Gerald Ford Facts & Worksheets

• US President Lyndon B. Johnson chose Ford to be on the Warren Commission in 1963. There, he helped look into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and later defended the commission’s findings. Ford became the House Minority Leader in 1965. He led Republicans during the Great Society era, spoke out against US strategy in Vietnam, and later backed important Nixon administration legislative initiatives.

VICE PRESIDENCY

• Ford had worked for most of the last ten years to help Republicans win a majority in the House of Representatives. If they had, he would have been able to become Speaker of the House. He had promised his wife that he would make one last push in 1974 and then quit in 1976. On 10 October 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew suddenly quit, which changed this plan. The New York Times says that President Richard Nixon asked senior congressional leaders for advice on who should take his place, and they all agreed on the same person. Carl Albert, the Speaker of the House, later said that Nixon had no choice but to choose Ford. 
• Ford accepted the nomination and told his wife that being vice president would be a better closure to his political career. Ford was officially nominated on 12 October 1973. This was the first time the Twenty-fifth Amendment’s provision for a vice-presidential vacancy was used. The Senate confirmed his nomination on 27 November with a vote of 92 to 3. The House of Representatives did the same on 6 December with a vote of 387 to 35. Ford was sworn in as vice president after the House approved him.
• He became vice president while the Watergate scandal was getting worse. On 1 August 1974, Alexander Haig, the White House Chief of Staff, called Ford to tell him to get ready for the chance that he might become president. Ford and his wife Betty were living in Virginia suburbs at the time and were waiting to move into the official vice-presidential residence in Washington, D.C. Ford later remembered that Haig wanted to meet with him in person to tell him that a new tape recording would soon be released and that it would be very damaging.
• Haig said that the situation could lead to either impeachment proceedings or President Nixon’s resignation. He also stressed that Ford needed to be ready for quick and big changes that could make him president. Ford remembered telling his wife that he didn’t think they would ever live in the vice president’s house.

PRESIDENCY OF GERALD FORD

• Gerald Ford became president on 9 August 1974, when Nixon stepped down. He took the oath of office in the East Room of the White House. He was the only person to reach the highest office in the country without being elected president or vice president. Ford’s first speech, which was broadcast live to the whole country, acknowledged the unusual circumstances of his succession and said, “Our long national nightmare is over.” Ford chose former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to be the new vice president on 20 August 1974.
• Rockefeller, whose main rival was George H. W. Bush, had long congressional hearings. During these hearings, it was revealed that he had given large gifts to senior aides, which caused a lot of controversy. Even though some conservative Republicans did not want him to be confirmed, both the House and Senate did. Barry Goldwater was one of the most vocal opponents.
• On 8 September 1974, Ford signed Proclamation 4311, which gave Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon. This was one of Ford’s first and most important acts as president. Ford said on TV that the pardon was good for the country because it brought the Nixon story to a close.
• Shortly after he pardoned Nixon, on 16 September Ford issued the Presidential Proclamation 4313, which introduced a conditional amnesty programme for those who had evaded the draft or deserted during the Vietnam War. The conditions of the amnesty required two years in public service and reaffirmation of their allegiance to the US. A clemency board was also established to review the records and make recommendations for receiving a presidential pardon and a change in military discharge status.
• The decision drew a lot of criticism, including the resignation of Ford’s press secretary Jerald terHorst. It also added to the idea that there was a ‘corrupt bargain’ between Nixon’s resignation and Ford’s rise to power. Historians mostly agree that the pardon hurt Ford’s chances of winning the election in 1976, which Ford himself admitted.
• Ford presided over the worst economy in the US since the Great Depression with growing inflation during his tenure. In response to this, one of his first acts as the new president was to deal with the economy and create the Economic Policy Board by executive order on 30 September 1974. At a time when inflation was believed to be the main threat to the economy, much more than unemployment, Ford urged Americans to wear a WIN button, an acronym of the catchphrase ‘Whip Inflation Now’. WIN called for Americans to reduce their spending and consumption.