Later in life, he considered running for president

The ill and elderly Henry Ford opted to take over as president when Edsel Ford, the Ford Motor Company's president, passed away from cancer in May 1943. Ford was getting close to 80 years old by this time, had suffered several cardiovascular events (variously described as heart attacks or strokes), and was generally no longer capable of handling such enormous responsibilities.

The majority of the directors opposed having him as president. But for the preceding 20 years, he had long had de facto power over the firm, even though he had never held an official executive title. The board and management had never taken his defiance seriously, and this time was no different. He was chosen by the board of directors and held office till the conclusion of the conflict. During this time, the firm started to lose more than $10 million every month (equivalent to $156,000,000 in today's dollars). To guarantee sustained war production, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt had considered a government takeover of the company,[68] but the concept never advanced.

Ford retired in September 1945 after giving over the business president to his grandson Henry Ford II due to declining health. At the age of 83, he passed away at Fair Lane, his Dearborn home, on April 7, 1947, from a brain hemorrhage. Greenfield Village had a public viewing where up to 5,000 people an hour passed by the coffin. He was laid to rest in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit after the funeral services were performed at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit.