Ernest Kanzler(1892-1967)

Ernest Kanzler was an American businessman who was an executive at the Ford Motor Company, serving as a close advisor to Henry Ford. Kanzler, who was brother-in-law to Henry Ford's son Edsel Ford, was in charge of the tractor side of the company. In 1921, he was named Director of Ford of Canada. In 1923, he became a Vice President of Ford Motor Company and its subsidiaries, Vice President of Lincoln, and a Director of the Detroit Toledo & Ironton Railroad. Between 1923 and 1925, he managed manufacturing under Edsel, during which time production of the Model T rose to more than two million each year. Worried about rising Chevrolet sales, Kanzler wrote a 6-page letter to Henry Ford in 1926 about moving the company beyond the Model T. The memo angered Ford and resulted in Kanzler's firing. After this, Kanzler became a successful banker, was the head of war production during World War II, and served as director of the Detroit Lions. Following Henry Ford's death, he returned to help with the Ford Company, serving as a close advisor to Edsel Ford during his stint as President, as well as to Edsel's widow Eleanor Ford, and their son Henry Ford II during his run as President of Ford. The Ford family referred to him as "Uncle Ernest." Kanzler's first wife, Josephine Hudson Clay, was the niece of one of the leaders of the Hudson Car Company (which merged to form what is now Chrysler) and the owner of Hudson's, the largest department store in Detroit (which merged to form what is now Target). His second wife, Rosemarie Kanzler, was a famous socialite who made the introductions that led to several famous marriages, including connecting Henry Fonda to Countess Afdera Franchetti and Oscar de la Renta to Francoise de Langlade.