Of course, both J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford are American, but in many ways, Doctorow's versions of Morgan and Ford personify the stereotypes that many Americans held at that time (and still today) about Europe and America, and what the "heroes" (or villains) of each culture should be like. Morgan is extremely wealthy, came from a wealthy background, and takes advantage of his wealth in intellectual pursuits and the trappings of royalty. Ford, though no less wealthy, appears to have been brought up in the countryside in a fairly poor family and retains his country manners intentionally. What is not clear though is whether Doctorow is satirizing Morgan, Ford, both, or neither.
Morgan fits the American stereotypes of Europe extremely well. He is part of the old world, and he imitates royalty (most Americans of his time and even in ours would probably have disdained royalty). He "affected fashions slightly out of date" and is surrounded by employees who make "obeisance" and "circl[e] him like birds" (137). The author says satirically that "Pierpont Morgan was that classic American hero, a man born to extreme wealth who by dint of hark work and ruthlessness multiplies the family fortune till it is out of sight" (138). This is not the typical picture of the American hero, and the disdain with which Doctorow seems to write about this is similar to the disdain that many average Americans would feel about wealthy, educated European business tycoons. Most of the descriptions of Morgan make him out to be overly privileged.
Ford fits the stereotype of a countrified conservative, a type of all-American man that we see even today in politicians who are trying to get the American people on their side, despite the fact that he is introducing a new and radical system of manufacturing. He doesn't attempt to educate himself about things that are not really in his line of work, and he is not interested in being one of the chosen ones that Morgan thinks that he is. It seems likely that some of his disdain comes from Morgan's attempt to imitate royalty and to connect himself to the pharaohs. Americans generally do not like royalty; it is the American dream to rise up from lowly conditions to success. Thus it seems that Ford is our American hero.
However, it doesn't seem like Doctorow is really putting it into such black and white terms. We feel sympathy for Morgan because he is so isolated, and when he presents his theories to Ford and is rejected, he is deflated and slightly pathetic. We know his mind, and then is it harder to dislike him. Ford also gains some of the reader's sympathies because he is down to earth and likable (despite his antisemitism). Therefore it seems like Doctorow is not making fun of one or the other, unless he is making fun of both. In any case he seems to be making fun of the idea that Morgan (or Europe) should be considered privileged and bad, and that Ford (or America) should be better because of his affable ignorance and ability to honestly rise to the top. Both men are unquestionably more complicated than that, and both are putting on an act, but the stereotypes are still there and suggest interesting social viewpoints of the time.
