Bill Ford Takes A Well Deserved Victory Lap

This will be an especially buoyant Christmas season for Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor, and he radiated every bit of his good fortune when he appeared at a Ford holiday party in Manhattan this week. He's pleased with plans for CEO succession, he's restored the dividend on Ford stock for the first time in five years, and the automaker is making progress on the environmental front, repurposing an old assembly plant as an alternative energy park. Even the Detroit Lions, long the doormats of the National Football League, are enjoying a winning season.