Henry Ford accepts the Order of the German Eagle

Henry Ford accepts the Order of the German Eagle in 1938, a public honor from Adolf Hitler’s government that placed Ford’s political associations in sharp relief. Presented at a lavish birthday dinner, the medal became a focus of criticism when Henry Ford and Charles A. Lindbergh were both cited for accepting distinctions from a regime committing crimes against humanity.

The Birthday Ceremony

In July, on his seventy-fifth birthday, Ford accepted the Service Cross of the German Eagle at a dinner in Ford’s automotive Detroit attended by 1,500 prominent citizens. The occasion joined a private milestone to a public ceremony: the award came not from a neutral institution but from Adolf Hitler’s government, making its presentation an expression of political association as well as personal recognition.

A Controversial Distinction

Charles A. Lindbergh received the same medal at a ceremony in Germany that October. In December, Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes condemned both men’s acceptance of honors from a government whose crimes against humanity continued. By grouping Ford and Lindbergh together, Ickes turned the awards into a pointed comparison: prominent Americans had accepted tokens of distinction from a regime whose actions made those honors morally charged.

Significance and Context

The episode made Ford’s connection to Hitler’s government visible in a public setting, before an audience of prominent citizens. Its significance lies in the contrast between the prestige of the birthday celebration and the source of the medal. Ford also suffered the first of two strokes in 1938; the chronology records both developments in the same year but does not establish a connection between them.