Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( / ˈdʒɛrəld / JERR-əld; [1] born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He previously served as the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1973, when he was ...
- Richard Nixon
- Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford, in full Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., original name Leslie Lynch King, Jr., (born July 14, 1913, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.—died December 26, 2006, Rancho Mirage, California), 38th president of the United States (1974–77), who, as 40th vice president, had succeeded to the presidency on the resignation of President Richard Nixon, under the process decreed by the Twenty-fifth Amendment ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Early Years and Congressional Career
- An Unexpected Presidency
- The Nixon Pardon
- Post-White House Years
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 14, 1913. His name at birth was Leslie Lynch King Jr., after his biological father. His mother, Dorothy, divorced King when her son was a baby and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. She then married Gerald R. Ford, a successful paint salesman who adopted her young son. Ford recalled in his ...
The unusual chain of events that lifted Ford to the Oval Office began in 1972 when operatives connected to President Richard Nixon’s (1913-1994) re-election campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. A number of high-ranking Nixon administration officials knew about the break-in, ...
Shortly after taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as president. The presidential pardon meant that Nixon would never have to face criminal charges over his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Ford’s decision generated a swirl of controversy. Millions of Americans wanted to see the disgraced former president bro...
Ford understood that his decision to pardon Nixon could have political consequences, and it probably cost him the presidency in 1976. That year, he lost a close election to Democrat Jimmy Carter(1924-). Ford took the loss in stride, however, telling friends that he had planned to retire from Congress that year anyway. He viewed his brief tenure in ...
Presidency of Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford 's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon from office, and ended on January 20, 1977, a period of 895 days. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had served as vice president since December 6, 1973, following Spiro Agnew 's resignation ...
When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974 as our 38th President, he declared, “I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances…This is an hour of history that ...