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U.S. Presidents: Gerald Ford

This guide will give you information about the Presidents of the United States.

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.

(1913-2006)

Gerald Ford

Profile

Original Name Leslie Lynch King, Jr.
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • U.S. President (August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977)
  • U.S. Vice President
  • U.S. Representative
Date of Birth July 14, 1913
Date of Death December 26, 2006
Place of Birth Omaha, NE
Place of Death Rancho Mirage, CA
Education
  • University of Michigan Law School
  • Yale Law School (Yale University)
Parents
  • Dorothy Ayer Gardner
    • Leslie Lynch King, Sr.
    • Gerald Rudolff Ford (stepfather)
Spouse Betty Bloomer
Political Party

Republican
Military Service
 

Allegiance 

​United States

Service/Branch (Years)

United States Navy (1942-1946)

Rank

Lieutenant Commander
Number of Children Four

Did You Know?

President Ford...

  • ...could have played in the NFL. A hardworking student-athlete in high school, Ford won a scholarship to the University of Michigan, which he attended from 1931 to 1935. The university’s football team, the Wolverines, won national championships in 1932 and 1933, and in 1934 (his senior year) Ford was named the team’s most valuable player. Upon graduation, Ford received offers from two professional football teams, the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but he turned them down to take a position as head boxing coach and assistant football coach at Yale University, where he hoped to study law.
  • ...nearly lost his life when a typhoon hit his Navy aircraft carrier during World War II.
  • ...wasn't actually elected to the office of vice president or president.
  • ...was the target of two assassination attempts. Both in 1975, both in California, and both by women.

Biography

Gerald Ford was born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. A star college football player, he served in the Navy during WWII. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1948, Ford represented Michigan's 5th District for nearly 25 years before suddenly finding himself at the crossroads of history. He was elevated to vice president, and then became the 38th U.S. president due to Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal and subsequent resignation. Ford was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. He died in California in 2006.

Quotes

“I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.”
—Gerald Ford
 
“We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart.”
—Gerald Ford
 
“History will judge this Conference not by what we say here today, but by what we do tomorrow - not by the promises we make, but by the promises we keep.”
—Gerald Ford

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