Conspiracy in print · United States · 1920s
Henry Ford used a newspaper network to give antisemitic conspiracy a mass audience.
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1920s
Conspiracy in print · A famous industrialist makes a lie look authoritative
Henry Ford used a newspaper network to give antisemitic conspiracy a mass audience.
The Dearborn Independent
Beginning in 1920, Ford’s newspaper published a series attacking Jews as a hidden influence behind public life. The articles were collected as The International Jew. A celebrated industrialist’s name gave the campaign prominence. Business success did not make his allegations reliable.
The same enemy explains everything
The publications portrayed Jews as directing finance, culture and politics. Like the Protocols, the story linked unrelated problems through a supposed secret controller. It erased differences among Jews and offered readers a single villain for changes they disliked. These were conspiracy claims, not findings established through evidence.
The network carries the accusation
Distribution through Ford’s commercial reach helped the material travel, including abroad. In 1927, Ford publicly apologized and the newspaper later closed, but the publications continued to circulate. A retraction could not automatically remove an accusation already copied into other languages and political movements.