Gerald Ford
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Categories: Presidents of the United States | Vice Presidents of the United States | Michigan Republicans | Episcopalians | Republicans a/o Conservatives a/or rightwingers who think Bush screwed up the Iraq War
| Gerald Ford | |
|---|---|
| President | |
| |
| Party | Republican |
| August 9, 1974 — January 20, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Nixon |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Carter |
| Birthdate | July 14, 1913 |
Gerald Rudolph Ford was the 38th President of the United States, and the only unelected President and Vice-President of the United States. He was the Republican Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives when he was appointed to the post of Vice President in 1973 by Richard Nixon following the resignation of the disgraced Spiro Agnew. Ford then became President of the United States after Republican President Richard Nixon was forced to resign in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal. Ford immediately announced:
- "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."
His rhetoric implied that the political awakening many Americans experienced because of Watergate was a dream state and that reality was to be found in a return to de-politicization. Ford went on to grant Nixon a presidential pardon but he refused to pardon the thousands of American young men who evaded military conscription for the War in Vietnam to Canada and Sweden. Ford lost the subsequent presidential 1976 election to Jimmy Carter and Carter later pardoned the Americans in Canada.
When Ford died on December 26, 2006, President George W. Bush declared five days of mourning.
Contents |
Background
Ford was born Leslie King, Jr. on July 14, 1913. The surname change occurred because he was adopted by his stepfather. In college Ford was a football star.
Warren Commission
Ford played a leading role in the Warren Commission which investigated John F. Kennedy in 1963. The Warren Commission's failure to exhaustively investigate the assassination and the secrecy into which it plunged records left many Americans suspicious that a sinister conspiracy lay behind the killing of their beloved JFK.
Evacuation from Saigon
The final withdrawal of American miltiary personnel from Vietnam, in Operation Frequent Wind began on April 29, 1975 and ended in chaos on the morning of April 30, 1975 when the U.S. embassy in Saigon was evacuated via helicopter.
Mayaguez Incident
Following the May 12, 1975 arrest of the S.S. Mayaguez by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge Ford ordered the U.S. military to attack the captors and liberate the ship's crew on Koh Tang Island in what became know as the Mayaguez Incident. Nixon administration hold-over Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recommended that the U.S. military bomb the mainland of Cambodia as well. "Lets look ferocious," he said. That particular advice was not followed. See Ralph Wetterhanh. 2002. The Last Battle. Plume. p. 206.
Parodied on Saturday Night Live
- Chevy Chase parodied Ford as a bumbler who hurt many of the people around him on Saturday Night Live.
Death
Gerald Ford died at the age of 93 on December 26, 2006 at his home in California. At 11:49 p.m. EST. Ford's wife, Betty confirmed his death saying, "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," Mrs. Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."
Dead men do tell tales
In December 2007, Thomas DeFrank published a book titled "Write It When I'm Gone." containing private conversations with Ford to whom DeFrank had given a promise not to Publish the book till after Ford had died.
Ford it seems thought Bill Clinton was a sex addict, that the world wasn't ready to elect Hillary and Cheney should have been dumped in 2004. [1]
Ford also felt that Bush's rational for Invading Iraq was stupid.[2]
Writings
- Inclusive America, Under Attack, op-ed piece in the August 8, 1999, The New York Times.
- Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraqby Bob Woodward, Washington Post, Dec. 28, 2006.
- A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford
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