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Ford passed on government assistance because they were in better shape, not the other way around. Ford management saw that a downturn was sure to come and made sure they had the liquidity to cope - proves nothing about the merits of government intervention.

You're right that who was President had nothing to do with it, though; the business culture just went insane, still hasn't fully recovered. The lesson of Ford is that if you plan for the future there's a better chance that you'll have one. Many in the business community are failing to get that.