   #copyright

Gerald Ford

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: USA Presidents

   Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.
   Gerald Ford
     __________________________________________________________________

   38th President of the United States
   In office
   August 9, 1974 –  January 20, 1977
   Vice President(s)   None (1974),
   Nelson A. Rockefeller (1974-1977)
   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 T. Agnew
   Succeeded by Nelson A. Rockefeller
     __________________________________________________________________

   Born July 14, 1913 (age 93)
   Omaha, Nebraska
   Political party Republican
   Spouse Elizabeth Ann Ford
   Religion Episcopalian
   Signature

   Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., (born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913)
   was the 38th (1974–1977) President of the United States. Ford also
   served as the 40th (1973–1974) Vice President. He was the first person
   appointed to the Vice-Presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment,
   and upon succession to the presidency became the first (and to date,
   only) president in U.S. history to fill that office without having been
   elected either President or Vice-President. He is also the
   longest-lived United States president ever, having surpassed Ronald
   Reagan's record on November 12, 2006.

   Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was originally named Leslie Lynch
   King, Jr., after his biological father. His parents divorced when he
   was less than a year old, and when his mother remarried, he was given
   the name of his step-father, Gerald Rudolff Ford. He later changed the
   spelling of the middle name. Ford obtained his bachelor's degree from
   the University of Michigan, where he was a football star. He went on to
   obtain a law degree from Yale University before serving in the United
   States Navy during World War II. Returning from the war a confirmed
   "internationalist", Republican Ford defeated the incumbent in the party
   primary and was elected to the United States House of Representatives
   in 1948, representing the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. He was elected
   House Minority Leader in 1963 and served in the House until 1973. When
   Spiro Agnew resigned, Ford was appointed Vice President of the United
   States at the height of the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to
   Nixon's resignation.

   The Ford administration saw the withdrawal of American forces from
   Vietnam, the execution of the Helsinki Accords, and the continuing
   specter of inflation and recession. Faced with an overwhelmingly
   Democratic majority in Congress, the administration was hampered in its
   ability to pass major legislation, and Ford's vetoes were frequently
   overridden. Ford was criticized by many for granting a pre-emptive
   pardon to Nixon, and was subsequently defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter
   in the 1976 presidential election.

Early life

   Ford with his pet Boston Terrier, 1916
   Enlarge
   Ford with his pet Boston Terrier, 1916

   Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska on Monday, July 14, 1913 at 12:43 AM
   CST to Leslie Lynch King and Dorothy Ayer Gardner, and was originally
   named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. His parents separated before he was born
   and divorced five months after his birth; he is the only President
   whose parents have been divorced. Two years later, his mother married
   Gerald Ford, after whom he was renamed despite never being formally
   adopted. Raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford was not aware of his
   adoption until shortly before turning fifteen. "My stepfather was a
   magnificent person," Ford stated, "and my mother equally wonderful. So
   I couldn't have written a better prescription for a superb family
   upbringing."

   Ford joined the Boy Scouts and attained that program's highest rank,
   Eagle Scout. He always regarded this as one of his proudest
   accomplishments, even after attaining the White House. In subsequent
   years, Ford received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver
   Buffalo from the Boy Scouts of America. He attended Grand Rapids South
   High School and was a star athlete, rising to become captain of his
   high school football team. In 1930, he was selected to the All-City
   team of the Grand Rapids City League. He also attracted the attention
   of college recruiters.

   Attending the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, Ford became
   the centre for the school's football team and helped the Wolverines to
   undefeated seasons in 1932 and 1933. His number 48 jersey has since
   been retired by the school. At Michigan, Ford was a member of the Delta
   Kappa Epsilon fraternity and washed dishes at his fraternity house to
   earn money to pay for college expenses. While at Michigan, Ford turned
   down contract offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers of
   the National Football League following his graduation in 1935 in order
   to attend law school. As part of the 1935 Collegiate All-Star football
   team, Ford played against the Chicago Bears in an exhibition game at
   Soldier Field.
     I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln.
   —Gerald R. Ford, December 1973

   While attending Yale Law School, he joined a group of students led by
   R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., and signed a petition to enforce the 1939
   Neutrality Act. The petition was circulated nationally and was the
   inspiration for America First, a group determined to keep America out
   of World War II. Ford's position on American involvement in the war
   would soon change.

   Ford graduated from law school in 1941 and was admitted to the Michigan
   bar shortly thereafter. Before he could commence a law practice,
   though, overseas developments caused a change in plans. Like others,
   Ford responded to the attack on Pearl Harbour and joined the military.

Naval Service in World War II

   Ford in uniform, 1945
   Enlarge
   Ford in uniform, 1945

   Ford received a commission as ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve on 13
   April 1942. On 20 April, he reported for active duty to the V-5
   instructor school at Annapolis, Maryland. After one month of training,
   he went to Navy Preflight School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where
   he was one of 83 instructors and taught elementary seamanship,
   ordnance, gunnery, first aid, and military drill. In addition, he
   coached in all nine sports that were offered, but mostly in swimming,
   boxing and football. During the one year, he was at the Preflight
   School, he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade on 2 June 1942, and
   to Lieutenant on March 1943.

   Applying for sea duty, Ford was sent in May 1943 to the
   pre-commissioning detachment for a new small aircraft carrier, the USS
   Monterey, at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey.
   From the ship's commissioning on 17 June 1943 until the end of December
   1944, Ford served as the assistant navigator, Athletic Officer, and
   antiaircraft battery officer on board the Monterey. While he was on
   board, the Monterey participated in many actions in the Pacific with
   the Third and Fifth Fleets during the fall of 1943 and in 1944. In
   1943, the carrier helped secure Makin Island in the Gilberts, and
   participated in carrier strikes against Kavieng, New Ireland in 1943.
   During the spring of 1944, the Monterey supported landings at Kwajalein
   and Eniwetok and participated in carrier strikes in the Marianas,
   Western Carolines, and northern New Guinea, as well as in the Battle of
   Philippine Sea. After overhaul, from September to November 1944,
   aircraft from the Monterey launched strikes against Wake Island,
   participated in strikes in the Philippines and Ryukus, and supported
   the landings at Leyte and Mindoro.

   Although the ship was not damaged by the Japanese forces, the Monterey
   was one of several ships damaged by the typhoon which hit Admiral
   William Halsey's Third Fleet on 18-19 December 1944. The Third Fleet
   lost three destroyers and over 800 men during the typhoon. The Monterey
   was damaged by a fire, which was started by several of the ship's
   aircraft tearing loose from their cables and colliding during the
   storm. During the storm, Ford narrowly missed being a casualty himself.
   After Ford left his battle station on the bridge of the ship in the
   early morning of 18 December, the ship rolled twenty-five degrees which
   caused Ford to lose his footing and slide toward the edge of the deck.
   The two inch steel ridge around the edge of the carrier slowed him
   enough so he could roll and twisted into the catwalk below the deck. As
   he later stated, "I was lucky; I could have easily gone overboard."

   After the fire, the Monterey was declared unfit for service and the
   crippled carrier reached Ulithi on 21 December before proceding across
   the Pacific to Bremerton, Washington where it underwent repairs. On
   Christmas Eve 1944 at Ulithi, Ford was detached from the ship and sent
   to the Athletic Department of the Navy Pre-Flight School, at Saint
   Mary's College of California where he was assigned to the Athletic
   Department until April 1945. One of his duties was to coach football.
   From end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the
   Naval Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois
   as the Staff Physical and Military Training Officer. On 3 October 1945,
   he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. In January 1946, he was sent
   to the Separation Centre, Great Lakes, Illinois to be processed out. He
   was released from active duty under honorable conditions on 23 February
   1946. On 28 June 1963, the Secretary of the Navy accepted Ford's
   resignation from the Naval Reserve.

   For his naval service, Gerald Ford earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
   Medal with nine engagement stars for operations in the Gilbert Islands,
   Bismark Archipelego, Marshal Islands, Asiatic and Pacific carrier
   raids, Hollandia, Marianas, Western Carolines, Western New Guinea, and
   the Leyte Operation. He also received the Philippine Liberation with
   two bronze stars for Leyte and Mindoro, as well as the American
   Campaign and World War II Victory Medals.

Marriage and family

   Official White House portrait of Betty Ford
   Enlarge
   Official White House portrait of Betty Ford

   On October 15, 1948, Ford married Betty Bloomer Warren at Grace
   Episcopal Church, in Grand Rapids. This was Mrs. Ford's second
   marriage. The Fords had four children: Michael Ford (b. 1950), a
   minister; John "Jack" Ford (b. 1952), a journalist/public relations
   consultant; Steven Ford (b. 1956), an actor and rodeo rider; and Susan
   (Ford) Vance Bales (b. 1957), a photographer.

   Mrs. Ford was noted for her outspokenness on topics, including
   pre-marital sex and the Equal Rights Amendment. This was a sharp
   contrast from most First Ladies, particularly her immediate
   predecessor, the reticent Pat Nixon. Mrs. Ford publicly battled breast
   cancer during her husband's presidency. After leaving office, her
   battles with alcoholism and addiction were discussed prominently in the
   media, as was the family's support in opening the Betty Ford Centre in
   Rancho Mirage, California.

House of Representatives

   Following his return from the war, Ford became active in local
   Republican politics. Grand Rapids supporters urged him to take on
   Bartel J. Jonkman, the incumbent Republican congressman. Ford had
   changed his worldview as a result of his military service; "I came back
   a converted internationalist", Ford stated, "and of course our
   congressman at that time was an avowed, dedicated isolationist. And I
   thought he ought to be replaced. Nobody thought I could win. I ended up
   winning two to one."

   During his first campaign, Ford visited farmers and promised he would
   work on their farms and milk the cows if elected—a promise he
   fulfilled. In 1961, the U.S. House membership voted Ford a special
   award as a "Congressman's Congressman" that praised his committee work
   on military budgets.

   Ford was a member of the House of Representatives for twenty-four
   years, holding the Grand Rapids congressional district seat from 1949
   to 1973. Appointed to the House Appropriations Committee two years
   after being elected, he was a prominent member of the Defense
   Appropriations Subcommittee. Ford described his philosophy as "a
   moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs,
   and a conservative in fiscal policy." In 1963, Republican members of
   the House elected him Minority Leader. During his tenure, President
   Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Ford to the Warren Commission, a special
   task force set up to investigate the assassination of President John F.
   Kennedy. The Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted
   alone in killing the President remains controversial.

   During the eight years (1965–1973) he served as Minority Leader, Ford
   won many friends in the House because of his fair leadership and
   inoffensive personality. But President Johnson disliked Ford for the
   congressman's frequent attacks on the administration's " Great Society"
   programs as being unneeded or wasteful, and for his criticism of the
   President's handling of the Vietnam War. As minority leader in the
   House, Ford appeared in a popular series of televised press conferences
   with famed Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen in which they proposed
   Republican alternatives to Johnson's policies. Many in the press
   jokingly called this "The Ev and Jerry Show". In 1970, Ford led the
   effort to impeach William O. Douglas, an associate justice on the
   Supreme Court, for "moonlighting" for private clients.

Vice Presidency, 1973–74

   After Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned during Richard Nixon's
   presidency October 10, 1973, Nixon nominated Ford to take Agnew's
   position on October 12; this was the first time that the
   Vice-Presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been
   applied. The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on
   November 27, and on December 6 the House confirmed him 387 to 35.

   Ford's tenure as Vice President was little noted by the media. Instead,
   reporters were preoccupied by the continuing revelations about criminal
   acts during the 1972 Presidential elections and allegations of
   cover-ups within the White House. Ford said little about the Watergate
   scandal, although he privately expressed his personal disappointment in
   the President's conduct.

      I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk
        it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my
     friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all
    the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only
   fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the
                                              President of all the people.
                                           —Gerald R. Ford, August 9, 1974

   The Watergate investigation continued following Ford's appointment
   until Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig contacted Ford on August 1, 1974,
   and told him that " smoking gun" evidence had been found. The evidence
   left little doubt that President Nixon had been a part of the Watergate
   cover-up. Ford at the time was continuing to reside in the same home he
   had as a congressman and was waiting on repairs before becoming the
   first Vice President to move into the new Vice President's official
   residence at Number One Observatory Circle. However, "Al Haig [asked]
   to come over and see me," Ford later related, "to tell me that there
   would be a new tape released on a Monday, and he said the evidence in
   there was devastating and there would probably be either an impeachment
   or a resignation. And he said, 'I'm just warning you that you've got to
   be prepared, that things might change dramatically and you could become
   President.' And I said, 'Betty [Ford, his wife], I don't think we're
   ever going to live in the Vice President's house.'"

Presidency, 1974–77

Accession

                 My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
                                         —Gerald R. Ford', August 9, 1974.

   Vice President Ford is sworn in as the 38th President of the United
   States by Chief Justice Warren Burger as Mrs. Ford looks on.
   Enlarge
   Vice President Ford is sworn in as the 38th President of the United
   States by Chief Justice Warren Burger as Mrs. Ford looks on.

   When Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on August 9,
   1974, Ford assumed the presidency. Immediately after taking the oath of
   office in the East Room of the White House, he spoke to the assembled
   audience in a speech broadcast live to the nation. Ford noted the
   peculiarity of his position: "I am acutely aware that you have not
   elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to
   confirm me as your President with your prayers." On August 20 Ford
   nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill the Vice
   Presidency he had vacated. Rockefeller was confirmed by the House and
   Senate.

Nixon pardon

   On September 8, 1974, Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon
   for any crimes he may have committed while President. In a televised
   broadcast to the nation, Ford explained that he felt the pardon was in
   the best interests of the country and that the Nixon family's situation
   "is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go
   on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded
   that only I can do that, and if I can, I must." At the same time as he
   announced the Nixon pardon, Ford introduced a conditional amnesty
   program for Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries such as
   Canada. Unconditional amnesty, however, did not come about until the
   Jimmy Carter presidency.

   The Nixon pardon was highly controversial. Critics derided the move and
   claimed a " corrupt bargain" had been struck between the men. They
   claimed Ford's pardon was quid pro quo in exchange for Nixon's
   resignation that elevated Ford to the Presidency. Nixon's chief of
   staff, Alexander Haig, offered a deal to Ford. Bob Woodward, in his
   book, Shadow, recounts the Haig deal. Woodward recounts that Haig
   entered Ford's office on August 1, 1974 while Ford was still Vice
   President and Nixon had yet to resign. Haig told Ford that there were
   three pardon options: (1) Nixon could pardon himself and resign, (2)
   Nixon could pardon his aides involved in Watergate and then resign, or
   (3) Nixon could agree to leave in return for an agreement that the new
   president would pardon him. After listing these options, Haig handed
   Ford various papers; one of these papers included a discussion of the
   president's legal authority to pardon and another sheet was a draft
   pardon form that only needed Ford's signature and Nixon's name to make
   it legal. Woodward summarizes the setting between Haig and Ford as
   follows: "Even if Haig offered no direct words on his views, the
   message was almost certainly sent. An emotional man, Haig was incapable
   of concealing his feelings; those who worked closely with him rarely
   found him ambiguous." Despite the situation, Ford never accepted the
   offer from Haig and later decided to pardon Nixon on his own terms.
   Regardless, historians believe the controversy was one of the major
   reasons Ford lost the election in 1976.

   Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald terHorst resigned
   his post in protest after the announcement of President Nixon's full
   pardon.

Administration and Cabinet

   Gerald Ford meets with his Cabinet in 1975.
   Enlarge
   Gerald Ford meets with his Cabinet in 1975.

   Upon assuming office, Ford inherited the Cabinet Nixon selected during
   his tenure in office. Over the course of Ford's relatively brief
   administration, only Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Secretary
   of the Treasury William Simon remained. Ford appointed William Coleman
   as Secretary of Transportation, the second African American to serve in
   a presidential Cabinet (after Robert Clifton Weaver) and the first
   appointed in a Republican administration.

   Ford selected George H.W. Bush to be both Ambassador to the People's
   Republic of China in 1974 and Director of the Central Intelligence
   Agency in 1975. In 1975, Ford also selected former congressman and
   ambassador Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld had
   previously served as Ford's transition chairman and later Chief of
   Staff. Additionally, Ford chose a young Wyoming politician, Richard
   Cheney, to be his new Chief of Staff and later campaign manager for
   Ford's 1976 presidential campaign. Ford's dramatic reorganization of
   his Cabinet in the fall of 1975 has been referred to by political
   commentators as The " Halloween Massacre."
   The Ford Cabinet
   OFFICE         NAME                    TERM
   President      Gerald Ford             1974–1977
   Vice President Nelson Rockefeller      1974–1977
   State          Henry A. Kissinger      1974–1977
   Treasury       William E. Simon        1974–1977
   Defense        James R. Schlesinger    1974–1975
                  Donald Rumsfeld         1975–1977
   Justice        William Saxbe           1974–1975
                  Edward Levi             1975–1977
   Interior       Rogers Morton           1974–1975
                  Stanley K. Hathaway     1975
                  Thomas Savig Kleppe     1975–1977
   Agriculture    Earl L. Butz            1974–1976
                  John A. Knebel          1976–1977
   Commerce       Frederick B. Dent       1974–1975
                  Rogers C. B. Morton     1975
                  Elliot L. Richardson    1975–1977
   Labor          Peter J. Brennan        1974–1975
                  John T. Dunlop          1975–1976
                  William Usery, Jr.      1976–1977
   HEW            Caspar Weinberger       1974–1975
                  Forrest D. Mathews      1975–1977
   HUD            James T. Lynn           1974–1975
                  Carla A. Hills          1975–1977
   Transportation Claude Brinegar         1974–1975
                  William T. Coleman, Jr. 1975–1977

Midterm elections

   The 1974 Congressional midterm elections took place less than three
   months after Ford assumed office. Occurring in the wake of the
   Watergate scandal, the Democratic Party was able to turn voter
   dissatisfaction into large gains in the House election, taking 49 seats
   from the Republican Party and increasing their majority to 291 of the
   435 seats. Even Ford's old, reliably Republican seat was taken by
   Democrat Richard VanderVeen. In the Senate election, the Democratic
   majority became 60 in the 100-seat body. In both houses, the numbers
   were above or close to the two-thirds mark required to override a
   presidential veto, and the 94th Congress overrode the highest
   percentage of vetoes since Franklin Pierce was President in the 1850s.

Domestic policy

   The economy was a great concern during the Ford administration. In
   response to rising inflation, Ford went before the American public in
   October 1974 and asked them to " whip inflation now." As part of this
   program, he urged people to wear "WIN" buttons. In hindsight, this was
   viewed as simply a public relations gimmick without offering any
   effective means of solving the underlying problems. At the time,
   inflation was around 7%.

   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 as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 to boost the
   economy. When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975, Mayor Abraham
   Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal
   bailout. The incident prompted the New York Daily News' notorious
   headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead."

   Similar to the more recent bird flu concerns, Ford was confronted with
   a potential swine flu pandemic. Sometime in the early 1970s, an
   influenza strain H1N1 shifted from a form of flu that affected pigs and
   crossed over to humans. On February 5, 1976, an Army recruit at Fort
   Dix mysteriously died and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized;
   health officials announced that swine flu was the cause. Soon after,
   public health officials in the Ford administration urged that every
   person in the United States be vaccinated. Although the vaccination
   program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, some 24%
   of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was cancelled.
   The vaccine was blamed for twenty-five deaths; more people died from
   the shots than from the swine flu.

Foreign policy

   The Ford Administration saw the final withdrawal of American personnel
   from Vietnam in ' Operation Frequent Wind', and the subsequent fall of
   Saigon. On April 29 and the morning of April 30, 1975, the American
   embassy in Saigon was evacuated amidst a chaotic scene. Some 1,373 U.S.
   citizens and 5,595 Vietnamese and third country nationals were
   evacuated by military and Air America helicopters to U.S. Navy ships
   off-shore.

   From the prior administration, in addition to longstanding Cold War
   issues, Ford inherited the on-going détente with both the Soviet Union
   and the People's Republic of China—and the policy of building
   relationships with the two communist countries, which had been mutually
   antagonistic toward each other for many years.

   Still in place from the Nixon Administration was the Strategic Arms
   Limitation Treaty. The thawing relationship brought about by Nixon's
   visit to China was reinforced by Ford's December 1975 visit to the
   communist country. In 1975, the Administration entered into the
   Helsinki Accords with the Soviet Union, creating the framework of the
   Helsinki Watch, an independent non-governmental organization created to
   monitor compliance that later evolved into Human Rights Watch.

   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 the American merchant ship 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 U.S., the Mayaguez sailors were being released. In
   the operation, fifty U.S. servicemen were wounded and forty-one killed
   while approximately sixty Khmer Rouge soldiers were killed.

Assassination attempts

   Ford faced two assassination attempts during the course of his
   presidency, both over a three-week period. While in Sacramento,
   California on September 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower
   of Charles Manson, pointed a Colt .45-caliber handgun at Ford and
   pulled the trigger. Though the gun was loaded with five bullets, it was
   an automatic pistol and the slide had not been pulled to place a bullet
   in the firing chamber, making it impossible for the gun to fire. Fromme
   was taken into custody; she was later convicted of attempted
   assassination of the President and was sentenced to life in prison.

   Seventeen days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, also tried to
   kill Ford while he was visiting San Francisco, but her attempt was
   thwarted when bystander Oliver Sipple deflected her shot. One person
   was injured when Moore fired, and she was later sentenced to life in
   prison.

Supreme Court appointment

   In 1975, Ford appointed John Paul Stevens as Associate Justice of the
   Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice William
   O. Douglas. Stevens had been a judge of the United States Court of
   Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, appointed by President Nixon. During
   his tenure as House Republican leader, Ford had led efforts to have
   Douglas impeached. After being confirmed, Stevens eventually
   disappointed some conservatives by siding with the Court's liberal wing
   regarding the outcome of many key issues. Nevertheless, President
   Gerald Ford recently paid tribute to John Paul Stevens. "He has served
   his nation well," Ford said of Stevens, "with dignity, intellect and
   without partisan political concerns."

1976 presidential election

   Ford reluctantly agreed to run for office in 1976 but first had to
   counter a challenge for the Republican party nomination. Former
   Governor of California Ronald Reagan and the party's conservative wing
   faulted Ford for failing to do more in South Vietnam, for signing the
   Helsinki Accords and for negotiating to cede the Panama Canal. Reagan
   launched his campaign in the autumn of 1975 and won several primaries
   before withdrawing from the race at the Republican Convention in Kansas
   City, Missouri. The conservative insurgency convinced Ford to drop the
   more liberal Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in favour of Kansas
   Senator Bob Dole.

   In addition to the pardon dispute and lingering anti-Republican
   sentiment, Ford had to counter a plethora of negative media imagery.
   Chevy Chase often did pratfalls on Saturday Night Live, imitating Ford,
   who had been seen stumbling on two occasions during his term. As Chase
   commented, "He even mentioned in his own autobiography it had an effect
   over a period of time that affected the election to some degree."

   Ford's campaign had an advantage from several activities held during
   1976 celebrating the United States Bicentennial. The Washington, D.C.
   fireworks display was presided over by the President and televised
   nationally.

   Democratic nominee and former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter campaigned
   as an outsider and reformer; he gained support from voters dismayed by
   the Watergate scandal. Carter led consistently in the polls, and Ford
   was never able to shake voter dissatisfaction following Watergate and
   the Nixon pardon.

     For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all
                                             he has done to heal our land.
                                           —Jimmy Carter, January 20, 1977

   Presidential debates were reintroduced for the first time since the
   1960 election. While Ford was seen as the winner of the first debate,
   during the second debate he inexplicably blundered when he stated,
   "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will
   be under a Ford Administration." Ford also said that he did not
   "believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet
   Union."

   In the end, Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular
   vote and 297 electoral votes compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral
   votes for Ford. Though he lost, in the three months between the
   Republican National Convention and the election, Ford managed to close
   what was once a 34-point Carter lead to a 2-point margin.

   Had Ford won the election, he would have been disqualified by the 22nd
   Amendment from running in 1980, since he served more than 2 years of
   Nixon's term.

Post-presidential years

   Gerald R. FordOfficial White House Portrait by Everett Kinstler
   Enlarge
   Gerald R. Ford
   Official White House Portrait by Everett Kinstler

   The pardon controversy eventually subsided. Ford's successor, Jimmy
   Carter, opened his 1977 inaugural address by praising the outgoing
   President.
   (Left to right:) Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, then
   President George H. W. Bush, and former Presidents Ronald Reagan and
   Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Library
   (1991).
   Enlarge
   (Left to right:) Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, then
   President George H. W. Bush, and former Presidents Ronald Reagan and
   Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Library
   (1991).
   President George W. Bush with former President Gerald Ford and Betty
   Ford April 23, 2006
   Enlarge
   President George W. Bush with former President Gerald Ford and Betty
   Ford April 23, 2006

   Ford remained relatively active in the years after his presidency and
   continued to make appearances at events of historical and ceremonial
   significance to the nation, such as Presidential inaugurals and
   memorial services.

   After securing the Republican nomination in 1980, Ronald Reagan gave
   serious consideration to his former rival Ford as a potential
   vice-presidential running mate. But negotiations between the Reagan and
   Ford camps at the Republican National Convention in Detroit were
   unsuccessful. Ford conditioned his acceptance on Reagan's agreement to
   an unprecedented "co-presidency," giving Ford the power to control key
   executive branch appointments (such as Henry Kissinger as Secretary of
   State and Alan Greenspan as Treasury Secretary). After rejecting these
   terms, Reagan offered the vice-presidential nomination instead to
   George H.W. Bush.

   Ford is a close friend of his successor, Jimmy Carter, despite the fact
   that Carter defeated him in the 1976 presidential election. Their
   friendship began in 1981, after both had left office, when they
   attended the funeral of Egypt's slain leader Anwar Al Sadat. Today,
   Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, visit President and Mrs. Ford's home
   frequently.

   In 1981, he opened the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
   and the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1999, Ford
   was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton. In 2001,
   he was presented with the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for
   his decision to pardon Richard Nixon to stop the agony America was
   experiencing over Watergate. In retirement Ford also devoted much time
   to his love of golf, often playing both privately and in public events
   with comedian Bob Hope, a longtime friend.

Health problems

   As Ford approached his ninetieth year, he began to experience
   significant health problems. 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 Centre near his
   residence at Rancho Mirage, California, for treatment of pneumonia.
   President George W. Bush visited former President Ford in April 2006 at
   Ford's home in Rancho Mirage; the former President, walking with a
   cane, escorted Bush back outside to his car after visiting for about an
   hour. While vacationing in Vail, Colorado, he was hospitalized for two
   days in July 2006 for shortness of breath. On August 15, 2006 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 Centre in Rancho Mirage, California, he was
   released on October 16. As a result of his frail health in the past
   year it was announced on October 17 that Ford is considering selling
   his home near Vail, Colorado due to the uncertainty as to whether he
   would be able to return.

   On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named
   Ford and the other living former Presidents (Jimmy Carter, George H. W.
   Bush and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the
   WTC.

   Funeral plans for former presidents are written out by the Presidents
   themselves and kept until their death by the Military District of
   Washington, which oversees state funerals, and then the funeral is
   performed to their wishes. Ford, the oldest of the living
   ex-presidents, has requested a state funeral and a burial at his
   presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Longevity

     * Since the death of Ronald Reagan on June 5, 2004, Ford has been the
       oldest living former President. On November 12, 2006, Ford
       officially became the longest-lived President, surpassing Ronald
       Reagan. He has had the second-longest post-presidency after Herbert
       Hoover. On September 9, 2008 he will surpass Hoover's record of
       11,555 days.

     * He is, 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,
       Herbert Hoover, 90, and John Adams, also 90).

     * 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 83 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, at ages 88 and
       87 respectively at the time of President Truman's death in 1972,
       had held the record for more than 30 years.

     * Ford is the only member of the Warren Commission still alive.

Trivia

     * Ford, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton are the only three
       former Presidents who did not have full siblings. (No president has
       been a true only child.)

     * Gerald Ford was the 38th President to be born as well as the 38th
       to serve. Richard Nixon was 37th born, 37th to serve, and the 37th
       to die. John F. Kennedy was the 39th President born, 35th to serve
       and the 32nd to die. Five of the 43 presidents (Carter, Ford,
       George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush) are still living.

     * After leaving office, Ford did a television public service
       announcement for the Boy Scouts of America. The advertisement
       featured a long list of former Boy Scout celebrities, athletes,
       etc. each stating that when your son joins Scouting there was no
       guarantee that he would grow up to be a movie star, major league
       player, astronaut, etc. At the closing, Ford's appearance
       intentionally surpasses all the others as he says, "When your son
       joins the Boy Scouts there's no guarantee that he'll grow up to be
       President... but you never know." In the 1990s, the West Michigan
       Shores Council renamed itself in honour of the President.

     * Ford was characterized in The Simpsons episode " Two Bad
       Neighbors," having moved in across the street from the family after
       George H.W. Bush left in disgust. He gets along famously with
       Homer, inviting him over to watch football, while the two snack on
       beer and nachos. The two trip simultaneously on the way to Ford's
       new home, with both muttering " D'oh!" at the same moment, showing
       both to be accident prone.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
