Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize a milestone in American ingenuity, to honor the 100th anniversary of the founding of Ford Motor Company. It was June 16, 1903, when 39-year-old Henry Ford and 11 associates, armed with little cash, some tools, a few blueprints, and unbridled faith, traveled to Lansing, MI to file papers launching Ford Motor Company. With just $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the world's largest corporations. As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a shipment is July 20, 1903, approximately 1 month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. Perhaps Ford Motor Company's single greatest contribution to automotive manufacturing was the moving assembly line. First implemented at the Highland Park plant in 1913, the new technique allowed individual workers to stay in one place and perform the same task repeatedly on multiple vehicles that passed by them. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company far surpass the production levels of their competitors--and making the vehicles more affordable. Henry Ford insisted that the company's future lay in the production of affordable cars for a mass market. Beginning in 1903, the company began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. In 1908, the Model T was born.”