Gerald Ford

POTUS: Presidents of the United States

Links immediately following the image of the American Flag (tiny U.S. flag ) are links to other POTUS sites. All other links lead to sites elsewhere on the Web.


tiny U.S. flag Jump to: Presidential Election Results | Cabinet Members | Notable Events | Internet Biographies | Historical Documents | Media Resources | Other Internet Resources | Points of Interest


Portrait, Gerald Rudolph FordGerald Rudolph Ford 38th President of the United States (August 9, 1974 to January 20, 1977) Nickname: “Jerry” Born: July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska Died: December 26, 2006 in Rancho Mirage, California

Father: Leslie Lynch King Mother: Dorothy Ayer Gardner King Ford Married: Elizabeth “Betty” Bloomer Warren Ford (1918-2011), on October 15, 1948 Children: Michael Gerald Ford (1950- ); John Gardner Ford (1952- ); Steven Meigs Ford (1956- ); Susan Elizabeth Ford (1957- ) Religion: Episcopalian Education: Graduated from the University of Michigan (1935) and Yale University Law School (1941) Occupation: Lawyer, public official Political Party: Republican Other Government Positions:

  • Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1949-73
  • Vice President, 1973-74 (under tiny U.S. flag Nixon)

Presidential Salary: $200,000/year + $50,000 expense account

Presidential Election Results:
YearPopular VotesElectoral Votes
1976tiny U.S. flag James E. Carter, Jr.40,827,394297
Gerald R. Ford39,145,977240
tiny U.S. flag Ronald Reagan1

Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller (1974-77) Cabinet:

Secretary of State
Henry A. Kissinger (1974-77)
Secretary of the Treasury
William E. Simon (1974-77)
Secretary of Defense
James R. Schlesinger (1974-75)
Donald H. Rumsfeld (1975-77)
Attorney General
William B. Saxbe (1974-75)
Edward H. Levi (1975-77)
Secretary of the Interior
Rogers C. B. Morton (1974-75)
Stanley K. Hathaway (1975)
Thomas S. Kleppe (1975-77)
Secretary of Agriculture
Earl L. Butz (1974-76)
John A. Knebel (1976-77)
Secretary of Commerce
Frederick B. Dent (1974-75)
Rogers C. B. Morton (1975)
Elliot L. Richardson (1976-77)
Secretary of Labor
Peter J. Brennan (1974-75)
John T. Dunlop (1975-76)
W. J. Usery, Jr. (1976-77)
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Caspar W. Weinberger (1974-75)
F. David Mathews (1975-77)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
James T. Lynn (1974-75)
Carla Anderson Hills (1975-77)
Secretary of Transportation
Claude S. Brinegar (1974-75)
William T. Coleman, Jr. (1975-77)

Supreme Court Appointments:

Associate Justice
John Paul Stevens (1975-2010)

Notable Events:

Internet Biographies:

Gerald R. Ford — from The Presidents of the United States of America
Compiled by the White House.
Gerald R. Ford — from American Presidents: Life Portraits — C-SPAN
Biographical information, trivia, key events, video, and other reference materials. Website created to accompany C-SPAN’s 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits.
Gerald Ford — from U.S. Presidents
From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.
Gerald R. Ford Biography — from Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum
This six-part biography covers the time from his youth through his presidency.
Gerald R. Ford — from Character Above All
From a PBS broadcast of the same name, this essay excerpt by James M. Cannon discusses some of the issues and events that molded Ford.

Historical Documents:

Remarks on Taking the Oath of Office (1974)
Remarks on Signing a Proclamation Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon (1974)
Proclamation 4311, Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon (1974)

Media Resources:

Audio
From the 188th State of the Union address on January 19, 1976. (1:23)
MP3 (651K)
From the Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University.
Audio & Video
The American Presidency Project‘s Presidential Audio/Video Archive for Gerald R. Ford

Other Internet Resources:

Images of Ford and his wife provided by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum
Website includes biographical information, photographs, information on the library’s collection (located in Ann Arbor, MI), and tourist information for the museum (located in Grand Rapids, MI).
Gerald Ford as President
Brief history of the Ford administration from From Revolution to Reconstruction.

Points of Interest:

  • He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.
  • Ford was the first president to be an Eagle Scout.
  • Ford was on the University of Michigan football team from 1931 to 1934. He was offered tryouts by both the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
  • Both Ford and his wife, Betty, had been models before their marriage.
  • When Ford proposed to to his wife, he was wearing one brown & one black shoe.
  • Ford was the fourth left-handed president of the United States.
  • Running for Congress in 1948, Ford campaigned on his wedding day.
  • Ford was one of the members of the Warren Commission appointed to study the assassination of President tiny U.S. flag John F. Kennedy.
  • One night, Ford was locked out of the White House while walking his golden retriever, Liberty. The Secret Service finally let him in.
  • Ford’s daughter Susan held her senior prom at the White House.
  • He was the first president to release to the public a full report of his medical checkup.
  • Ford was the first president to visit Japan.
  • Ford was the only president whose two assassination attempts against him were made by women.
  • Gerald Ford was the first president not elected by the people to become president. He became vice president when Nixon’s elected vice president, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned. Then became president when tiny U.S. flag Nixon resigned.
  • Ford was the first president to pardon a former president.

Previous President: tiny U.S. flag Richard Milhous Nixon | Next President: tiny U.S. flag James Earl Carter, Jr.


©1996-2008. Robert S. Summers. All rights reserved.

+ Click for more relevant essays