Gerald R. Ford, '35, HLLD'74

July 14, 1913 - December 26, 2006

Former US President Gerald R. Ford died on December 26, 2006. Ford, the 38th president of the United States, took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, after President Richard Nixon resigned because of the Watergate scandal. Throughout his life, Ford had been recognized for his public service and outstanding humanitarian contributions.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford excelled scholastically and athletically at South High School. Ford came to the University of Michigan in 1931. He majored in economics and political science and worked several part-time jobs to supplement his scholarship. Ford was a gifted athlete who played on the national championship football teams in 1932 and 1933 and was voted Michigan's most valuable player in 1934. He received offers to play football for the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers but chose to be a boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach at Yale University where he hoped to attend law school. In 1941, Ford received his law degree from Yale and graduated in the top 25 percent of his class.

Ford joined the US Naval Reserve and received a commission as an ensign in 1942. In the spring of 1943, he began service on the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey. He was first assigned as athletic director and gunnery division officer, then as assistant navigator on the Monterey, which took part in major operations in the South Pacific, including Truk, Saipan and the Philippines. Ford spent the remainder of the war ashore and was discharged as a lieutenant commander in February 1946.

Returning to Grand Rapids, Ford became a partner in the law firm of Butterfield, Keeney and Amberg. With the encouragement of his stepfather, who was county Republican chairman, Ford decided to challenge the isolationist incumbent Bartel Jonkman for the Republican nomination for the US House of Representatives in the 1948 election. He won the nomination by a wide margin and was elected to Congress on November 2, receiving 61 percent of the vote in the general election. During the height of his campaign Ford married Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren, a department store fashion consultant.

In 1965 Ford co-authored, with John R. Stiles, a book about the findings of the Warren Commission, "Portrait of the Assassin," which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

In both the 1968 and 1972 elections Ford was a loyal supporter of Richard Nixon, who had been a friend for many years. In 1968 Ford was considered as a vice presidential candidate. Ford backed the president's economic and foreign policies and remained on good terms with both the conservative and liberal wings of the Republican party.

Because the Republicans did not attain a majority in the House, Ford was unable to reach his ultimate political goal–Speaker of the House. Ironically, he did become president of the Senate. When Spiro Agnew resigned the office of vice president of the United States late in 1973, after pleading no contest to a charge of income tax evasion, President Nixon was empowered by the 25th Amendment to appoint a new vice president. He chose Gerald R. Ford. Following the most thorough background investigation in the history of the FBI, Ford was confirmed and sworn in on December 6, 1973.

The Watergate scandal, the break-in at Democratic headquarters during the 1972 campaign and the ensuing cover-up by Nixon administration officials, hung over Ford's nine-month tenure as vice president. When it became apparent that evidence, public opinion and the mood in Congress were all pointing toward impeachment, Nixon became the first president in US history to resign from that office.

It was on August 9, 1974, that Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office as President of the United States after the Watergate scandal. But one of the most difficult decisions of Ford's presidency was made just a month after he took office. Believing that protracted impeachment proceedings would keep the country mired in Watergate and unable to address the other problems facing it, Ford decided to grant a pardon to Richard Nixon prior to the filing of any formal criminal charges. The decision may have cost him the election in 1976, but President Ford always maintained that it was the right thing to do for the good of the country.

In domestic policy, President Ford felt that through modest tax and spending cuts, deregulating industries, and decontrolling energy prices to stimulate production, he could contain both inflation and unemployment. This would also reduce the size and role of the federal government and help overcome the energy shortage. His philosophy is best summarized by one of his favorite speech lines, "A government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take from us everything we have." The heavily Democratic Congress often disagreed with Ford, leading to numerous confrontations and his frequent use of the veto to control government spending. Through compromise, bills involving energy decontrol, tax cuts, deregulation of the railroad and securities industries, and antitrust law reform were approved.

During the 1976 campaign, Ford fought off a strong challenge by Ronald Reagan to gain the Republican nomination. He chose Senator Robert Dole of Kansas as his running mate and succeeded in narrowing Democrat Jimmy Carter's large lead in the polls, but finally lost one of the closest elections in history. Three televised candidate debates were focal points of the campaign.

Upon returning to private life, President and Mrs. Ford moved to California where they built a house in Rancho Mirage. President Ford's memoir, "A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford," was published in 1979.

Since leaving the White House in January 1977, President Ford lectured at 179 colleges and universities, on such issues as Congressional/White House relations, federal budget policies, and domestic and foreign policy issues.

Associated with the American Enterprise Institute, President Ford attended the annual Public Policy Week Conference, and in 1982 established the AEI World Forum, which he hosts annually in Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado. This is an international gathering of former and current world leaders and business executives to discuss political and business policies impacting current issues.

In 1981, the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were dedicated. Since that time, conferences at the sites have dealt with such subjects as the Congress, the presidency and foreign policy; Soviet-American relations; German reunification, the Atlantic Alliance, and the future of American foreign policy; national security requirements for the '90s; humor and the presidency; and the role of first ladies. President Ford also hosted the William E. Simon Lecture Series in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Following the Humor and the Presidency Conference, President Ford's book "Humor and the Presidency" was published in 1987.

After leaving office, President Ford continued to actively participate in the political process and spoke on important political issues. The former president was the recipient of numerous awards and honors from many civic organizations and the recipient of many honorary doctor of law degrees from various public and private colleges and universities.

He served on the board of directors of several US corporations and contributed time and effort to many charities. He especially supported the Boy Scouts of America and the Betty Ford Center for addiction recovery.

In August 1999 President Ford received the Medal of Freedom. This honor, the nation's highest civilian award, was presented by President Bill Clinton in recognition of President Ford's role in guiding the nation through the turbulent times of Watergate, the resignation of President Nixon and the end of the Vietnam War. In October 1999 President and Mrs. Ford were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "dedicated public service and outstanding humanitarian contributions." In 2000 the University of Michigan honored him by naming after him the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. In May 2001 he received the Profiles in Courage Award from the Kennedy Foundation for placing the country's interest over his own political future in pardoning Richard Nixon. And in 2005, Ford was awarded the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan Distinguished Alumni Service Award. This fall construction will be complete on Weill Hall, home to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Ford is survived by his wife, Betty, and his four children: Michael Gerald, John Gardner, Steven Meigs and Susan Elizabeth.

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University of Michigan memorial

Distinguished Alumni Service Award

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

Sources:
White House biography
Gerald Ford Library Web site