Henry Jones Ford Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Henry Jones Ford (1851–1925) began his life as an editor, and for the next thirty-three years he worked for six magazines in three cities. He then went on to teach at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University, and during that time he also served a term as president of the American Political Science Association (1918–1919).

While at Princeton he met Woodrow Wilson, then president of the college. When Wilson became governor of New Jersey, he brought Ford along with him and appointed him to the position of commissioner of banking and insurance. Later, as president of the United States, Wilson sent Ford to the Philippines on a special mission, reporting directly to Wilson. It is universally agreed that the mission was to write a report on the governmental conditions in the area, although any such report was never published. Toward the end of Wilson’s presidency, he appointed Ford to a position on the Interstate Commerce Commission. This position, however, was ad interim due to a growing difference of opinion between Wilson and the Senate of the time.

Ford was also a published writer. In addition to numerous articles, he wrote The Cost of Our National Government (1909); The Scotch-Irish in America (1915); The Natural History of the State (1915); Woodrow Wilson, the Man, and His Work (1916); Washington and His Colleagues (1918); and The Cleveland Era (1919). A major topic of interest for him was the American presidency, which he thought of as an elected kingship that dominated public policy. Ford felt that the president, when need be, could control Congress through recess appointments and vetoes. As a reformist, Ford believed that the presidency need be only as powerful as a role that ends party duplicity and defines issues in such a way that the public can decide on them. The increase in power for the president came about because of popularity. Citizens made the president the “organ of the will for the nation” (Ford 196). Through this overwhelming presidential support, the power of the legislative branch dwindled. Congress would avoid any difficult decisions and often did unless the president decided to bring them back up again. He had the power to control them.

Bibliography:

Crowin, Edward S. “Henry Jones Ford.” American Political Science Review 19 (November 1925): 813–816.
Edward, George C., III. “Henry Jones Ford and the American Presidency.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32 (June 1999): 299–330.
Ford, Henry Jones. The Rise and Growth of American Politics: A Sketch of Constitutional Development. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967.
Hargrove, Erwin C. “Political Science and Politics.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32 (June 1999): 231–232.
Kumar, Martha Joynt. “The Rise and Growth of American Politics: A Sketch of Constitutional Developments by Henry Jones Ford.” PS: Political Science and Politics 32 (June 1999): 226–228.