Gerald Rudolph Ford (1913-2006)/biography

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (, –, ) was the 38th  (1974–1977), and has been the only person to occupy that office who had been elected neither to the presidency nor the. Ford was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the, and, after serving as the 40th Vice President (1973–1974) of the for less than a year, became President upon 's resignation. Prior to 1973, he served for over eight years as the  of the ; he was first elected to Congress in 1948 from.

In foreign policy, the marked a move toward  in the, even as the former ally  was invaded and conquered by ; Ford did not intervene, but did help extract friends of the U.S. At home, the economy suffered from  and. Ford came under intense criticism for granting a preemptive to President  for his role in the. In, Ford narrowly defeated for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the presidential election to.

After experiencing health troubles and being admitted to hospital four times in 2006, Ford on  of that year, aged 93.

Childhood
Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on, at 12:43 a.m. , at  in ,. His parents,, a wool trader whose father was a prominent banker, and his wife, the former , separated 16 days after his birth. His mother took him to the, home of her sister Tannisse and her husband, Clarence Haskins James. From there she moved to the home of her parents, and his wife, the former, in ,. Ford's parents divorced the following December, the mother gaining full custody.

Gerald Ford later said his biological father was and had a history of hitting his mother. James M. Cannon, who was the executive director of the domestic council during the Ford administration, wrote in a biography of the former president that the Kings' separation and divorce was sparked when, a few days after Ford's birth, Leslie King, Sr. threatened his wife, Dorothy, with a butcher knife and announced his intention to kill her, the baby, and the baby's nursemaid. His first abusive action, according to Ford, occurred on the couple's honeymoon, when King hit his wife for smiling at another man.

On, , now settled in Grand Rapids, Dorothy King married , a salesman in a family-owned paint and varnish company who later became president of the firm. She began calling her son Gerald Rudolff Ford, Jr. The future president was never formally, however, and he did not legally change his name until , ; he also used a more conventional spelling of his middle name. He was raised in with his three half-brothers by his mother's second marriage: Thomas Gardner Ford (1918–1995), Richard Addison Ford (born 1924), and James Francis Ford (1927–2001). He also had three half-siblings by his father's second marriage: Marjorie King (1921–1993), Leslie Henry King, Sr. (1923–1976), and Patricia Jane King (born 1925).

Ford was not aware of his biological parentage until he was 17, when his parents told him about the circumstances of his birth. That same year his biological father, whom he described as a "carefree, well-to-do man", approached Ford while he was waiting tables in a Grand Rapids restaurant. The two "maintained a sporadic contact" until Leslie King, Sr.'s death, but Ford maintained his distance emotionally, saying, "My stepfather was a magnificent person and my mother equally wonderful. So I couldn't have written a better prescription for a superb family upbringing."

Ford joined the, and attained that program's highest rank,. He always regarded this as one of his proudest accomplishments, even after attaining the. In subsequent years, Ford received the in May 1970 and  from the Boy Scouts of America. He is the only US president who was an Eagle Scout. was so important to Ford that his family asked that Scouts participate in his funeral. About 400 Eagle Scouts were part of the funeral procession, where they formed an honor guard as the casket went by in front of the museum, and served as ushers.

Sports
Ford attended Grand Rapids South High School and was a star athlete and of his  team. In 1930, he was selected to the All-City team of the. He also attracted the attention of college recruiters.

Attending the as an undergraduate, Ford played  and  for the school’s football team and helped the  to undefeated seasons and  in 1932 and 1933. The team suffered a steep decline in his 1934 senior year, however, winning only one game. Ford was the team’s star nonetheless, and after a game during which Michigan held heavily favored (the eventual national champion) to a scoreless tie in the first half, assistant coach  later said, “When I walked into the dressing room at half time, I had tears in my eyes I was so proud of them. Ford and [Cedric] Sweet played their hearts out. They were everywhere on defense.” Ford himself later recalled, “During 25 years in the rough-and-tumble world of politics, I often thought of the experiences before, during, and after that game in 1934. Remembering them has helped me many times to face a tough situation, take action, and make every effort possible despite adverse odds.” His teammates later voted Ford their most valuable player, with one assistant coach noting, “They felt Jerry was one guy who would stay and fight in a losing cause.”

During the same season, in a game against the, Ford “became the only future U.S. president to tackle a future winner when he brought down running back , who would win the first Heisman the following year.” In 1934 Gerald Ford was selected for the Eastern Team on the Shriner’s East West Crippled Children game at San Francisco (a benefit for crippled children), played on.

As part of the 1935 Collegiate All-Star football team, Ford played against the in an exhibition game at. The University of Michigan retired Ford's #48 in 1994.

At Michigan, Ford became a member of the fraternity and washed dishes at his fraternity house to earn money for college expenses. Following his graduation in 1935 with a degree in and, he turned down contract offers from the  and  of the  in order to take a coaching position at  and apply to its law school. Each team was offering him a contract of $200 a game, but he wanted a legal education. Ford continued to contribute to football and boxing, accepting an assistant coaching job for both at Yale in September 1935.

Ford retained his interest in football and his alma mater, asking on one occasion to be awakened to find out the score of an Ohio State-Michigan football game while attending a summit in the Soviet Union. Ohio State won 12-10. As president, he was known to attend football practice from time to time.

Law
Ford hoped to attend Yale's law school beginning in 1935 while serving as boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach, but Yale officials initially denied his admission to the law school, because of his full-time coaching responsibilities. He spent the summer of 1937 as a student at the and was eventually admitted in the spring of 1938 to Yale Law School. Ford earned his LL.B. degree in 1941 (later amended to ), graduating in the top 25 percent of his class. His introduction to politics came in the summer of 1940 when he worked in Wendell Willkie's presidential campaign. While attending, he joined a group of students led by R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., and signed a petition to enforce the 1939. The petition was circulated nationally and was the inspiration for the, a group determined to keep the U.S. out of. Ford's position on U.S. involvement in the war would soon change.

Ford graduated from law school in 1941, and was admitted to the Michigan shortly thereafter. In May 1941, he opened a Grand Rapids law practice with a friend, Philip Buchen, who would later serve as Ford's White House counsel. But overseas developments caused a change in plans, and Ford responded to the by enlisting in the Navy.

Naval service in World War II
Ford received a commission as in the  on,. On, he reported for active duty to the V-5 instructor school at ,. After one month of training, he went to Navy Preflight School in, , 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 on, , and to  in March 1943. Applying for sea duty, Ford was sent in May 1943 to the pre-commissioning detachment for the new aircraft carrier, at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, ,. From the ship's commissioning on, 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 carrier participated in many actions in the with the  and  during the fall of 1943 and in 1944. In 1943, the carrier helped secure in the Gilberts, and participated in carrier strikes against, New Ireland in 1943. During the spring of 1944, the Monterey supported landings at and  and participated in carrier strikes in the, , and northern , as well as in the. After overhaul, from September to November 1944, aircraft from the Monterey launched strikes against, participated in strikes in the Philippines and , and supported the landings at and.

Although the ship was not damaged by forces, the Monterey was one of several ships damaged by the  that hit  's Third Fleet on. The Third Fleet lost three s 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 on the hanger deck. During the storm, Ford narrowly avoided becoming a casualty himself. After he left his battle station on the bridge of the ship in the early morning of, 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 he 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 on  before proceeding across the Pacific to,  where it underwent repairs. On, at Ulithi, Ford was detached from the ship and sent to the Athletic Department of the Navy Pre-Flight School at , where he was assigned to the Athletic Department until April 1945. One of his duties was to coach football. From the end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command, as the Staff Physical and Military Training Officer. On, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. In January 1946, he was sent to the Separation Center, to be processed out. He was released from active duty under honorable conditions on,. On, , the accepted Ford's resignation from the Naval Reserve.

For his naval service, Gerald Ford earned the with nine engagement stars for operations in the, , , Asiatic and Pacific carrier raids, , Marianas, Western Carolines, Western New Guinea, and the Leyte Operation. He also received the with two bronze stars for Leyte and Mindoro, as well as the  and  medals.

Marriage and children
On, , at Grace in Grand Rapids, Ford married , a department store fashion consultant. Warren had been a fashion model and a dancer in the auxiliary troupe of the  Dance Company. She had previously been married to and divorced from William G. Warren.

At the time of his engagement, Ford was campaigning for what would be his first of thirteen terms as a member of the. The wedding was delayed until shortly before the elections because, as reported in a 1974 profile of Betty Ford, "Jerry was running for Congress and wasn't sure how voters might feel about his marrying a divorced ex-dancer."

The Fords had four children:
 * , born in 1950
 * , known as Jack, born in 1952
 * , born in 1956
 * , born in 1957

Organizations
Gerald R. Ford was initiated into on, , in Malta Lodge No. 465, Grand Rapids, along with his brothers Thomas Gardner Ford, Richard Addison Ford and James Francis Ford. In 1959, he became a, joining the Saladin Shrine Temple in Grand Rapids. Three years later, Ford was made a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33°, and Honorary Member, Supreme Council A.A.S.R. Northern Jurisdiction at the Academy of Music in, on , , for which he served as Exemplar (Representative) for his class.

President Ford's personal opinions about Freemasonry can be found preserved in a speech he gave at the Unveiling Ceremony at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial,, , ,. "When I took my obligation as a master mason — incidentally, with my three younger brothers — I recalled the value my own father attached to that order. But I had no idea that I would ever be added to the company of the Father of our Country and 12 other members of the order who also served as Presidents of the United States." About one-third of the have been.

Gerald Ford was also a member of several other civic organizations. These included the, , and.

House of Representatives
Following his return from the war, Ford became active in local Republican politics. Grand Rapids supporters urged him to take on, the incumbent Republican congressman. Ford had changed his view of the world 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 . And I thought he ought to be replaced. Nobody thought I could win. I ended up winning two to one." During his first campaign in, Ford visited s and promised he would work on their farms and milk the cows if elected&mdash;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 seat from 1949 to 1973. It was a tenure largely notable for its modesty. As an editorial in  described him, Ford "saw himself as a negotiator and a reconciler, and the record shows it: he did not write a single piece of major legislation in his entire career." Appointed to the two years after being elected, he was a prominent member of the. Ford described his philosophy as "a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a in fiscal policy."

In November 1963, President appointed Ford to the, a special task force set up to investigate the  of President. Ford was assigned to prepare a biography of, the accused assassin. In 1997 the (ARRB) released a document that revealed that Ford had altered the first draft of the report to read: "A bullet had entered the base of the back of [Kennedy's] neck slightly to the right of the spine." Some believed that Ford had elevated the location of the wound from its true location in the back to the neck to support the single bullet theory. The original first draft of the Warren Commission Report stated that a bullet had entered Kennedy's "back at a point slightly above the and to the right of the ." Ford replied in an introduction to a new edition of the Warren Commission Report in 2004: "I have been accused of changing some wording on the Warren Commission Report to favor the lone-assassin conclusion. That is absurd. Here is what the draft said: 'A bullet had entered his back at a point slightly above the shoulder and to the right of the spine.” To any reasonable person, “above the shoulder and to the right” sounds very high and way off the side — and that’s what it sounded like to me. That would have given the totally wrong impression. Technically, from a medical perspective, the bullet entered just to the right at the base of the neck, so my recommendation to the other members was to change it to say, “A bullet had entered the back of his neck, slightly to the right of the spine.” After further investigation, we then unanimously agreed that it should read, “A bullet had entered the base of his neck slightly to the right of the spine.” As with any report, there were many clarifications and language changes suggested by several of us." Ford's description matched a drawing prepared for the Commission under the direction of Dr. James J. Humes, supervisor of Kennedy's autopsy, who in his testimony to the Commission said three times that the entrance wound was in the "low neck." The Commission was not shown the autopsy photographs. The Commission's work continues to be debated in the public arena.

In 1965, Republican members of the House elected Ford as its. 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 "" programs as being unneeded or wasteful, and for his criticism of the President's handling of the. As Minority Leader in the House, Ford appeared in a popular series of televised s with famed Senator, in which they proposed Republican alternatives to Johnson's policies. Many in the press jokingly called this "The Ev and Jerry Show". Johnson said of Ford at the time, "That Gerald Ford. He can't fart and chew gum at the same time." The press, used to sanitizing LBJ's salty language, reported this as "Gerald Ford can't walk and chew gum at the same time."

In 1970, Ford led the unsuccessful effort to, an  on the , for "moonlighting" for private clients.

Vice Presidency, 1973–74
On, ,  resigned and then pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part of a negotiated resolution to a scheme wherein he accepted $29,500 in bribes during his tenure as governor of Maryland. According to , "Nixon sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement. The advice was unanimous. 'We gave Nixon no choice but Ford,'   recalled later".

Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on, the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the had been implemented. The voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on, and on , 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 and allegations of cover-ups within the. Ford said little about the, although he privately expressed his personal disappointment in the President's conduct.

Following Ford's appointment, the Watergate investigation continued until  contacted Ford on, , and told him that "" evidence had been found. The evidence left little doubt that President Nixon had been a part of the Watergate cover-up. At the time, Ford and his wife, Betty, were living in suburban Virginia, waiting for their expected move into the newly designated in  However, "Al Haig [asked] to come over and see me," Ford later related, "to tell me that there would be a new  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, I don't think we're ever going to live in the vice president's house.'"

Accession
When Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on, , Ford assumed the presidency. Immediately after taking the oath of office in the of the, 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 Ford nominated former  Governor  to fill the vice presidency he had vacated. Rockefeller was confirmed by the House and Senate.

Nixon pardon
On, , Ford issued , which gave Nixon a full and unconditional for any crimes he may have committed against the United States 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 a 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 program for Vietnam War s who had fled to countries such as. 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 "" had been struck between the men. They claimed Ford's pardon was  in exchange for Nixon's resignation that elevated Ford to the Presidency. Nixon's Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, did in fact offer a deal to Ford. , in his book Shadow, recounts that Haig entered Ford's office on, 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, an observation with which Ford concurred. In an editorial at the time,  stated that the Nixon pardon was "a profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence."

Ford's first press secretary and close friend resigned his post in protest after the announcement of President Nixon's full pardon. Ford also voluntarily appeared before on,  to give sworn testimony&mdash;the only time a sitting president has done so&mdash;about the pardon.

After Ford left the White House in 1977, intimates said that the former President privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of , a 1915 decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt. In 2001, the awarded the   to Ford for his pardon of Nixon.

Administration and cabinet
Upon assuming office, Ford inherited the Nixon selected during his tenure in office. Over the course of Ford's relatively brief administration, only  and   remained. Ford appointed as, the second  to serve in a presidential cabinet (after ) and the first appointed in a Republican administration.

Other cabinet-level posts:


 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1977)
 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1977)
 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1977)
 * (1974-1977)
 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1976)
 * (1976-1977)
 * (1974-1977)
 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1976)
 * (1976-1977)
 * (1976-1977)

Other important posts:


 * (1974-1975)
 * (1975-1977)
 * (1974-1976)
 * (1976-1977)
 * (1974-1976)
 * (1976-1977)

Ford selected to be his  to the  in 1974 and then  of the  in late 1975.

Ford's transition chairman and first Chief of Staff was former congressman and ambassador. In 1975, Rumsfeld was named by Ford as the youngest-ever. Ford chose a young politician,, to replace Rumsfeld as his new Chief of Staff and later  for Ford's. Ford's dramatic reorganization of his Cabinet in the fall of 1975 has been referred to by political commentators as The "."

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, taking 49 seats from the Republican Party, and increasing their majority to 291 of the 435 seats, which was one more than the number needed (290) for a 2/3rds majority, necessary in order to over-ride a Presidential (or to submit a Constitutional Amendment). Perhaps due in part to this fact, the overrode the highest percentage of vetoes since  was President of the United States (1865–1869). Even Ford's old, reliably Republican seat was taken by Democrat. In the, the Democratic majority became 61 in the 100-seat body.

Domestic policy
The was a great concern during the Ford administration. In response to rising, 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 "" buttons. In hindsight, this was viewed as simply a  without offering any effective means of solving the underlying problems. At the time, inflation was approximately seven percent.

The economic focus began to change as the country sank into a mild, and in March 1975, Congress passed and Ford signed into law rebates as part of the  to boost the economy. When faced  in 1975,   was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. The incident prompted the ' notorious headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead."

Ford was confronted with a potential. Sometime in the early 1970s, an strain  shifted from a form of flu that affected primarily pigs and crossed over to humans. On, , an recruit at  mysteriously died and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized;  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. Although the vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, some 25% of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was canceled in December of that year. The vaccine was blamed for twenty-five deaths; more people died from the shots than from the swine flu.

Despite his reservations about how this program ultimately would be funded in an era of tight public budgeting, Ford still signed the of 1975, which established special education throughout the United States. Ford expressed "strong support for full educational opportunities for our handicapped children" according to the official White House press release for the bill signing.

Ford was an outspoken supporter of the, issuing Presidential Proclamation 4383. In this Land of the Free, it is right, and by nature it ought to be, that all men and all women are equal before the law.

Now, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States of America, to remind all Americans that it is fitting and just to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment adopted by the Congress of the United States of America, in order to secure legal equality for all women and men, do hereby designate and proclaim, , as Women's Equality Day.

As president, Ford's position on abortion was that he supported "a federal constitutional amendment that would permit each one of the 50 States to make the choice." This had also been his position as House Minority Leader in response to the 1973 Supreme Court case of , which he opposed. Ford came under criticism for a interview his wife Betty gave in 1975, in which she stated that Roe v. Wade was a "great, great decision." In later life, Ford would identify as.

Foreign policy
All U.S. military forces had withdrawn from Vietnam in 1973. As the North Vietnamese invaded and conquered the South in 1975, Ford ordered the final withdrawal of U.S. civilians from in '', and the subsequent. On and the morning of, , the U.S. embassy in  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 helicopters to  ships off-shore.

Ford continued the policy with both the  and China, easing the tensions of the Cold War. In his meeting with n president, Ford gave the green light through arms and aid to invade the former  colony.

Still in place from the Nixon Administration was the (SALT). The thawing relationship brought about by Nixon's 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, an independent created to monitor compliance that later evolved into.

Ford also faced a foreign policy crisis with the. In May 1975, shortly after the took power in, Cambodians seized the American merchant ship Mayaguez in international waters. Ford dispatched 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, forty-one U.S. servicemen were killed and fifty wounded while approximately sixty Khmer Rouge soldiers were killed.

Ford attended the inaugural meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations (initially the G5) in 1975 and secured membership for Canada. Ford supported international solutions to issues. "We live in an interdependent world and, therefore, must work together to resolve common economic problems," he said in a 1974 speech.

Assassination attempts
Ford faced two s during his presidency, occurring within three weeks of each other: while in, on , , , a follower of , pointed a -caliber  at Ford. As Fromme pulled the trigger,, a Secret Service agent, grabbed the gun and managed to insert the webbing of his thumb under the hammer, preventing the gun from firing. It was later found that, although the gun was loaded with four cartridges, it was a and the slide had not been pulled to place a round 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,, also tried to kill Ford while he was visiting , but her attempt was thwarted when former Marine 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 as  to replace retiring Justice. Stevens had been a judge of the, 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 wing regarding the outcome of many key issues. Nevertheless, President Ford paid tribute to 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 he had to counter a challenge for the Republican party nomination. Then-former  and the party's  wing faulted Ford for failing to do more in, for signing the Helsinki Accords and for negotiating to cede the  (negotiations for the canal continued under President Carter, who eventually signed the ). Reagan launched his campaign in the autumn of 1975 and won several before withdrawing from the race at the  in,. The conservative insurgency convinced Ford to drop the more Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in favor of  Senator.

In addition to the pardon dispute and lingering anti-Republican sentiment, Ford had to counter a plethora of negative media imagery. often did s on , 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."

President Ford's 1976 election campaign had the advantage that he was an incumbent President during several anniversary events held during the period leading up to the. The Washington, D.C. display on the  was presided over by the President and televised nationally. On, , the President and First Lady served as proud hosts at a White House state dinner for and  of Great Britain, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service network. The 200th anniversary of the in Massachusetts gave Ford the opportunity to deliver a speech to 110,000 in Concord acknowledging the need for a strong national defense tempered with a plea for "reconciliation, not recrimination" and "reconstruction, not rancor" between the United States and those who would pose "threats to peace." Speaking in New Hampshire on the previous day, Ford condemned the growing trend toward big government bureaucracy and argued for a return to "basic American virtues."

Democratic nominee and former  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.

were reintroduced for the first time since the. 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 and there never will be under a Ford Administration." Ford also said that he did not "believe that the consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union." In an interview years later, Ford said he had intended to imply that the Soviets would never crush the spirits of eastern Europeans seeking independence. However, the phrasing was so awkward that questioner was visibly incredulous at the response.

In the end, Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 s compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral votes for Ford. The election was close enough that had fewer than 25,000 votes shifted in and  – both of which neighbored his home state – Ford would have won the electoral vote. 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. In fact, the the day before the election showed Ford held a statistically insignificant 1-point advantage over Carter.

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

An article published in  shortly after Ford's death in 2006 discussed the former President's spiritual beliefs and cited evidence that Ford's preference not to openly express his Episcopalian faith in public contributed to his loss to former Sunday School teacher Jimmy Carter. Ford's lowest level of support was in the states of the  (Carter won every Southern state that year except ). The 1976 election was arguably the last time to date that the Republican Presidential candidate could be considered the less conservative candidate relative to his Democratic opponent. While Ford's views on were often ambiguous, he is often considered the last Republican President to hold  views.

Activity
The pardon controversy eventually subsided. Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, opened his 1977 by praising the outgoing President, saying "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."

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. In 1977, he reluctantly agreed to be interviewed by James M. Naughton, a New York Times journalist who was given the assignment to write the former President's advance obituary, an article that would be updated prior to its eventual publication.

During the term of office of his successor, Jimmy Carter, Ford received monthly briefs by President Carter’s senior staff on international and domestic issues, and was always invited to lunch at the White House whenever he was in Washington, D.C. However, a close friendship with Carter developed only after Carter had left office, with the catalyst being their trip together to the funeral of in 1981. Until Ford's death, Carter and his wife,, visited the Fords' home frequently. In 2001, Ford and Carter served as honorary co-chairs of the.

Like Presidents Carter, Bush Senior and, Ford was an honorary co-chair of the , a group dedicated to excellence in government performance and which provides leadership training to top federal employees.

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 in  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 as Secretary of State and  as Treasury Secretary). After rejecting these terms, Reagan offered the vice-presidential nomination instead to George H. W. Bush.

In 1977, he established the at  in,. This institute is designed to give undergraduates training in public policy. In 1981, he opened the in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Library in,. In 1999, Ford was awarded the by Bill Clinton. In 2001, he was presented with the John F. Kennedy 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, often playing both privately and in public events with comedian , a longtime friend.

On, , in an article by Deb Price, a columnist with the , Ford broke with conservative members of the Republican party by stating that gay and lesbian couples "ought to be treated equally. Period." He became the highest ranking Republican to embrace full equality for gays and lesbians, stating his belief that there should be a federal amendment outlawing anti-gay job discrimination and expressed his hope that the Republican Party would reach out to gay and lesbian voters. He also was a member of the Republican Unity Coalition, which  described as "a group of prominent Republicans, including former President Gerald R. Ford, dedicated to making sexual orientation a nonissue in the Republican Party."

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

In a prerecorded with  of  in July 2004, Ford stated that he disagreed "very strongly" with the Bush administration's choice of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction as justification for its decision to, calling it a "big mistake" unrelated to the national security of the United States and indicating that he would not have gone to war had he been President. The details of the interview were not released until after Ford's death, as he requested.

Health problems
As Ford approached his ninetieth year, he began to experience significant health problems associated with old age. He suffered two minor s at the, but made a quick recovery. In January 2006, he spent 11 days at the near his residence at, , for treatment of. On, President George W. Bush visited Ford at his home in Rancho Mirage for a little over an hour. This was Ford's last public appearance and produced the last known public photos, video footage and voice recording. While vacationing in, , he was hospitalized for two days in July, 2006 for shortness of breath. On Ford was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital of the  in,  for testing and evaluation. On, it was reported that he had been fitted with a. On, he underwent an procedure at the Mayo Clinic, according to a statement from an assistant to Ford. On, Ford was released from the hospital and returned with his wife Betty to their California home. On, he was scheduled to attend the dedication of a building of his namesake, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, but due to poor health and on the advice of his doctors he did not attend, much to his personal disappointment. The previous day, on, however, Ford entered the hospital yet again for undisclosed tests at the Eisenhower Medical Center; he was released on. As a result of his frail health it was announced on that Ford was considering selling his home near Vail due to the uncertainty as to whether he would be able to return. Those that saw him during the last five months of his life said that he looked frailer than ever and that it appeared his body was slowly failing him, and by November 2006 he was confined to a hospital bed in his study. On, upon surpassing Ronald Reagan to become the longest lived president in US history he released his last public statement:

Longevity

 * On, , Ford became the , surpassing Ronald Reagan. At the time of his death, he had outlived President Reagan by 45 days.


 * Ford was the at the age of 93. The two oldest were, 98, and , 96.


 * Ford died on the 34th anniversary of President 's death, the second U.S. President to die on, which Ford's pastor, The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain, noted when he referred to as its traditional Christian reference,.


 * Ford had the (29 years and 11 months) after  (31 years and 7 months).


 * Ford was the last surviving member of the.


 * Ford is one of only four former Presidents to live to 90 or more years of age. The others are Ronald Reagan (93), (90) and  (90).

Death
Ford died at the age of 93 years and 165 days on, at 6:45 p.m  (02:45, , ) at his home in ,  of  arteriosclerotic  and diffuse.

On, , the Robert Certain of St. Margaret's  went to the Ford home and performed a communion service. The former president, though too weak to stand, was alert and participated in the brief rite, which included a formal prayer for the sick. With their father's health failing, all four of Gerald and Betty Ford's children visited their parents' home shortly before to say goodbye. Mrs. Ford and their three sons, who had celebrated Christmas the day before at home, were at Ford's bedside when he died. The couple's daughter, Susan, had returned to, , the day before Christmas to spend the holiday with her family. No local clergy were present but Ford's eldest son, Michael, is an minister and he performed.

At 8:49 p.m., Ford's wife, Betty, issued a statement that confirmed his death: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, has died at 93 years of age. His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country." The statement was released from the, where Gerald Ford's body had been taken and remained until the start of the funeral services on ,.

On, , Ford became the 11th to. The burial was preceded by a state funeral and memorial services held at the in Washington, D.C. on,. Ford was by former President George H. W. Bush, former , former    and current President George W. Bush. On, , the  reported that, at Ford's request, former President Jimmy Carter would deliver a eulogy. Decades ago, "Mr. Ford asked whether his successor might consider speaking at his funeral and offered, lightheartedly, to do the same for Mr. Carter, depending on who died first". Carter did not actually speak at the state funeral, though he did speak at the funeral service at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids on,. Ford was also eulogized by Donald Rumsfeld, who was Ford's Chief of Staff, and Richard Norton Smith, Presidential historian. The invitation-only list of attendees included Vice President Dick Cheney, Michigan Gov., and U.S. Senators from Michigan and. After the service, Ford was interred at his in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Published works

 * First State of the Union Address.
 * Second State of the Union Address.
 * Third State of the Union Address.
 * Third State of the Union Address.

Libraries and museums

 * Gerald R. Ford Foundation.
 * Ford Library and Museum.
 * National Archives materials.
 * Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies in President Ford's hometown.

Biographies

 * Extensive essay on Gerald Ford and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
 * White House biography
 * Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies
 * Brief biography of Gerald Ford
 * Collection of photographs of President Ford's homes throughout his life
 * Spartacus Educational Biography
 * Medical history of Gerald Ford
 * Medical history of Gerald Ford

Obituaries

 * @ Seattle Times
 * @
 * @ The Boston Globe

Multimedia and other

 * Audio recordings of Ford's speeches
 * "Gerald Ford in the news" - Articles from media around the world regarding Gerald Ford
 * April 23, 2006, Gerald Ford's visit with George W. Bush, the last known public photos, video footage and voice recording taken of Ford alive
 * Gerald R. Ford: His Life and Presidency, . New York Times/Associated Press multimedia (registration required)
 * Gerald R. Gerald R. Ford State Funeral, . Photo Gallery of the State Funeral at the U.S. Capitol Building
 * ABC News Special Report - Announcement of President Ford's death.