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Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1974 | |
| 38th President of the United States | |
| In office August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
| Vice President |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Nixon |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Carter |
| 40th Vice President of the United States | |
| In office December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Spiro Agnew |
| Succeeded by | Nelson Rockefeller |
| House Minority Leader | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – December 6, 1973 | |
| Whip | Leslie C. Arends |
| Preceded by | Charles A. Halleck |
| Succeeded by | John Jacob Rhodes |
| Leader of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – December 6, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Charles A. Halleck |
| Succeeded by | John Jacob Rhodes |
| Chair of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Leader | Charles A. Halleck |
| Preceded by | Charles B. Hoeven |
| Succeeded by | Melvin Laird |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 5th district | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – December 6, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Bartel J. Jonkman |
| Succeeded by | Richard Vander Veen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Leslie Lynch King Jr. July 14, 1913 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 2006 (aged 93) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | |
| Parent(s) | |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank | Lieutenant commander |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
| College football career | |
| No. 48 | |
| Position | Center |
| Class | 1935 |
| Major | Economics |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| High school | Grand Rapids South |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (/ˈdʒɛrəld/ JERR-əld;[1] born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and was the only president never to have been elected to the office of president or vice president. He previously served as the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, and as the 40th vice president from 1973 to 1974. When President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford succeeded to the presidency, but was defeated for election to a full term in 1976.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford attended the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the school's football team, winning two National Championships. Following his senior year, he turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, instead opting to go to Yale Law School.[2] After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving from 1942 to 1946; he left as a lieutenant commander. Ford began his political career in 1949 as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district. He served in this capacity for nearly 25 years, the final nine of them as the House minority leader. In December 1973, two months after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment. After the subsequent resignation of President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency. To date, this was the last intra-term U.S. presidential succession.
As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, which marked a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the collapse of South Vietnam nine months into his presidency, US involvement in the Vietnam War essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure.[3] In one of his most controversial acts, he granted a presidential pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. During Ford's presidency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the president.[4] In the 1976 Republican presidential primary campaign, Ford defeated former California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic challenger, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. Surveys of historians and political scientists have ranked Ford as a below-average president.[5][6][7]
Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republican Party. His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put him at odds with conservative members of the party in the 1990s and early 2000s. In retirement, Ford set aside the enmity he had felt towards Carter following the 1976 election, and the two former presidents developed a close friendship. After experiencing a series of health problems, he died at home on December 26, 2006.
- ^ "President Ford Inaugural Ceremony". C-SPAN.org. C-SPAN. August 9, 1974. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "9 Things You May Not Know About Gerald Ford". History.com.
- ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York City: Basic Books. pp. xxiii, 301. ISBN 978-0-465-04195-4.
- ^ Lenczowski, George (1990). American Presidents, and the Middle East. Duke University Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 978-0-8223-0972-7.
- ^ "Lincoln Wins: Honest Abe tops new presidential survey". CNN. February 16, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ "Presidential Historians Survey 2017". C-SPAN. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
- ^ "Presidents 2018 Rank by Category" (PDF). Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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