We would like some concrete examples of Henry Ford's popularity with
Americans in the 1920s. Were polls conducted? We have seen a reference
to a group of college students rating him as the third greatest figure
of all time, along with Napoleon and Christ, but cannot find the
source. What documentation is available on his popularity?

Thanks,
narrative

Narrative --

For answers to this and to yesterday's question, might I suggest David
Halberstam's 1986 book, "The Reckoning."  The book, about the
collision of U.S. and Japanese auto industries, has excellent
historical detail -- and an EXCELLENT bibliography.

By the 1920's Henry was remarkably out-of-touch; had set up a
Sociology Department at Ford to spy on employees; and was driving key
execs like Bill Knudsen out of the company.  In 1921, in response to
dealers' requests for different colors on the Model T, Ford said "You
can have them any color you want boys, as long as they're black."

By 1927, competition from Chvrolet was eating into Model T sales and
in May, 1928 Ford actually had to close the factories to retool for
production of the Model A.

A final note: if you're seeking original resources on Ford, there may
be a lot to mine in microfilms of Detroit newspapers of the time.  A
Google search can help you find where they're archived in Michigan
university libraries and you might also contact the Detroit newspapers
(their librarians are likely to have better indexing).  Halberstam
writes, "He was also perhaps the greatest celebrity of his time.  
Reporters hung out at his office, and his every word was quoted.  That
both helped and hurt him, because although he was a genius in
manufacturing and perhaps a near-genius for a long time in business,
much of what he said was nonsense, if highly quotable nonsense."

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thanks Omnivorous -- you've helped us before and we appreciate it!