Gerald R. Ford
When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on
August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary
circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds
and hurts our hearts."
It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice
President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the
aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President
ever to resign.
Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the
challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving
chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.
The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and
spending as a means of solving the problems of American society and the
economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift would bring a better
life for all Americans.
Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular
during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, he was House Minority
Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He starred on the University of Michigan football team, then went
to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree.
During World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy.
After the war he returned to Grand Rapids, where he began the practice of law,
and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to Congress
in 1948, he married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael,
John, Steven, and Susan.
As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former
President Nixon a full pardon. His nominee for Vice President, former
Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the second person to fill that
office by appointment. Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own.
Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite
opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal
was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most
serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed at stimulating the
economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military
appropriations bills that would have further increased the already heavy
budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39
measures. His vetoes were usually sustained.
Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as
"a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a
dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs." A major goal was to
help business operate more freely by reducing taxes upon it and easing the
controls exercised by regulatory agencies. "We...declared our independence
200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and
computers," he said.
In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and
prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Viet Nam. Preventing a
new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by providing
aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford Administration helped persuade the two
countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet
Union continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set
new limitations upon nuclear weapons.
President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976,
but lost the election to his Democratic opponent, former Governor Jimmy
Carter of Georgia.
On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and
for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal
our land." A grateful people concurred.