all over Europe. Even though Ford retracted his statements, the pamphlets continued to circulate for decades under different publishers.
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Why We Can't Ignore This Part of the Story
It’s tempting to separate the man from the machine. We want to enjoy the convenience of the modern world without thinking about the prejudices of the people who built it. But Ford’s foray into hate speech wasn't a minor mistake. It was a calculated use of a massive business infrastructure to spread disinformation.
Business leaders today are often told they should "stay in their lane." Ford is the ultimate cautionary tale of what happens when a titan of industry uses his platform to amplify conspiracy theories. It’s a reminder that technological progress doesn't always mean moral progress.
What You Should Know About the Legacy
If you’re researching this topic or just trying to understand the historical context, here are the cold, hard takeaways from the Ford era:
- The Power of Distribution: Ford didn't just write ideas; he used his 7,000+ dealerships to force those ideas into homes. It’s an early version of "algorithmic amplification," just with paper and ink.
- The Forgery Factor: Much of the content was based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a proven hoax. This shows that "fake news" isn't a 21st-century invention.
- Corporate Responsibility: The Sapiro lawsuit proved that even the wealthiest person in the world could be held accountable for libel, provided someone had the courage to take them to court.
- Long-term Impact: You can still find copies of Ford's writings on extremist websites today. Once these ideas are out there, they are incredibly hard to "un-publish."
Actionable Steps for Further Research
If you want to dive deeper into this specific period of history, don't just take my word for it. There are several primary and secondary sources that provide the full, unfiltered picture.
- Visit the Benson Ford Research Center: Located in Dearborn, Michigan, this archive holds many of the original papers and internal memos from the Dearborn Independent era.
- Read "The People's Tycoon" by Steven Watts: This biography provides a very balanced look at Ford’s genius and his deep-seated prejudices. It helps explain the "why" behind his actions.
- Analyze the Sapiro v. Ford Court Documents: Looking at the legal arguments used in the 1927 libel case is fascinating. It shows how the legal system attempted to define where "free speech" ends and "libel" begins.
- Examine the American Jewish Committee Archives: They have extensive records of the organized response to Ford’s publications during the 1920s, which is a masterclass in early civil rights activism.
Understanding Henry Ford’s involvement with The International Jew isn't about "canceling" a historical figure. It’s about having a clear-eyed view of how modern history was shaped—for better and for worse. The assembly line changed how we work, but the Dearborn Independent changed how people thought, and the consequences of the latter were far more destructive.