It was Hitler's own wish that Ford receive that medal. Hitler was an admirer of Ford, and had a framed photo of Ford in his office, and in an interview a Detroit News reporter conducted with Hitler in 1931, Hitler said "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration." He admired Ford's anti-Semitic endeavors as well as his business acumen, and he quoted him in Mein Kampf. He was inspired to develop Volkswagen based on Ford's ideas about the production and sale of cars. He had Ford managers and engineers hired to run some German plants and teach the locals Fordism. Ford was a pretty rabid anti-Semite and purchased the local newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, which he then used to publish numerous anti-Semitic articles, and he also saw to it that the notorious anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was translated and published in the United States. There were rumors that Ford donated money to Hitler, but Hitler himself denied it. It may have just been an assumption, because the Nazis coveted Ford's attention so much, especially in the early years when they were small and low on funds.

While Ford was extremely anti-Semitic, at the same time he was very anti-war (and of course blamed Jews for World War I, not surprising given his propensity for blaming Jews for many things). So Ford didn't like the Nazi militarism. Not enough to turn down his award, but still, he wasn't close on a political level with the Nazis, and is quoted as saying in the New York Times at the time of the award, "My acceptance of a medal from the German people does not, as some people seem to think, involve any sympathy on my part with naziism. Those who have known me for many years realize that anything that breeds hate is repulsive to me." Somewhat ironic of a statement from a man who published the hateful lies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but a lot of life is complicated. In any case, he was happy to do business with Nazi Germany, and he did so for many years, and Hitler saw him as a fellow traveler as well as a useful source of business and industrial knowledge. Especially in the earliest days of the Nazi party, the early 1920s, he was a major world figure they could look up to as giving them ideas and legitimacy, but to him, they were small potatoes. Yet this connection was enough that some reporters thought it worthwhile to ask Hitler about the connection and the connection was looked upon negatively for Ford. While Ford didn't turn down the award, he also didn't travel to Germany to receive it, so it was awarded to him in Michigan instead.