Henry Ford II was born on Sept. 4, 1917, the eldest of four children of Edsel and Eleanor Ford. His rise to the leadership of the auto company was as fast-paced as the efforts to shake the ...

Henry Ford II was a very private man. He and his third wife, Kathleen, a year older than his oldest daughter, never became part of the sequined social fabric of Palm Beach.

Ford and Iacocca, two titans of corporate America, joined Ford Motor at about the same time, though from far different circumstances. In July 1945, Henry Ford II, 28, was named president and CEO ...