Henry Ford's anti-Semitism: A rhetorical analysis of the "paranoid" style

The life and rhetoric of Henry Ford was examined in this study in order to gain an understanding why, and how, he propagated the longest running anti-Semitic campaign in history. A synergy of two existing theories in communication, Hofstadter (1966) and Smith (1977) provided the appropriate framework for this study. Their observations of high-profile figures being labeled as politically "paranoid" were adapted to Henry Ford. This thesis labels Ford as a "paranoid" by identifying that: (1) Ford perceived a conspiracy; (2) a crusade was needed to defeat the conspiracy; (3) Ford was a militant leader; and, (4) the enemy was powerful. This thesis shows that the anti-Semitic rhetoric of Ford followed specific patterns and had far-reaching implications.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1999

Author dc:creator

• Farrell, Jeffrey Brian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Richard Jensen

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/968

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1967