Both Ford and Kissinger made clear that the U.S. would not object to the proposed Indonesian annexation of East Timor. [143] But work by Andrew Gawthorpe, published in 2009, based on an analysis of the administration's internal discussions, shows that Ford's national security team understood that the seizure of the vessel was a local, and perhaps even accidental, provocation by an immature Khmer government. [173] Ford and Carter served as honorary co-chairs of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform in 2001 and of the Continuity of Government Commission in 2002. [164] In an interview years later, Ford said he had intended to imply that the Soviets would never crush the spirits of eastern Europeans seeking independence. "[22], Ford graduated from Michigan in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. [140] Ford dispatched Marines to rescue the crew, but the Marines landed on the wrong island and met unexpectedly stiff resistance just as, unknown to the U.S., the Mayaguez sailors were being released. [165], In the end, Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral votes for Ford. "[62], After Richard Nixon was elected president in November 1968, Ford's role shifted to being an advocate for the White House agenda. Following the election, members of the Republican caucus looked to select a new minority leader. "Eisenhower Fellowship: A History 19532003". In Sacramento, California, on September 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, pointed a Colt .45-caliber handgun at Ford and pulled the trigger at point-blank range. Anne E. Kornblut, "Ford Arranged His Funeral to Reflect Himself and Drew in a Former Adversary", 1932 Michigan Wolverines footballnational champions, 1933 Michigan Wolverines footballnational champions, Leader of the House Republican Conference, American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, Federation for American Immigration Reform, National Federation of Independent Business, Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, deaths of nearly a quarter of the Timorese population, Gerald Ford assassination attempt in Sacramento, Gerald Ford assassination attempt in San Francisco, Gerald Ford judicial appointment controversies, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, List of federal judges appointed by Gerald Ford, honorary doctorate at Central Connecticut State University, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, George H.W. On December 6, 1973, the House confirmed Ford by a vote of 387 to 35. However, "Al Haig asked to come over and see me", Ford later said, "to tell me that there would be a new tape released on a Monday, and he said the evidence in there was devastating and there would probably be either an impeachment or a resignation. This was one more than the number needed (290) for a two-thirds majority, the number necessary to override a Presidential veto or to propose a constitutional amendment. [96] At the time, inflation was over twelve percent. "I came back a converted internationalist", Ford wrote, "and of course our congressman at that time was an avowed, dedicated isolationist. By 1988, Ford was a member of several corporate boards including Commercial Credit, Nova Pharmaceutical, The Pullman Company, Tesoro Petroleum, and Tiger International, Inc.[192] Ford also became an honorary director of Citigroup, a position he held until his death. So I couldn't have written a better prescription for a superb family upbringing. [128] The following summer months were described by Ford as an American-Israeli "war of nerves" or "test of wills". She had previously been married and, after a fiveyear marriage, divorced from William Warren. "[80], After Ford left the White House in January 1977, he privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v. United States, a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt, and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt. Reagan launched his campaign in autumn of 1975 and won numerous primaries, including North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, and California, but failed to get a majority of delegates; Reagan withdrew from the race at the Republican Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Kennedy. As part of this program, he urged people to wear "WIN" buttons. Ford was Ward's best friend on the team, and they roomed together while on road trips. In that operation, military and Air America helicopters took evacuees to U.S. Navy ships off-shore during an approximately 24-hour period on April 29 to 30, 1975, immediately preceding the fall of Saigon. [131], In December 1974, months after Ford took office, North Vietnamese forces invaded the province of Phuoc Long. (2009), "The Ford Administration and Security Policy in the Asia-Pacific after the Fall of Saigon". ", This page was last edited on 16 July 2022, at 16:51. During the first session of the Eighty-ninth Congress alone, the Johnson Administration submitted 87 bills to Congress, and Johnson signed 84, or 96%, arguably the most successful legislative agenda in Congressional history. In practical terms, "reassessment" meant canceling or suspending further aid to Israel. Rather, his ambition was to become Speaker of the House,[50] which he called "the ultimate achievement. Military service had changed his view of the world. During his brief administration, he replaced all members except Secretary of State Kissinger and Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon. The changes included removal of an entire 86-page section on CIA assassination plots and numerous edits to the report by then-deputy White House Chief of Staff Richard Cheney. She was later convicted of attempted assassination of the President and was sentenced to life in prison; she was paroled on August 14, 2009, after serving 34 years. "The Bitter End and the Lost Chance in Vietnam: Congress, the Ford Administration, and the Battle over Vietnam, 197576". [195] Three years later, he wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives, along with Carter and Reagan, in support of the assault weapons ban. "[199], In the prelude to the impeachment of President Clinton, Ford conferred with former President Carter and the two agreed to not speak publicly on the controversy, a pact broken by Carter when answering a question from a student at Emory University. He never attempted to shade a statement, and I never heard him utter an unkind word," said Martha Griffiths. "[167], After leaving the White House, the Fords moved to Denver, Colorado. [97], The federal budget ran a deficit every year Ford was president. Capitol. [87], Ford selected George H. W. Bush as Chief of the US Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China in 1974, and then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in late 1975. Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. "[224] Ford was made a 33 Scottish Rite Mason on September 26, 1962. The previous day, Ford had entered the Eisenhower Medical Center for undisclosed tests; he was released on October 16. [65] According to The New York Times, Nixon "sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement." In 1977, Ford established the Gerald R. Ford Institute of Public Policy at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, to give undergraduates training in public policy. Nevertheless, they felt the need to respond forcefully to discourage further provocations by other Communist countries in Asia. After a decade of failing to do so, he promised his wife that he would try again in 1974 then retire in 1976. The 1975 Act appropriated $455million toward the costs of assisting the settlement of Indochinese refugees. [29], On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Ford to the Warren Commission, a special task force set up to investigate the assassination of President John F. Ccile Mentray-Monchau (August 2005), "The Mayaguez Incident as an Epilogue to the Vietnam War and its Reflection on the Post-Vietnam Political Equilibrium in Southeast Asia". [148][152] Before she fired a second round, retired Marine Oliver Sipple grabbed at the gun and deflected her shot; the bullet struck a wall about six inches above and to the right of Ford's head, then ricocheted and hit a taxi driver, who was slightly wounded. He initially worked with the John Robert Powers agency before investing in Harry Conover's agency, with whom he modelled until 1941. [56], Ford's private criticism of the Vietnam War became public knowledge after he spoke from the floor of the House and questioned whether the White House had a clear plan to bring the war to a successful conclusion. House Speaker Carl Albert recalled later, "We gave Nixon no choice but Ford. Following his senior year, he turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, instead opting to go to Yale Law School. In one of those games, Michigan held heavily favored Minnesotathe eventual national championto a scoreless tie in the first half. In 1977, he shot a hole in one during a Pro-am held in conjunction with the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club in Memphis, Tennessee. Thousands more escaped in the years that followed. [32], Although the ship was not damaged by the Empire of Japan's forces, the Monterey was one of several ships damaged by Typhoon Cobra that hit Admiral William Halsey's Third Fleet on December 1819, 1944. This is the shortest and most honest of recent presidential memoirs, but there are no surprises, no deep probings of motives or events. [3] In one of his most controversial acts, he granted a presidential pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship's commanding officer, Captain Stuart H. Ingersoll. 
[127] The announced reassessments upset the American Jewish community and Israel's well-wishers in Congress. "[36] Ford agreed to the nomination, telling his wife that the vice presidency would be "a nice conclusion" to his career. It was unveiled on May 3, 2011, in the Capitol Rotunda. In May 1975, shortly after the fall of Saigon and the Khmer Rouge conquest of Cambodia, Cambodians seized the American merchant ship Mayaguez in international waters. A portion of the speech would later be memorialized with a plaque at the entrance to his presidential museum. Some, including Barry Goldwater, voted against him. Ford suffered two minor strokes at the 2000 Republican National Convention, but made a quick recovery after being admitted to Hahnemann University Hospital. [228], Ford is the only person to hold the presidential office without being elected as either president or vice president. [154] During his tenure as House Republican leader, Ford had led efforts to have Douglas impeached. [113] The Administration entered into the Helsinki Accords[114] with the Soviet Union in 1975, creating the framework of the Helsinki Watch, an independent non-governmental organization created to monitor compliance which later evolved into Human Rights Watch. [119][120] Upon approving the plan, Ford stated "United States leadership is essential to combat population growth, to implement the World Population Plan of Action and to advance United States security and overseas interests". [2] After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. In December 1975, Suharto discussed the plans to invade East Timor during a meeting with Ford and Henry Kissinger in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. [147], Ford was the target of two assassination attempts during his presidency. On the proper right side is inscribed a quotation from a tribute by Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the House at the end of Ford's presidency: "God has been good to America, especially during difficult times.
[55], In 1964, Lyndon Johnson led a landslide victory for his party, secured another term as president and took 36 seats from Republicans in the House of Representatives. Public sentiment also began to move against Johnson, and the 1966 midterm elections produced a 47-seat swing in favor of the Republicans. This was not enough to give Republicans a majority in the House, but the victory gave Ford the opportunity to prevent the passage of further Great Society programs. [107], As president, Ford's position on abortion was that he supported "a federal constitutional amendment that would permit each one of the 50 States to make the choice". Many in the press jokingly called this "The Ev and Jerry Show. [82] In presenting the award to Ford, Senator Edward Kennedy said that he had initially been opposed to the pardon, but later decided that history had proven Ford to have made the correct decision. I ended up winning two to one. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. [218], The State of Michigan commissioned and submitted a statue of Ford to the National Statuary Hall Collection, replacing Zachariah Chandler. [9] In a biography of Ford, James M. Cannon wrote that the separation and divorce of Ford's parents was sparked when, a few days after Ford's birth, Leslie King took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife, infant son, and Ford's nursemaid. On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix mysteriously died and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized; health officials announced that "swine flu" was the cause. "Vocal Gay Republicans Upsetting Conservatives". The Third Fleet lost three destroyers and over 800 men during the typhoon. [98] Despite his reservations about how the program ultimately would be funded in an era of tight public budgeting, Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which established special education throughout the United States. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (/drld/ JERR-ld;[1] born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913 December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and was the only president never to have been elected to the office of president or vice president. 
In 1975, Rumsfeld was named by Ford as the youngest-ever Secretary of Defense. Ford. DeFrank T: Write It When I'm Gone, G. Putnam & Sons, New York, NY, 2007. On August 20, Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill the vice presidency he had vacated. Students, players, and alumni protested, but university officials capitulated and kept Ward out of the game. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. Ford also visited with players and coaches during practices; at one point, he asked to join the players in the huddle. [188], In January 1984, a letter signed by Ford and Carter and urging world leaders to extend their failed effort to end world hunger was released and sent to Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Prez de Cullar. His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put him at odds with conservative members of the party in the 1990s and early 2000s. During an August 1982 fundraising reception, Ford stated his opposition to a constitutional amendment requiring the US to have a balanced budget, citing a need to elect "members of the House and Senate who will immediately when Congress convenes act more responsibly in fiscal matters. On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named Ford and the other living former Presidents (Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. [89], The 1974 Congressional midterm elections took place in the wake of the Watergate scandal and less than three months after Ford assumed office. "[221], The couple had four children: Michael Gerald, born in 1950, John Gardner (known as Jack) born in 1952, Steven Meigs, born in 1956, and Susan Elizabeth, born in 1957.[148]. In retirement, Ford set aside the enmity he had felt towards Carter following the 1976 election, and the two former presidents developed a close friendship. [72][73][74] In a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford explained that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country, and that the Nixon family's situation "is a tragedy in which we all have played a part. That year his biological father, whom Ford described as a "carefree, well-to-do man who didn't really give a damn about the hopes and dreams of his firstborn son", approached Ford while he was waiting tables in a Grand Rapids restaurant. During Ford's presidency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the president. He spent the summer of 1937 as a student at the University of Michigan Law School[25] and was eventually admitted in the spring of 1938 to Yale Law School. Nobody thought I could win. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. [131], 1,373 U.S. citizens and 5,595 Vietnamese and third-country nationals were evacuated from the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon during Operation Frequent Wind. [130], The agreements were negotiated by US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese Politburo member L c Th. The Paris Peace Accords stipulated a sixty-day period for the total withdrawal of U.S. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. To try to mesh service and sacrifice, "WIN" called for Americans to reduce their spending and consumption. [134], Many of the Vietnamese evacuees were allowed to enter the United States under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. [10], After living with her parents for two and a half years, on February 1, 1917, Gardner married Gerald Rudolff Ford, a salesman in a family-owned paint and varnish company. Political commentators have referred to Ford's dramatic reorganization of his Cabinet in the fall of 1975 as the "Halloween Massacre". Rockefeller underwent extended hearings before Congress, which caused embarrassment when it was revealed he made large gifts to senior aides, such as Henry Kissinger. [189], In 1987, Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of District of Columbia Circuit Court judge and former Solicitor General Robert Bork after Bork was nominated by President Reagan to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu was not involved in the final negotiations, and publicly criticized the proposed agreement. [24], Ford hoped to attend Yale Law School beginning in 1935. [206][207] In January 2006, he spent 11 days at the Eisenhower Medical Center near his residence at Rancho Mirage, California, for treatment of pneumonia. After rejecting these terms, Reagan offered the vice-presidential nomination instead to George H. W. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice, but mercy. Over the next nine days, 101,240 Americans mailed in "WIN" pledges. The Washington, D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally. [46][47][48] Ford was known to his colleagues in the House as a "Congressman's Congressman".
Yale officials at first denied his admission to the law school because of his full-time coaching responsibilities. As he left the St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore, standing in a crowd of onlookers across the street, fired a .38-caliber revolver at him. [4] U.S. military aid to Turkey was suspended on February 5, 1975.[4]. [4] In the 1976 Republican presidential primary campaign, Ford defeated former California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic challenger, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. The conservative insurgency did lead to Ford dropping the more liberal Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in favor of U.S. "[183] On October 20, 1981, Ford stated stopping the Reagan administration's Saudi arms package could have a large negative impact to American relations in the Middle East during a news conference. Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald terHorst resigned his post in protest after the pardon. 
