1. Leonard Kimball Firestone was an American businessman, diplomat, and philanthropist.
17 Facts About Leonard Firestone
1. 2.
Leonard Firestone was born on June 10,1907, in Akron, Ohio, to Harvey S Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone.
3.
Leonard Firestone was educated at The Hill School, and graduated from Princeton University in 1931, where he played golf and polo.
4.
Leonard Firestone was a member of Alpha Kappa Psi, and later became a member of Bohemian Grove.
5.
Leonard Firestone was named president of Firestone Aviation Products Company in 1941.
6.
Leonard Firestone was commissioned in the United States Navy as a lieutenant, but was assigned to inactive status to become president of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in 1943.
7.
Leonard Firestone retired as president of Firestone's California operations in 1970.
8.
Leonard Firestone planted 250 acres of vines, including 60 acres of Chardonnay.
9.
Leonard Firestone was chairman of the Nelson Rockefeller 1964 presidential campaign.
10.
Leonard Firestone was appointed US ambassador to Belgium by President Richard Nixon in 1974, and was reappointed by President Gerald Ford, serving until 1976.
11.
Leonard Firestone was later chairman of the Richard Nixon Foundation.
12.
Leonard Firestone took a particular interest in charities associated with alcohol abuse, and was cofounder of the Betty Ford Center in 1982.
13.
Leonard Firestone was director of the National Council of Alcoholism and the Eisenhower Medical Center.
14.
Leonard Firestone served on the advisory board of the ABC Recovery Center and was a major contributor to the expansion at the ABC Center.
15.
Leonard Firestone then married Barbara Knickerbocker Heatley on March 4,1966.
16.
Leonard Firestone married Caroline Hudson Lynch on January 11,1987, the daughter of the owner of Oklahoma Ada and Atoka Railroad and former spouse to Edmund Lynch, whose father co-founded Merrill Lynch.
17.
Leonard Firestone was buried at Columbiana Cemetery in Columbiana, Ohio.