Archive for the 'Presidents' Category

Former President Gerald R. Ford has passed away at age 93. He had been experiencing health problems since early in this decade.

Gerald Ford was actually born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was abusive and his parents divorced soon after he was born. His mother later married Gerald Rudolff Ford and his mother referred to him as Gerald Ford, Jr. Ford later officially changed his name.

Ford attended College at the University of Michigan and played football. He turned down contracts with the National Football League in order to attend law school. He graduated from Yale law school in 1941.

Ford was initially against World War II, but signed up for the Navy after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served on the aircraft carrier Monterey until it was damaged by a fire and sent to dry dock. Ford was then assigned to the athletic department where he coached football.

Ford married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, better known as Betty, in 1948. They had four children together.

After the war Ford became active in politics and won a seat in the House of Representatives. During his campaign, he promised farmers he would help them with their chores if they elected him. After his election he came back and fulfilled his promise.

Ford came to the presidency in a very odd way. He is the only person to server as President who was not elected either President or Vice President. After Vice President Spiro Agnew’s resignation in 1973, Nixon nominated Ford for the job. A year later, President Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Ford became the 38^th President of the United States. Of course, the pardon of Richard Nixon is one of the most famous incidences in Ford’s tenure. It is thought that the pardon probably cost Ford the election in 1976.

Ford was the longest lived president, Ronald Reagan was the runner-up. Ford lived 29 years and 11 months after the end of his presidency which is second only to Herbert Hoover. Ford was also the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, the committee that investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Ford is pictured below with Chief of Staff Don Rumsfeld and his assistant Dick Cheney.