The Family Ford

By Kleinheider Posted on April 28, 2008 at 7:49 am

Blake Fontenay traces the decline and the prospects for the future of the Ford family political dynasty:

Marcus Pohlmann, a political science professor at Rhodes College, questions whether the Ford family ever was a “political machine” in the strictest sense.

In the early part of the 20th century, Pohlmann said, political machines in big cities were able to thrive by doling out patronage jobs to supporters, who then used their positions to raise money and drum up votes for their bosses in future elections.

However, since the 1950s, Pohlmann said, government reforms have made it much more difficult to award enough jobs to political cronies to really influence elections.

Pohlmann said Harold Ford Sr.’s position in Congress wasn’t the type that would have allowed him to deliver a large number of patronage jobs, even if he wanted to do so.

That said, Harold Ford Sr. and his relatives did project an image of political strength throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s and beyond.

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Tags: Boss Crump, Harold Ford, Jake Ford, Joe Ford, John Ford, Ophelia Ford, Sir Isaac Ford  

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