Gerald R. Ford, Jr.

Gerald Ford


38th President of the United States
In office August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977
Vice President	None (Aug–Dec. 1974) Nelson Rockefeller (1974–1977)
Preceded by	Richard Nixon
Succeeded by	Jimmy Carter
40th Vice President of the United States
In office December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974
President	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Spiro Agnew
Succeeded by	Nelson Rockefeller
House Minority Leader
In office January 3, 1965 – December 6, 1973
Whip	Leslie C. Arends
Preceded by	Charles A. Halleck
Succeeded by	John Jacob Rhodes
Chairman of the House Republican Conference
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965
Leader	Charles A. Halleck
Preceded by	Charles B. Hoeven
Succeeded by	Melvin Laird
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 5th district
In office January 3, 1949 – December 6, 1973
Preceded by	Bartel J. Jonkman
Succeeded by	Richard Vander Veen
Personal details
Born	Leslie Lynch King Jr. (1913-07-14)July 14, 1913 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	December 26, 2006(2006-12-26) (aged 93) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cerebrovascular disease and Coronary heart disease
Resting place	Gerald R. Ford Museum Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Betty Bloomer (m. 1948)
Children	Michael, John, Steven, and Susan
Education	University of Michigan Yale University
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Christianity (Episcopalian)
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1942–46
Rank	Lieutenant commander
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 9 campaign stars World War II Victory Medal

The Ford Cabinet
Office	Name	Term

President	Gerald Ford	1974–1977
Vice President	none*	1974
Vice President	Nelson Rockefeller	1974–1977

Secretary of State	Henry Kissinger	1974–1977

Secretary of Treasury	William E. Simon	1974–1977

Secretary of Defense	James R. Schlesinger	1974–1975
Secretary of Defense	Donald Rumsfeld	1975–1977

Attorney General	William B. Saxbe	1974–1975
Attorney General	Edward H. Levi	1975–1977

Secretary of the Interior	Rogers Morton	1974–1975
	Stanley K. Hathaway	1975
	Thomas S. Kleppe	1975–1977

Secretary of Agriculture	Earl Butz	1974–1976
Secretary of Agriculture	John Albert Knebel	1976–1977

Secretary of Commerce	Frederick B. Dent	1974–1975
	Rogers Morton	1975
	Elliot Richardson	1975–1977

Secretary of Labor	Peter J. Brennan	1974–1975
	John Thomas Dunlop	1975–1976
	William Usery Jr.	1976–1977

Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare	Caspar Weinberger	1974–1975
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare	F. David Mathews	1975–1977

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	James Thomas Lynn	1974–1975
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Carla Anderson Hills	1975–1977

Secretary of Transportation	Claude Brinegar	1974–1975
Secretary of Transportation	William Thaddeus Coleman Jr.	1975–1977

Chief of Staff	Alexander Haig	1974
	Donald Rumsfeld	1974–1975
	Dick Cheney	1975–1977

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Russell E. Train	1974–1977

Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Roy Ash	1974–1975
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	James Thomas Lynn	1975–1977

United States Trade Representative	William Denman Eberle	1974–1975
United States Trade Representative	Frederick B. Dent	1975–1977
* A vacancy by ascension briefly occurred for the position of Vice President from August 9, 1974 to December 19, 1974 after Richard Nixon's resignation from office.

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (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. Prior to this he was the 40th Vice President of the United States, serving from 1973 until President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew on October 10, 1973. Becoming president upon Richard Nixon's departure on August 9, 1974, he claimed the distinction as the first and to date only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected to either office. Before ascending to the vice presidency, Ford served 25 years as U.S. Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, the final nine of them as the House Minority Leader.

As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. 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. In the Republican presidential primary campaign of 1976, Ford defeated then-former California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. He narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic challenger, then-former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, on November 2.

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