The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War

As most everyone knows, most industries in the United States switched from making what was their usual products to making materiel for the war effort. Some made small switched, such as clothing companies making uniforms, while other make dramatic changes, such as Ford switching from auto production to the manufacture of air planes.This book is the story of the run up to the war, how the Ford family handled requests for war production and the making of the largest factory ever in the United States to make the B 24 Liberator bomber. While Henry was against any war time manufacturing, his son Edsel made the daring promise to the government of being able to produce a bomber an hour, which everyone thought was impossible to do.The story weaves details of the life of the Fords, the conditions in the factories, the pressures of war time manufacturing and the tensions between Washington and the individual companies, as well as tension between companies and labor.It is a fascinating look at a small, but very important piece of war time production. It is very well written and researched and would be a wonderful read for anyone with a bent toward World War II or to the history of manufacturing.

Simply OUTSTANDING book about how the US auto industry answered the call to build war armaments for the military. The REAL story behind the facts. The depth of subject covered is amazing. You will become a lifelong fan of Edsel Ford and realize what an important part he played in the continuing democracy of the United States. He gave his life for his country as surely as any US soldier lost in battle. Edsel's interest in the development of airplanes in the 30's helped America with the second world war. You won't be giving credit to Henry any longer.

Incredible amount of information, about how Henry Ford was an automotive genius, but a cantankerous curmudgeon otherwise, who, at first, stoutly resisted any idea of producing any war materiel for WWII, since he proclaimed himself a pacifist.Not only that, but the Ford company owned factories in many foreign countries, including Germany, and he was suspected of having Nazi sympathies.But his only son, Edsel, was a loyal American, and since he had been elevated to the presidency of Ford Motor Company, he intervened and boasted that his company could produce a bomber every hour, to defeat Hitler and Japan.Of course, this was a completely audacious idea, which no one thought could ever be done.He had to literally start from scratch, even to the extent of building a totally new building to house the world's largest assembly line, to construct B-24 bombers.But the real genius of America's performance during the war was Roosevelt, and I can't imagine anybody but him being able to pull it off as well as he did - like a symphony conductor with an intimate grasp of every instrument in his immense orchestra, and he couldn't even get out of his chair!Just the idea of converting every manufacturer from civilian to war production started with Roosevelt.Only a person of incredible talent and ability, such as he was, could possibly have put it all together.Ford Motor Co., as well as virtually all American car companies, plus many other companies which previously manufactured mundane civilian products, converted to war manufacturing, and although it took us awhile to get in gear, we ultimately became the source for just about all war production for the whole Western world, including Britain and Russia.Ford not only made B-24 bombers, but also a whole litany of other defense products, such as the Jeep, and of course, trucks, as well as portable bridge systems, and almost every other defense item you could imagine.Even the gliders that we used in the D-Day invasion were made by Ford, from lumber made from trees on one of Henry's farms.But along the way, Henry's influence was sinister, and he definitely had a dark side, which especially revealed itself in his hiring a virtual criminal, Harry Bennett, who ingratiated himself into the company to the extent that he ran it like a fiefdom, with Henry's blessings, which undermined Edsel at every turn.He brought in thousands of henchmen, to carry out his and Henry's dirty work, especially in opposing the unions.Bennett came very close to weaseling away the Ford company and getting it completely under his control, as Henry was becoming senile.That's the only plausible explanation, since Henry had been a very loving and attentive father when Edsel was young, but he pitted Harry Bennett against his only child, as time presented choices that Henry wanted to avoid.In the midst of all this, Edsel, who had always been in ill health, suddenly died, just as the goals he had set for the company were starting to pay off. It took heroic effort by others, namely, Henry's wife, and Edsel's wife, as well as Edsel's son, Henry II, and his wife, to keep Bennett at bay.But throughout the war, all the companies, including Ford, stepped up and geared their production to whatever war materiel was needed, and overwhelmed the likes of Hitler and Hirohito, and saved our bacon.But the fact that it happened at all, considering that Henry almost literally had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing something entirely against his will, is amazing.And that at a time when Henry was probably the richest man in the world.Roosevelt was very close to resorting to taking over the Ford Motor Company, if Henry had not finally capitulated.It is definitely a fact that without the supreme effort that everybody made here in America, Germany and Japan might have prevailed.Our soldiers, sailors and Marines, plus the fliers from all services, and the good old American can-do attitude, gave us just enough to oust the bad guys, but it wasn't a cake-walk, by any means.So much so that over 60 million people died, all around the world, in WWII.In fact, it was a Herculean effort, but that's what was necessary, since we were fighting two extremely fanatical and determined foes, both of whom had a big head start in war production and preparation.

I enjoyed it, but I felt cheated in a way in that the author had a much narrower focus than the title suggests. This is really a Ford Motor Company history during the Edsel Ford years. Very little about the other auto companies or American industry in general during the war. Tons of detail-perhaps too much-about power struggles amongst different factions in the company.Few Americans realize the critical role played by American industry in defeating Germany and Japan. This book covers but a narrow slice of the story.

Clearly, Mr. Baime has a deep understanding of the early days of Ford Motor Company and its principals (Henry, Edsel, Henry II) as well as the political landscape in the US during WWII (Roosevelt and Truman). This book brings it all together in one page-turning volume. I was saying, "Huh. I didn't know that" on page after page, although, as a fan of AJ Baime, a lot of this content was a rehash of previous works. (Go Like Hell and The Accidental President are two of my favorites). Baime is among the most lively history writers, and his command of the history of the era and its players is astounding. There isn't a lot of information about the military hardware - particularly the B24 - even though it appears on the cover, but the intrigue and planning required to accomplish the famous bomber-per-hour manufacturing is incredible. Add this to your list of AJ Baime must-reads

Really enjoyable read. My husband (who doesn't enjoy reading as I do) listened to the audiobook over the same period I was reading the book. We often have quite different tastes in books, but were both thoroughly absorbed by this book. Cracking.

An interesting book with a misleading title. It should really be called "The Ford Story" or even more accurately "The Edsel Ford Story". The book barely mentions Detroit's other major players in war production and focusses a great deal on how bad a father Henry Ford was to Edsel. Edsel definitely comes away the tragic hero, but that's not the story I was expecting to read.

I love to read about the logistics required to win WW2. This gave me an incite to the troubles to produce one bomber per hour. I toured the Rouge River plant and they produced Mustangs at about one every fifty five seconds . A B 24 Liberator has to be so much more complicated.Brent

Well written with just the right amount of real history woven into a good story

Couldn't put it down