Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 - 1977. Ford assumed the presidency after the resignation of President Nixon. "President Gerald R. Ford, the only American to serve as both vice president and president without ever being elected to either office" (NPR, 2013).
"On Sept. 8, 1974, President Ford granted a "full, free and absolute pardon" to former President Nixon "for all offenses against the United States which he ... has committed or may have committed or taken part in" while he was president" (JFK Library). Ford said "he hoped his action would begin the process of healing the presidency and a deeply wounded nation" (JFK Library).
Ford died on December 26, 2006.
Internet Resources
- Gerald R. Ford: White HouseWhen 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 troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.”
- Gerald Ford: Miller CenterGerald R. Ford became President of the United States on August 9, 1974, under extraordinary circumstances. Owing to the Watergate scandal, Ford's predecessor, Richard Nixon, had resigned under the threat of congressional impeachment. Ford assumed leadership of a nation whose domestic economy and international prestige—both seemingly sound in the decades after World War II—had deteriorated considerably. Just as important, Watergate, as well as the debacle of the Vietnam War, had profoundly shaken the American public's confidence in its leaders. Gerald Ford stepped into the breach opened up by these converging dynamics and achieved mixed results in addressing the twin problems of economic and geopolitical decline.
Reference, Archives, & Primary Sources
- Digital Collections: Gerald R. Ford LibraryMany important materials from our textual, audiovisual, and artifact collections have been digitized and are now available online. The Library has an active digitization program that currently focuses on textual materials. Digitized material covers key White House collections in national security and domestic policy, and Ford pre-Presidential records.
- Library CollectionsThe 1974-77 Presidential papers of Gerald Ford and his White House staff form the core Ford Library collection in Ann Arbor. These are supplemented by the pre- and post-presidential papers of Gerald Ford, the papers of Betty Ford, collections of Federal records, and more. Former government officials have donated personal papers, researchers in the period have given copies of research interviews, and private individuals associated with the issues and events of the time have given their materials.
- Gerald Ford: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on Gerald Ford. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
Gerald Ford: Assuming Presidency
This speech from August 1974, is about Gerald Ford assuming the presidency after the resignation of Richard Nixon.
Source: AVON
Perspectives
Gerald R. Ford
"Not since Harry Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt twenty-nine years earlier had the American people known so little about a man who had stepped forward from obscurity to take the oath of office as President of the United States." --from Chapter 4 This is a comprehensive narrative account of the life of Gerald Ford written by one of his closest advisers, James Cannon. Written with unique insight and benefiting from personal interviews with President Ford in his last years, Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Lifeis James Cannon's final look at the simple and honest man from the Midwest.
The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
This is the first comprehensive study of one of our most popular yet most misunderstood presidents. Reaching well beyond the image of Ford as "healer" of a war-torn and scandal-ridden nation, John Robert Greene extends and revises our understanding of Ford's struggles to restore credibility to the presidency in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam. Few presidents had ever been asked to achieve so much in so little time against such great adversity. Greene shows that Ford's efforts to lead the nation were severely hampered by Nixon's misdeeds, by America's ignominious disengagement from an unpopular war, and by a watchdog Congress eager to put a brake on presidential power. Working from a wealth of recently declassified documents, Greene reveals new evidence on Ford's roles in Watergate and challenges the prevailing view of the infamous Mayaguez incident. He argues persuasively that Ford made no "deal" with Nixon, but that his pardon of Nixon was costly nonetheless, for it shadowed his entire presidency thereafter. He also shows that the Mayaguez catastrophe was less a simple "rescue mission" than it was an attempt to revive sagging political fortunes by attacking Cambodia. In addition, Greene details Ford's rise to prominence within the Republican Party; chronicles the president's problematic relations with his staff, the new Democratic Congress, and Ronald Reagan; sheds new light on the selection and performance of Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller; offers new insights into the election of 1976; and provides the first in-depth look at Ford's Amnesty Program for Vietnam Era Draft Evaders. Based on interviews with Ford and more than sixty individuals who figured prominently in his presidency and on extensive use of the Ford Library, Greene's study illuminates Ford's valiant efforts during some of the presidency's most troubled years.
Gerald Ford and the Challenges of The 1970s
History has not been kind to Gerald Ford. His name evokes an image of either America's only unelected president, who abruptly pardoned his corrupt predecessor, or an accident-prone man who failed to provide skilled leadership to a country in domestic turmoil. In Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s, historian Yanek Mieczkowski reexamines Ford's two and a half years in office, showing that his presidency successfully confronted the most vexing crises of the postwar era. Surveying the state of America in the 1970s, Mieczkowski focuses on the economic challenges facing the country. He argues that Ford's understanding of the national economy was better than that of any other modern president, that Ford oversaw a dramatic reduction of inflation, and that his attempts to solve the energy crisis were based in sound economic principles. Throughout his presidency, Ford labored under the legacy of Watergate. Democrats scored landslide victories in the 1974 midterm elections, and the president engaged with a spirited opposition Congress. Within an anemic Republican Party, the right wing challenged Ford's leadership, even as pundits predicted the death of the GOP. Yet Ford reinvigorated the party and fashioned a 1976 campaign strategy against Jimmy Carter that brought him from thirty points behind to a dead heat on election day. Mieczkowski draws on numerous personal interviews with the former president, cabinet officials, and members of the Ninety-fourth Congress. In his reassessment of this underrated president, Ford emerges as a skilled executive, an effective diplomat, and a leader with a clear vision for America's future. Working to heal a divided nation, Ford unified the GOP and laid the groundwork for the Republican resurgence in subsequent decades. The first major work on the former president to appear in more than ten years, Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s combines the best of biography and economic, social, and presidential history to create an intriguing portrait of a president, his times, and his legacy.
Gerald Ford - The United States' 37th Vice President & 38th President
Vice President Gerald Ford was catapulted into the presidency after the Watergate scandal in the '70s. Learn more about his life beyond his stint in the White House in this mini biography.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf4NBMvksKI