President Gerald R. Ford

1913-2006

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United States President Gerald R. Ford works in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., in March of 1975.

December 27, 2006

The nation’s 38th President, Gerald R. Ford, died on Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 93.

President George W. Bush ordered U.S. flags at all federal government buildings to fly at half-staff for 30 days to honor Ford. A state funeral—one of several services—will be held in the Capitol Rotunda on Saturday.

"The nation's appreciation for the contributions that President Ford made throughout his long and well-lived life are more than we could ever have anticipated," said Betty Ford, President Ford's widow.

Gerald Ford served as President from 1974 until 1977. He was the only President never elected to the office.

Then-President Richard Nixon appointed Ford to serve as his Vice President in 1973. Vice President Spiro Agnew had been forced to resign for tax evasion. Less than a year later, Nixon also resigned to avoid impeachment proceedings related to the Watergate scandal. Watergate was the name of the biggest political scandal in United States history. It included various illegal activities designed to help President Richard M. Nixon win reelection in 1972.

At the time of his appointment as Vice President, Ford was Republican leader of the House of Representatives. He was in his 13th term of office as the Representative from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

His first major act as President was to pardon Nixon for any possible criminal charges he might have faced. In his most famous speech as President, Ford told Americans he hoped the pardon would “shut and seal this book” on Watergate. Granting the pardon meant that “our long national nightmare is over,” he said.

"It was a tough decision," Ford said in an interview in 2000. "We needed to get the matter off my desk. . . . so I could concentrate on the problems of 260 million Americans and not have to worry about the problems of one man."

Years later, in 2001, Ford received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for his unpopular decision. The award honors elected officials for their courageous—but politically costly—decisions.

When presenting the award, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) called the pardon, "an extraordinary act of courage that historians recognize was truly in the national interest."

Ford’s administration still wields power in Washington. Current Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld served in his administration. Cheney was Ford’s Chief of Staff. Rumsfeld served in the Cabinet as Secretary of Defense—a job he also held under current President George W. Bush.

Looking Back

Ford was born Leslie Lynch King on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents divorced when he was 2. After moving to Michigan, his mother remarried, and he was adopted by his stepfather, Gerald Rudolph Ford.

Ford attended the University of Michigan, where he played on the football team. He served in the Navy during World War II. As one of the most respected members of Congress, he served on the Warren Commission, which investigated the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy.

State Honors

After a small private funeral on Friday afternoon near his home in California, President Ford’s coffin will be on public view in Washington, D.C., and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. A state funeral will take place on Saturday evening in the Capitol Rotunda. There will also be services on Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and on Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford will be buried on the library grounds in Grand Rapids.

President Bush announced he will leave his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he has spent the holidays, to attend the proceedings.

"He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil," Bush said in an official statement on Wednesday. "For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most."

 

Critical Thinking Question

Read today's news story, and then answer the following question.

President Gerald R. Ford What do you think Gerald Ford’s legacy was as the 38th President of the United States?

Join a discussion of this question on our bulletin board.

 

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