On Tuesday, December 26, 2006, former President Gerald R. Ford died at his home in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was 93.
Widely known for granting a pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, Mr. Ford assumed the role of President after Nixon resigned. He later lost the position to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election, totaling his time in the oval office at just 896 days.
Born Leslie Lynch King Jr on July 14, 1913, the 38th President was the son of Dorothy Gardner King and wool tycoon Leslie King. The Kings divorced in January of the next year and Mrs. King returned home to Michigan with her son. Soon after, Dorothy married Gerald R. Ford. Mr. Ford adopted Dorothy's son, renaming him Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
Ford's love of football helped him to secure a place in the starting lineup his senior year in high school. From there, it was on to the University of Michigan with a scholarship, where Ford was voted MVP. He was subsequently offered spots with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, but Ford turned them down. He had set his sights on the law.
After initially being turned down by Yale, he was finally accepted in 1938 and following his graduation, opened a private practice law firm with fellow graduate Philip A Buchen. During World War II, Ford joined the Navy and served 47 months before leaving in 1946. Just two years later, Ford defeated Bartel Jonkman and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In October of the same year, Ford married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren. They would later have four children - Michael Gerald Ford, John Gardner Ford, Steven Meigs Ford and Susan Ford Vance.
Gaining popularity in the House, Ford had made several key friendships, including one with a second-term representative from California, Richard Nixon. This friendship would later pay off when Nixon was nominated by the Republican party in 1968. Ford joined the campaign and after Agnew's resignation in 1973, Nixon nominated Ford to assume the Vice-Presidency. His confirmation was the first under the 25th amendment and was won by a landslide vote in both the House and Senate.
At the time of his confirmation, the Watergate scandal was already underway and Ford instantly found himself torn between defending President Nixon and criticizing the obvious political corruption that seemed to be at play. As Nixon's involvement became more evident, Ford quietly distanced himself from the affair by focusing on other issues at hand with Vietnam at the top of the list.
After Nixon's public resignation, Gerald Ford was sworn in as President on August 9, 1974 and quickly gained national approval. Just one month later, on September 8th, President Ford granted Nixon a full pardon for all federal crimes that may have been committed while he served in the White House. The pardon drew criticism from all sides, his own party included, and President Ford's ratings fell considerably.
They never recovered.
When the 1976 Presidential election rolled around, President Ford won the Republican nomination against Ronald Regan but lost the Presidency by a slight margin to Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter.
During his time in office, President Ford brought closure by helping to end the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. He joined with the Soviet Union to sign the Helsinki Human Rights Convention and helped to mediate a cease-fire agreement between Egypt and Israel.
And all from offices he had never asked to have.
