At the end of his remarks, Ford spoke emotionally about his predecessor. They were right to worry. Madeleine Brand speaks … Ford had never run for national office and was not even very well-known. Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 — December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States from 1974 to 1977. When Gerald Ford became president in 1974, he was just 61 -- tall, fit and broad-shouldered. 1942: Joins the U.S. Navy following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He vetoed dozens of bills, forcing the heavily Democratic Congress to make unwelcome spending cuts in order to change bills into legislation that the president would be willing to sign. His pardon of Richard Nixon sent his initially high rating sharply downward; he struggled to get majority approval ratings after that. In particular, the pardon covered Nixon's actions during the Watergate scandal. He and his wife Betty settled in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Like many former presidents, he wrote books, traveled, lectured, worked on his presidential library at the University of Michigan and played golf. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The press conference Ford refers to occurred less than three weeks after he took office and was dominated by questions about Nixon and Watergate. It was a sentiment shared by many Americans. Under no circumstances.". What steps did he take in those first days to try to calm the nation? Although there were many questions on many subjects, and although the new president handled them all with fluency, what he remembered were the questions about President Nixon, about a possible pardon, about presidential papers. Aug. 9, 1974: Sworn-in as president following Richard Nixon's resignation. At first, he spent about a third of his time talking to college students, about a third of his time in political work helping House members get elected. Mr. CANNON: His first step really was to declare as he did that the long national nightmare is over. Mr. CANNON: Well, his major accomplishment was that he served on House Appropriations Committee first. Despite the hostile nature of many of the questions, Ford was adamant about his reasons for issuing the pardon. One day during that dark period, I walked into the Oval Office and showed Ford an Associated Press story reporting that the House had rejected a bill providing funds to help resettle hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who would probably be targets of imprisonment and execution by the victorious North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. One day Ford’s dog, Liberty, made a mess on the rug in the Oval Office. On August 8, 1974, Nixon announced his resignation in a televised address to the American people. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (/ ˈ dʒ ɛr əl d /; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. In 1978 their children confronted Mrs. Ford about her alcoholism. B.) There was speculation that some sort of conspiracy must be afoot, some kind of deal with Nixon -- that the pardon could not have happened for the reasons that President Ford said it did. Succeeded Spiro Agnew in that job following Agnew's resignation. The pardon has led one historian to deem Ford one of the greatest presidents. BRAND: His image one has is of a very amiable man, an inoffensive man, somewhat bland. And that's how he came to be recognized on the Appropriations Committee, and his success on that committee brought him the responsibility of being the Republican leader in the House. After pardoning Nixon, Ford lost some ground among Republicans but still had more than half of the party behind him. Former first lady Betty Ford announced his death Tuesday in a brief statement. Gerald Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., working in the family paint factory and playing football. Finally, Ford agreed to return to the Capitol, taking the historic step of testifying before a House committee. Guidance for the Brookings community and the public on our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) », Learn more from Brookings scholars about the global response to coronavirus (COVID-19) ». Majored in economics and political science. Oct. 15, 1948: Marries Elizabeth Bloomer Warren. Democrats believed that if he were to become president, he might be beatable in the next election. The Watergate scandal `` our Constitution works ; our great republic is government... Up in Grand Rapids, where he started a law firm Tuesday morning on House Committee! 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