Gerald R. Ford

President Gerald R. Ford, born July 14, 1913, grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his integrity and selflessness were instilled in him. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Yale Law School, Lt. Cmdr. Ford served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Monterey in the South Pacific theater during World War II. After the war, he returned to Grand Rapids, where in October 1948 he married the former Betty Bloomer. They have four children – Mike, Jack, Steve and Susan – seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Soon after their wedding, voters in Michigan sent the Fords to Washington for the first of his 13 terms in the House of Representatives. The new Congressman quickly established a reputation for personal integrity and political moderation, a reputation that defined his entire political career. In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Congressman Ford to serve on the Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. By the early 1970s, Ford concluded he would never realize his ambition to be Speaker of the House and decided with Betty that they would return home in January 1977.

But history and the American people weren’t ready to part with Gerald Ford. In December 1973, he was confirmed as Vice President of the United States. And just eight months later, on Aug. 9, 1974, Ford assumed the Presidency amidst the gravest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. Upon taking the Presidential Oath, he spoke to the American people: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers.”

The Presidency of Gerald Ford is defined by his personal integrity and unbending adherence to the truth. Not only did the new President confront widespread public disillusionment in the wake of the Watergate scandals and Vietnam War, he also grappled with a devastating economic recession and mounting tensions around the globe. The President who never sought the Presidency resolved that his time in office would be a time of healing. He promptly announced conditions of forgiveness for Vietnam-era draft evaders and pardoned his predecessor in an act that was as personally courageous as it was politically detrimental. As House Speaker Tip O’Neill observed, “God has been good to America, especially during difficult times. At the time of the Civil War, He gave us Abraham Lincoln. And at the time of Watergate, He gave us Gerald Ford – the right man at the right time who was able to put the Nation back together.” Thus, by the time of the Nation’s bicentennial, the American people had a renewed pride in the Presidency, the nation, and themselves.

Upon returning to private life, President Ford remained active in public, civic and charitable activities, including receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom and, jointly with Mrs. Ford, the Congressional Gold Medal. On Dec. 26, 2006, Gerald R. Ford passed away, having fulfilled the legacy instilled in him more than 90 years ago: Love of God, Love of Country, Love of Family.