Gerald Ford
| Gerald Ford | |
|---|---|
| 200px | |
| 38th President of the United States | |
| Term of office August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977[1] | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Vice Presidents | None (Aug.-Dec. 1974) Nelson Rockefeller (1974-1977) |
| Preceded by | Richard Nixon |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Carter |
| 40th Vice-President of the United States | |
| Term of office December 6, 1973 - August 9, 1974 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Spiro Agnew |
| Succeeded by | Nelson Rockefeller |
| Born | July 14, 1913 Omaha, Nebraska |
| Died | December 26, 2006 Rancho Mirage, California |
| Spouse | Betty Ford |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.) was the 38th President of the United States of America, serving from August 1974 to January 1977. He was the first person to become president without being elected to either the presidency or vice-presidency. A Republican, Ford served as U.S. Representative, 1948-73, and was the House Minority Leader from 1965 to 1974. His most famous and daring decision was to pardon former President Richard Nixon of any crimes for the good of the nation. Nixon appointed Ford as Vice President on the resignation of Spiro Agnew. When Nixon subsequently resigned as President, Ford succeeded him.
President Ford received heavy criticism for pardoning Nixon. Ford watched helpless as South Vietnam fell to a Communist invasion, after all American forces had been removed. He promoted détente with the Soviet Union, incurring the wrath of the conservatives, led by Ronald Reagan. He narrowly defeated Reagan for renomination in 1976 by the Republican party, then lost narrowly to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Ford was scandal free, but marred by too many stumbles, literally and figuratively; he was one of a series of failed presidents in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early Life
Ford was born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska, and was named Leslie King after his father, a wool trader. When Ford was two years old his parents were divorced because of abuse. His mother, Dorothy Gardner King, moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. There she met and married Gerald R. Ford, owner of a small paint factory. Ford adopted her son, and the boy's name was changed to Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Gerald Ford, Sr., described by biographers as a dominant athletic man and strong believer in self-discipline, later fathered three sons. He never told young Gerald that he was adopted until years later.
At South High School in Grand Rapids, the younger Ford was all-city football center for three years and also made the all-state team. He played football career at the University of Michigan; in 1934 he was the Wolverines' most valuable member. He graduated in 1935 with a bachelor of arts degree. Ford declined bids from professional football teams in order to attend Yale Law School. He alternated semesters at study with work as an assistant football and freshman boxing coach. Ford graduated in 1941 in the top third of his class and returned to Grand Rapids to practice law.
In 1942 he joined the Navy as an ensign. He served 47 months, including 18 months aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey in the South Pacific, and was discharged in January 1946 as a lieutenant commander. He served as athletic director, then gunnery division officer, an assistant navigator with major operations in the South Pacific, and then a lieutenant commander. He encountered a near death experience in December 1944 during a vicious typhoon. He came close to being swept overboard from his ship. After the war was over in 1946 he returned to his law firm in Grand Rapids.
Three weeks his first election, on Oct. 15, 1948, Ford married Elizabeth "Betty" Bloomer, a former model and aspiring dancer. Born in Chicago, she had lived most of her life in Grand Rapids and had been married and divorced. Jerry and Betty Ford had three sons and a daughter. She became a vocal and effective spokeswoman for important social and women's issues during and after her years in the White House, appearing somewhat less conservative than Ford himself.[2]
Congressional Career
Both his father, a Republican leader in Grand Rapids, and the late Republican Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg urged young Ford to run for Congress. Vandenberg, who was an internationalist, wanted to oust the isolationist Republican congressman from the Grand Rapids area district, Bartel Jonkman. Ford won the primary by more than 9,000 votes and went on to an easy victory. At this stage his basic political basic outlook was influenced by Wendell Willkie, by service in World War II, and by hostility to the dominant local machine. Ford ran as a minority reformer. Ford's view of himself as a minority reformer willing to stand up and oppose what he saw as corruption.[3]
In 1949, the year he entered Congress, Ford was selected by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of the country's ten outstanding young men. Ford's rise in the House was steady, assured by his repeated reelection from the strongly Republican district in a conservative region.
After two years in the House, Ford won a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and soon became the top Republican on its defense subcommittee. He became an expert on defense and military affairs and emerged as a strong anti-Soviet hawk in the Cold War years. Ford headed a group of 15 House Republicans who produced an exhaustive study endorsing the Cold War policies of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
House leader
In 1961, Ford became chairman of the House Republican Conference, making him the third most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives.
In 1963 Ford took over as chairman of the House Republican caucus. Two years later, with the help of young turk House colleagues Melvin Laird of Wisconsin, Robert Griffin of Michigan, and Charles Goodell of New York, Ford became House minority leader by ousting the current Leader Charles Halleck of Indiana by a 73-67 vote. His weekly press conferences with Everett Dirksen, the GOP Senate leader, made them the national voice of the Republican party. In 1963 was appointed by the new president Lyndon B. Johnson to the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He supported Kennedy and Johnson's involvement in the Vietnam War.
Domestically, he was consistently conservative, and led the fight against Johnson's Great Society. As long as the Conservative Coalition was intact he usually won; Johnson's landslide in 1964 over Barry Goldwater brought in scores of new Democrats and opened the door for liberal legislation and Ford was usually on the losing side. Ford's conservatism was endorsed by the voters in 1966, as the New Deal Coalition started unraveling because of voter disgust with Johnson's inept handling of the Vietnam war and the violent outbreaks in large American cities.
Ideologically Ford was flexible. He once described himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy." Ford had a good television persona, which he needed as the main spokesman for his party. He showed a knack for wooing more liberal congressmen, especially within his own party. His easygoing amiability made him widely popular. Ford had harbored only one further ambition - to become speaker of the House - but he became discouraged when the Republican Party could not gain a majority.
Vice Presidency
On October 10, 1973, Richard Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew resigned for office after pleading no contest to failure to report income from illegal bribes. Nixon chose Ford as his replacement and he was confirmed by Congress. During that period the Watergate affair escalated, destroying Nixon's p[olitical base in public opinion and within the GOP. Loyally Ford defended Nixon until he learned that Nixon was indeed guilty. On August 9th 1974 Nixon resigned from the Presidency and Ford took over.
Presidency (1974-1977)
Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office as President of the United States on August 9, 1974. Responding to the Watergate affair, he focused his inaugural address on integrity.
"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. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many.
If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman--my dear wife--as I begin this very difficult job.
My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."[4]
Ford kept some of the original cabinet members from Nixon's Presidency, such as Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. However, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Attorney General would resign. He announced liberal Republican New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President. He was confirmed in December 1974, although some - including Senator Barry Goldwater - voted against him. [5] Two of Ford's biggest decisions in his first month in office was when he granted a full presidential pardon to Richard Nixon, which prevented any legal action against the former President, and when he gave amnesty to all Vietnam draft evaders.
The economy was a major concern during the Ford administration. When taking office, Inflation was in the double digits, unemployment was rising and the gross national product was in decline. [6] Ford proposed a tight lid of $300 billion on the federal budget and asked for a $5 billion surtax on corporations and those in the higher income bracket. These were part of his "whip inflation now" policies. He did not have an easy time on Capital Hill with the Democratic-Congress. Sixty-six times he exercised his veto power. According to Congressional Quarterly, Ford won only 58 percent of congressional votes that he took a position on, the lowest level of support from any President. Therefore, Ford's inflation policies went no were.
Oil prices were also a major concern. Congress turned down Ford's proposals for phasing out the federal ceilings on the price of most domestic oil. Senate Majority Whip Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) explained the Democrats refusing of Ford's plans, saying, "After all, he doesn't have a national constituency, his is an inherited Presidency." Ford and Congressional Democrats finally reached a compromise with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. "Half a loaf was better then none, so I decided to sign it" Ford would later write. Under matters of foreign policy, the Cold War was a significant issue. On November 23, 1974, President Ford and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev reached an agreement by signing the SALT treaty, which froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels. Being sworn into office just after the Vietnam War, Ford proposed emergency funds for South Vietnam, however, Congress rejected it, and Vietnam fell to Communist forces. [7]
Gerald Ford was the subject of two unsuccessful assassination attempts. One in Sacramento, California on September 5, 1975. by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Then in San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore pointed a pistol at him, and just before firing a former Marine grabed the gun. Both were sentenced to life in Prison. However, Moore was paroled on December 31, 2007. [8]
In terms of the Judiciary, Ford nominated Circuit Judge John Paul Stevens as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1975 to replace Justice William O. Douglas, who had recently retired. He was confirmed in December by a 98-0 vote in the Senate.
1976 Reelection Campaign
Main article: United States presidential election, 1976
Determined to win a term of his own, In 1976 President Ford defeated conservative California Governor Ronald Reagan in a long, hard-fought Republican Primary. His Democrat opponent in the general election was Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia. Beneficial to Ford, the economy was improving and inflation was being reduced. He portrayed himself as a post-Watergate healer. Although Carter was expected to win easily, Ford almost wiped out his lead by the end of the campaign. Carter won on November 2nd, narrowly defeating Ford 50%-48%. Carter payed tribute to Ford in his inaugural address.
"For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."
Post-Presidency
Ford remained active in politics after his Presidency through lecturers at hundreds of colleges and universities over current issues. There was serious consideration in 1980 that Ronald Reagan would select Ford as his Vice Presidential running mate. However Reagan instead chose George H.W. Bush. Ford attended the annual Public Policy Week Conferences of the American Enterprise Institute, and in 1982 established the AEI World Forum, which was a gathering of international former and current world leaders to discuss political and business policies. On August 11, 1999, then-President Bill Clinton awarded Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor. [9] In 2001, Ford was also awarded the Profiles in Courage Award. After the 2000 Presidential election, he and his former rival Jimmy Carter co-chaired the National Commission on Federal Election Reform. [10]
President Ford died on December 26, 2006 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California due to arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease. Ford was 93 years old. President Ford's body was taken to Eisenhower Medical Center where it remained until the start of State Funeral Services.
Trivia
- The 1976 Presidential Election was the only campaign Gerald Ford has ever lost.
- Gerald Ford is the only President to serve in office with out having been elected to the Presidency or Vice Presidency.
- Ford was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, living to age 93.
See Also
Gerald Ford's 1976 Republican National Convention Speech
External links
References
- ↑ http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060301.htm
- ↑ Maryanne Borrelli, "Competing Conceptions of the First Ladyship: Public Responses to Betty Ford's 60 Minutes Interview." Presidential Studies Quarterly 2001 31(3): 397-414. ISSN 0360-4918.
- ↑ William A. Syers, "The Political Beginnings of Gerald R. Ford: Anti-bossism, Internationalism, and the Congressional Campaign of 1948." Presidential Studies Quarterly 1990 20(1): 127-142. ISSN 0360-4918.
- ↑ http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/speeches/740001.htm
- ↑ http://205.188.238.109/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917422,00.html
- ↑ [Henry F. Graff, The Presidents, Pg. 538]
- ↑ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/38_ford/index.html
- ↑ http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=4900159
- ↑ http://www.ford.utexas.edu/avproj/post-presidential.asp
- ↑ http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/grf/timeline.asp#post
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