In the early stages of World War I, Henry Ford -- aiming to appeal to heads of state to "get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas" -- launched a chartered "peace ship" to sail to Europe with a host of eminent pacifists.
Several weeks later, Ford, back in America, was asked to comment on his pacific venture. "I didn't get much peace," he confessed, "but I learned that Russia is going to be a great market for tractors."
[Ford was hardly a pacifist. He made substantial financial contributions to the Nazi movement. Indeed, Adolf Hitler (whose Mein Kampf was inspired in part by Ford's own anti-Semitic views) kept a framed photograph of Ford on his desk.]
[Ford believed in reincarnation and thought he had been a soldier killed at the battle of Gettysburg. He was also mesmerized by the sight and sound of falling water, and was deeply impressed by the writing and philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson.]
Sources
C. Bowen, Yankee From Olympus; Isaac Asimov`s Book of Facts; Karnataka Quiz Association
