I bet that Henry Ford and the “robber barons” of the “Gilded Age” would look on government bailout money as a sign of dishonor and incompetence on their reputations, and would say, “Keep you bailout money. I’ll turn my company around myself without even a penny from you.”
There was an old story about Henry Ford, where Henry proposed parts be sent in a box of a very particular size. The “Boxes” would become floorboards.