Gerald R. Ford Known as the only person to serve as both Vice President and President of the United States, and not be elected into either position, Gerald R Ford viewed his time in office as being directly linked to his years as a star football player at the University of Michigan, as well as his years serving as a coach at Yale while also earning his law degree.
Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr., on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska, but his parents divorced shortly after his birth, when his father threatened to kill his wife and infant son with a butcher knife. Ford's mother later moved with her two year old son to Grand Rapids, Michigan, married Gerald R. Ford, and took to calling her son Gerald R Ford, Jr. Although his stepfather never formally adopted him, Ford legally changed his name nearly twenty years later. He never learned of the details of these early years until he was seventeen.
As a child, Ford was actively involved in the Boy Scout program and attained the highest rank of Eagle Scout, later becoming the only President of the U.S. to ever have done so. A star football player in high school, at the University of Michigan, Ford became the star of the team again. Playing both center and linebacker, he was also the team’s captain and won the most valuable player award. In later years, once involved in politics, he said his years in football helped get him ready for the world of politics, and he'd refer back to the game often. As a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Ford worked as a dishwasher to help with his expenses.
Although he was offered contracts with both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, Ford turned them down to work as a football and boxing coach at Yale University. He intended to earn his law degree while working as a coach, and while the school was hesitant to allow him to do both, they eventually permitted it, and he graduated from law school in 1941. By this time, he had already volunteered to help out on Wendell Willkie's presidential campaign.
Ford opened a law office in Grand Rapids with a friend, but left the practice after Pearl Harbor was attacked, in order to join the Navy. He entered preflight school, and quickly became an instructor while also coaching sports. On sea duty, he was assigned to the USS Monterey, which was damaged not in war, but in a typhoon. Ford felt he was lucky to escape harm, after falling and losing his footing during the storm. He was sent back to preflight school, and once again became a coach. Promoted to Lt. Commander, Ford resigned from the Navy in 1946.
Out of the service, Ford picked up his political aspirations again and ran for office in the U.S. House of Representatives. He became engaged to Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, but put the wedding off until just before the election, unsure how the constituents would take him marrying a divorced dancer. They went on to have four children, Michael Gerald, John Gardner, Steven Meigs, and Susan Elizabeth. Ford also joined several civic organizations such as the Masonry, Shriners, and American Legion.
Once elected to the House of Representatives, Ford followed up on all his campaign promises, including milking the cows of the farmers that voted for him. He stayed in this office twenty-four years, and while he never wrote any legislation of his own, his role seemed to be more as negotiator and reconciler for the others, again something that would surely serve him later in his role as President. In 1963, the Republicans voted him Minority Leader, and President Lyndon B. Johnson also named him to the Warren Committee, assigned to investigating the assassination of President John F Kennedy.
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 after being charged with tax evasion, and Congressional leaders left President Richard Nixon no choice, but to replace him with Ford. This was a time when the White House was completely rocked by turmoil due to the continuing investigations into the Watergate scandal. While still preparing to move into the Vice President's residence, Ford was contacted by Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, who told him the smoking gun had been found, meaning the tapes that were needed to implicate President Nixon in the scandal. He was told to be prepared to take the office of president, if necessary.
As expected, President Richard Nixon resigned, and Ford took office as President of the United States on August 9, 1974. He nominated New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to be his Vice President, and this was confirmed by both the Senate and the House. Ford's next act didn't go over quite as well, as he granted President Nixon a full pardon for the Watergate scandal. He stated he felt he had to do it in order for the country to move on from the scandal; though Bob Woodward later suggested that the deal was struck when Haig first contacted Ford about the smoking gun being found. Those close to Ford, however, say that he believed a pardon was equal to the admission of guilt.
Ford brought into his administration and cabinet a few names that would stick around Washington for years to come. George H W Bush was named as a liaison to China, and also became the director of the CIA. Ford's first Chief of Staff was Donald Rumsfeld, who was later named the Secretary of Defense. Dick Cheney was then brought in to replace Rumsfeld as Chief of Staff. Ford's biggest Foreign Policy move as President was ending the Vietnam War.
After enduring two assassination attempts, one by Charles Manson follower Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and another by Sara Jane Moore, Ford sought to be elected to the White House in 1976. He dropped Rockefeller as a running mate, and picked up Senator Bob Dole. Voters couldn't seem to forgive him for pardoning Nixon, and the former Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, was elected. Ford always believed that some of the public's dissatisfaction with him lied in the impersonations of him that Chevy Chase would do on Saturday Night Live, that of a bumbling klutz. Nevertheless, Chase and Ford would go on to become friends.
Four years later, in 1980, Ford's former political adversary, Ronald Reagan, won the Republican nomination for President, and considered asking Ford to be his running mate, reprising his role as Vice President. Ford, though, having already held both jobs, asked for a "co-presidency, and wanted to have certain privileges only allowed Presidents. Reagan decided against it, and instead chose George H W Bush, and went on to win the Presidency. Ford also became very friendly with his former Democratic opponent, Carter.
Ford became an honorary co-chair of the Council for Excellence in Government, a leadership training program for Federal employees, and opened up the Gerald R Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service, the Gerald R Ford Museum, and Gerald R Ford Library. In 1999, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2001, the John F Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for pardoning Nixon. He disagreed with President George W Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, but refused to allow his comments to be made public until after his death.
Approaching his 90s, Ford's health began deteriorating. He had two strokes and was also treated for pneumonia. In the summer of 2006 he was experiencing a shortness of breath, and was later fitted with a pacemaker. By the fall, his health had deteriorated even more, and those who visited with him said he looked frailer than ever. He died on December 26, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. His eldest son, Michael, an Evangelical minister, performed the last rites. When Betty Ford announced her husband's death, she stated, "His life was filled with love of God, his family, and his country." YUDDY |
