Henry Ford's Influence on Society In E.L. Doctorow's, Ragtime, a classic novel set in the early years of the twentieth century, Henry Ford appears for only one chapter, but in that chapter it becomes clear that Doctorow saw him as a democratic industrialist. In that chapter, J.P. Morgan invites Ford to have lunch with him at his Manhattan mansion. In this meeting of the two industry giants, Morgan invites Ford to go on an expedition to Egypt with him. Ford declined because he believed that Morgan's whole purpose for the trip had to do with reincarnation. Ford told Morgan that his belief of reincarnation came out of a book that he purchased for twenty-five cents, inst