Gerald R. Ford
Gerald R. Ford
Introduction
He said it himself: "I`m a Ford, not a Lincoln." Gerald R. Ford`s candor and honesty were why he was admired during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, Ford was the House minority leader. When Ford took the presidential oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared:
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.
Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech -- just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many.
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.
It was indeed an unprecedented time. Ford was the first vice president chosen under terms of the 25th Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate Scandal , was succeeding the first president ever to resign.
Ford was immediately confronted with nearly insurmountable tasks: mastering inflation, reviving a depressed economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace. On two separate excursions to California in September 1975, Ford was the target of assassination attempts.  The assailants were Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and Sara Jane Moore.
Youth, education, and military service
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 14, 1913, Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford`s parents separated two weeks after his birth, then his mother took him to Grand Rapids to live with her parents. Two years after his parents finalized their divorce, his mother remarried. Ford has three brothers.
Early in his youth, Ford showed talent for playing football that supported him through his college years. He also was active in the Boy Scouts of America, achieving Eagle Scout in November 1927. He earned spending money by working in the family paint business and at a local restaurant.
Ford played on the University`s national championship football teams in 1932 and 1933.  He was voted the Wolverines` MVP (most valuable player) in 1934 and in January 1935, played in the annual East-West College All-Star game in San Francisco, California . In August 1935, he played in the Chicago Tribune College All-Star football game at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears.
After graduating from the University of Michigan , at Ann Arbor with a B.A. degree in 1935, he rejected offers to play professional football with the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. Instead, he headed for Yale University .  There, Ford coached football and earned his law degree in 1941.
During World War II , Ford joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942 and attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.  He served aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey, where he took part in many of the major operations in the South Pacific, including Truk, Saipan , and the Philippines.
Congressman Ford
Ford returned to Michigan from the war to practice law, but it was not long before public service fired his interest, and he entered Republican politics.  He first ran for office in 1948. A few weeks before his election to Congress he married Elizabeth Bloomer. They produced four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan. Ford served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to December 1973. He once described himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy."
Vice President Ford
As defined in the 20th Amendment: Should a vice president resign, becomes incapacitated or dies, the president must appoint a new one.  When Spiro Agnew resigned from the vice presidency owing to a kick-back scandal, House Minority Leader Ford was appointed by President Nixon to take his place. As vice president, Ford languished on the sidelines.  Meanwhile, national security adviser Henry Kissinger basked in the limelight and Nixon`s foreign policy activities overshadowed domestic issues.
President Ford
Gerald Ford became America`s 38th president when Nixon resigned. Under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Ford was required to designate a replacement for the office of vice president. His nominee for vice president was former governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, who was the second person to fill that office by appointment. He was sworn in on December 19, 1974, and served until the end of Fordï¿½s term in January 1977.
The Ford cabinet. Ford inherited the Nixon Cabinet. Gradually, he selected a cabinet of his own.  It is interesting to note that the hand-picked Nixon cabinet turnover was much more extensive during the Nixon administration than for the inherited Ford cabinet .
Pardoning Nixon. As president, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former president Nixon a full pardon. Eight months after taking office, on September 8, 1974, Ford announced that Nixon would be pardoned for all crimes he might have committed during his presidency, thereby ending any threat of prosecution. An immediate outcry from across the nation was of a Nixon-Ford "deal." Accusations of a Nixon deal with Ford for clemency were bantered about, but the uproar soon faded.
Ford`s domestic agenda. In public policy, Ford followed the course of action Nixon had set, despite opposition and numerous confrontations with the Democratically controlled Congress.  His first goal was to curb inflation, which led to a 12 percent unemployment rate, and the most serious recession since the Great Depression .  A tax cut, coupled with higher unemployment benefits, led to a modest recovery.  He vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit.
Ford continued as he had in his congressional days to view himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and an internationalist in foreign affairs." A major goal was to help business operate more freely by reducing corporate taxes 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. The paper shufflers referred to were the entrenched Washington, D.C. bureaucrats that Nixon had attempted to reorganize during his own presidency
The president acted to curb the trend toward government intervention and spending, e.g. Welfare and Affirmative Action , as a means of solving the problems of American society and the economy. He imposed measures to curb inflation. In the long run, he believed, that shift would mean a better life for all Americans. During his first 14 months as president he vetoed 39 measures. His vetoes were usually sustained, but there was still no end to economic difficulties.
Other issues President Ford dealt with are as follows:
The 18-year-old vote. The president recalled that in Congress he strongly supported the Constitutional amendment that made it possible for 18-year-olds to vote. "Many people said it would be unhealthy, that they were not qualified," he said. "I think they are. Their participation has been excellent."
Disadvantaged youth. Also on the job front, the president signed into law legislation providing $528 million to support 888,100 jobs for disadvantaged youth the following summer.  He said that action, together with related summer youth programs, would produce summer jobs for 1.5 million young people in the summer of 1976.  He directed the heads of all federal departments and agencies to cooperate in efforts to provide summer jobs in government for 54,000 needy youths. The president also called for 26,000 youths to do conservation work under the Department of Agriculture and Interior departments.
Ensuring equal opportunity. The president signed amendments to the Equal Opportunity Credit Act that bars discrimination against persons in obtaining credit for reasons unrelated to their credit worthiness. That law was intended to help young working people below 21 to obtain credit that otherwise might have been denied them because of age alone.
Education. In actions relating to education, President Ford aupported the concept that aid for college and university students should be provided to the individual students rather than to institutions so that the students can choose the kind of education they want.
He requested full funding of the Basic Opportunity Grants program in 1976 and 1977 to enable needy students to receive up to $1,400 a year, but no more than half the money needed to meet their educational costs.  Additional funds would come from loans, work study programs, and resources of the student or his family.
The president`s budget for the 1977 fiscal year included $6.3 billion for higher education, including $4.3 billion for the G.I. Bill .
Ford`s foreign policy. The main issues during the Ford presidency were:
the North Vietnamese victory over South Vietnam (1975), and the Mayaguez Incident ,
Detente and human rights policy,
Middle East crisis,
Regarding William O. Douglas
An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office.
Discussing his effort to impeach Douglas in 1970
The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.
March 31, 1974, remarks to the New York Times
Regarding Richard M. Nixon
It is believed that a trial of Richard Nixon, if it became necessary, could not fairly begin until a year or more has elapsed. In the meantime, the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States.
Proclamation pardoning Nixon in 1974
Regarding Election of 1976
There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe ï¿½ and there never will be under a Ford administration... The United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union.