Gerald Rudolph Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford 1913-2006, 38th president of the United States (1974-77), b. Omaha, Nebr. He was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr., but his parents were divorced when he was two, and when his mother remarried he assumed the name of his stepfather. Admitted to the Michigan bar in 1941, he was a member (1949-73) of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as the Republican minority leader (1965-73). Ford gained a reputation as a loyal Republican who supported his party on virtually all issues. A consistent proponent of a large defense budget, he led the Republican opposition to the Great Society programs of President Lyndon B. Johnson . He was permanent chairman of the Republican National Convention in 1968 and 1972.

In Oct., 1973, Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon to succeed the disgraced Spiro T. Agnew as vice president of the United States; on Dec. 6, 1973, he was sworn in, becoming the first person to be appointed to the office under the procedures specified by the 25th Amendment. As vice president, Ford traveled widely around the country, attempting to rally for the Nixon administration the support that had eroded as a result of the Watergate affair . His tenure as vice president was short, however; when Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Ford became president. He pledged to continue Nixon's foreign policy and to work to curb inflation. One month later he issued a complete pardon to Nixon for all criminal acts perpetrated by Nixon while he was president. In the 1974 congressional elections the Republicans suffered substantial losses, attributable both to Watergate and to the economy. To deal with the economic recession, Ford proposed (1975) tax cuts, limited social spending (with continued high defense expenditure), and heavy taxation on imported oil. The Democratic Congress opposed many elements of the program. Ford was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election.

Bibliography: See Ford's Selected Speeches, ed. by M. V. Doyle (1973); C. Fitzgerald, ed., Gerald R. Ford (1988).

Ford, Gerald Rudolph (1913– ) 38th US President (1974–77). Elected to the House of Representatives in 1948, Ford gained a reputation as an honest and hard-working Republican. He was nominated by President Nixon to replace the disgraced Spiro Agnew as vice president (1973). When Nixon resigned, Ford became president – the only person to hold the office without winning an election. One of his first acts was to pardon Nixon. His attempts to counter economic recession with cuts in social welfare and taxes were hindered by a Democrat-dominated Congress. Renominated in 1976, he narrowly lost the election to Jimmy Carter.

http://www.ford.utexas.edu; http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents

Ford, Gerald Rudolph (1913?–) 38th president of the United States (1974–77) and decorated navy veteran of World War II. Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., in Omaha, Nebraska, Ford was raised in Michigan and given the name of his adoptive father. Ford served in the South Pacific, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1948 he was elected to Congress as a Republican representative from Michigan; he served for twenty-five years, becoming minority leader of the House of Representatives in 1965. In 1973, following the forced resignation of Spiro T. Agnew, Ford was named vice president by Richard M. Nixon, and in 1974, following Nixon's resignation in the face of probable impeachment, Ford became president. His first official act was to pardon Nixon for his role in the Watergate affair. He also granted conditional amnesty to draft evaders and deserters of the Vietnam War. As president, Ford largely continued Nixon's policies. His attempts to battle inflation resulted in severe recession (1974–75), and he proved ineffective in working with the Democratic-controlled Congress. In 1975 he sent the U.S. Marines to retaliate for an attack on an American merchant vessel, the Mayaguez, by Cambodia. Ford received his party's nomination in 1976, but lost the election to Jimmy Carter, making him the first incumbent not reelected since Herbert Hoover in 1932. He retired from public life after leaving the White House.

Ford was the nation's only unelected chief executive.