Friday 1st June 1917

Henry Leland, the founder of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, resigned as company president. Ever since William Durant had arranged for General Motors (GM) to purchase Cadillac, Leland and Durant had endured a strained relationship. Leland started the Lincoln Motor Car Company. He won the first contract to manufacture Liberty engines for the war effort. Leland worked closely with British, French, and American engineers to design a high-production, high-powered twelve-cylinder airplane engine for the war effort. By the war’s end, Lincoln had manufactured more Liberty engines than any other single company.