Henry Ford Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Leo P. Ribuffo

Critical Essay by Leo P. Ribuffo

SOURCE: "Henry Ford and The International Jew," in Right Center Left: Essays in American History, Rutgers University Press, 1992, pp. 70-105.

In the following essay, which was originally published in American Jewish History in June 1980, Ribuffo closely examines the historical context and the content of the anti-Semitic articles Ford published in The Dearborn Independent and, subsequently, in the four volumes entitled The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, Jewish Activities in the United States, Jewish Influences in American Life, and Aspects of Jewish Power in the United States.

Social scientists and journalists have continued to examine American anti-Semitism, but discussion among historians has subsided during the past two decades. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, however, the subject evoked heated exchanges, with controversy usually centering on the relationship between nineteenth-century agrarian radicalism and twentieth-century "extremism." The diligent and sometimes passionate efforts of many scholars produced little agreement. Indeed, we are...
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