USA-Presidents.Info - Gerald Ford

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Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born July 14, 1913 - – December 26, 2006) (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., renamed after adoption) was the fortieth (1973 - 1974) Vice President and the thirty-eighth (1974 - 1977) President of the United States. He remains the only President to serve without being elected to either the presidency or vice presidency.

Order: 38th President
Term of Office: August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977

Rise to the Presidency

Ford was a member of the House of Representatives for 24 years from 1949 - 1973, and became Minority Leader of the House. After Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned during Richard Nixon 's presidency, on October 10, 1973, Nixon appointed Ford to take Agnew's place. The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27, 1973 and on December 6, the House confirmed him 387 to 35.

When Nixon then resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Ford assumed the presidency, proclaiming that "our long national nightmare is over". One month later, Ford gave Nixon a blanket pardon for any crimes he might have committed while President or indeed anything else he might have done - a move that many historians believe cost him election in 1976.

Presidency

The economy was a great concern during the Ford administration. In response to rising inflation, Ford went before the American public on television in October, 1974 and asked them to "whip inflation now" (WIN); as part of this program, he urged people to wear "WIN" buttons. However, most people recognized this as simply a public relations gimmick without offering any effective means of solving the underlying problem. At the time inflation was around 7%, a relatively modest number in restrospect, but still enough to discourage investment and push capital overseas and into government bonds.

In the aftermath of Watergate, the Democrats scored major gains in both the House and the Senate in the 1974 elections. Ford and Congress battled over legislation, with Ford vetoing scores of Democrat-supported bills.

The economic focus began to change as the country sank into a mild recession, and in March, 1975, Ford and Congress signed into law income tax rebates to help boost the economy.

Ford also faced a foreign policy crisis with the Mayaguez Incident . In May 1975, shortly after the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia, Cambodians seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez, in international waters. Ford dispatched Marines to rescue the crew, but the marines landed on the wrong island and met unexpectedly stiff resistance just as, unknown to the US, the Mayaguez sailors were being released. In all phases of the operation, fifty service men were wounded and forty-one killed, including three men believed to have been left behind alive and subsequently executed and twenty-three Air Force personnel killed earlier while enroute to the staging area at Utapao, Thailand . It is believed that approximately sixty Khmer Rouge soldiers were killed out of a land and sea force of about 300.

While in Sacramento, California on September 5, 1975, a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson named Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempted to assassinate Ford, but was thwarted by a Secret Service agent. Seventeen days later another woman, Sara Jane Moore , also tried to kill Ford.

It is believed that Ford's pardoning of Nixon, along with the continuing economic problems, may have cost him the election of 1976. His campaign may also have been hampered by a strong challenge that year for the nomination in his party by Ronald Reagan. He also made a major gaffe during the campaign when he insisted Eastern Europe was not occupied by the Soviets.

During his tenure in the House of Representatives, Ford was chosen to serve on the Warren Commission, a special task force set up to investigate the causes of, and quell rumors regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy . The Commission eventually concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in killing the President, a conclusion sometimes disparaged by conspiracy theorists as the " Lone Nut Theory." Today Ford is the only surviving member of the Commission, and continues to stand behind its conclusions.

Ford grew up in Michigan and played football for the University of Michigan. Despite his athleticism, Ford had a not-entirely deserved reputation for being very clumsy. Television footage often showed him stumbling down the stairs, bumping his head on the doorway of Air Force One, or walking into other people. This stereotype was greatly popularized by a series of skits on Saturday Night Live featuring Chevy Chase who portrayed Ford as a man who was literally incapable of taking a single step without falling over or destroying something. Many of Ford's supporters have since denounced this stereotype as unfair, saying the President was no more clumsy than any normal person—except his blunders were just far more visible and popularized.

At the 1980 Republican National Convention, Ford was nearly nominated to return to service as Vice President under nominee Ronald Reagan. On the day a Vice President was to be nominated however, Reagan changed his mind and chose George H. W. Bush, who had rivaled him for the presidential nomination. While attending the 2000 Republican convention, Ford suffered a mild stroke, but has subsequently recovered.

The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan was named after him.

Health problems

As Ford approached his ninetieth year, he began to experience significant health problems associated with old age. He suffered two minor strokes at the 2000 Republican National Convention, but made a quick recovery. In January 2006, he spent 11 days at the Eisenhower Medical Center near his residence at Rancho Mirage, California, for treatment of pneumonia. On April 23, President George W. Bush visited Ford at his home in Rancho Mirage for a little over an hour. This was Ford's last public appearance and produced the last known public photos, video footage and voice recording. While vacationing in Vail, Colorado, he was hospitalized for two days in July, 2006 for shortness of breath. On August 15 Ford was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for testing and evaluation. On August 21, it was reported that he had been fitted with a pacemaker. On August 25, he underwent an angioplasty procedure at the Mayo Clinic, according to a statement from an assistant to Ford. On August 28, Ford was released from the hospital and returned with his wife Betty to their California home. On October 12, however, Ford entered the hospital yet again for undisclosed tests at the Eisenhower Medical Center; he was released on October 16. As a result of his frail health it was announced on October 17 that Ford was considering selling his home near Vail due to the uncertainty as to whether he would be able to return. Those that saw him during the last five months of his life said that he looked frailer than ever and that it appeared his body was slowly failing him. As late as November he could still hold conversations with people but his voice was reduced to a fragile whisper. Ford died at the age of 93 years and 165 days on December 26, 2006 at 6:45 p.m Pacific Standard Time (02:45, December 27, UTC) at his home in Rancho Mirage, California

Longevity

1. President George W. Bush with former President Ford and his wife Betty on April 23, 2006; this is the last known public photo of Gerald FordOn November 12, 2006, Ford officially became the longest-lived president, surpassing Ronald Reagan. Ford died 45 days later.
2. Ford was the third longest lived Vice President at the age of 93. The two oldest were John Nance Garner, 98, and Levi Parsons Morton, 96.
3. He had the second-longest post-presidency after Herbert Hoover (Hoover's 31 years and 7 months to Ford's 29 years and 11 months).
4. Ford was the last surviving member of the Warren Commission.
5. Gerald and Betty Ford hold the record as the longest-lived First Couple at ages 93 and 88, respectively. The previous record (calculated using the combined ages of the two spouses) was held by Ronald and Nancy Reagan at ages 93 and 82, respectively, at the time of President Reagan's death on June 5, 2004, at which time Gerald and Betty Ford had already tied their record at ages 90 and 86 respectively. Prior to 2003, Harry and Bess Truman had held the record for more than 30 years — at the time of President Truman's death in 1972, they were aged 88 and 87, respectively.
6. Harry and Bess Truman are the presidential couple who have lived the most total years, with 185 (88d and 97d respectively). Gerald and Betty Ford (93d and 88), are currently in second with 181 and Ronald and Nancy Reagan (93d and 85) are currently in third with 178.
7. He was, at 93 years of age, one of only four U.S. presidents to have lived to 90 or more years of age (the others being Reagan, also 93, and John Adams and Herbert Hoover, both 90).

Supreme Court Appointments

John Paul Stevens - 1975

Additional Gerald Ford Speeches

Remarks Upon Taking the Oath of Office as President, August 9, 1974

Remarks Announcing a Program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters, September 16, 1974

Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on United States Foreign Policy, April 10, 1975

Address at a Tulane University Convocation, April 23, 1975

Address in Helsinki Before the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, August 1, 1975

Remarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Bicentennial celebration), July 4, 1976