There was something almost awesome, and perhaps typically American, in Henry Ford's defiance of the N.R.A. Ford staunchly maintained that the company he had founded and still ruled in absolute fashion was adhering to the law and had, in fact, anticipated many of its provisions. Critics focused their attack upon the company's labor practices, which clearly foreshadowed a coming strife, but no case was brought to court and Ford's fiercely individualistic attitude was never successfully constrained. The larger issue is not whether Ford did or did not comply, but rather what, in this period of profound social change, was to be the “fundamental American idea.”