President Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr

1913 - 2006  (93 years)  Submit Photo / Document    Has 66 ancestors and 4 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Gerald Rudolph Ford
  Prefix	President
  Suffix	Jr
  Birth	14 Jul 1913	Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, United States
  Christening	Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
  Gender	Male
  FamilySearch ID	L7BZ-71C
  Death	26 Dec 2006	Rancho Mirage, Riverside, California, United States
  Burial	3 Jan 2007	Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I90389	mytree
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2024

  
  

  Father	Leslie Lynch King,   b. 25 Jul 1881, Chadron, Dawes, Nebraska, United States d. 18 Feb 1941, Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States (Age 59 years)
  Mother	Dorothy Ayer Gardner,   b. 27 Feb 1892, Harvard, McHenry, Illinois, United States d. 17 Sep 1967, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States (Age 75 years)
  Marriage	7 Sep 1912	Harvard, McHenry, Illinois, United States
  Divorce	Yes, date unknown
  Divorced	1915
  Family ID	F30001	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Bloomer,   b. 8 Apr 1918, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States d. 8 Jul 2011, Rancho Mirage, Riverside, California, United States (Age 93 years)
  Marriage	15 Oct 1948	Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States
  Children	1. Living   2. Living   3. Living   4. Living
  Family ID	F30005	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 May 2024

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 14 Jul 1913 - Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, United States Christening - - Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States Marriage - 15 Oct 1948 - Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States Death - 26 Dec 2006 - Rancho Mirage, Riverside, California, United States Burial - 3 Jan 2007 - Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  President Gerald R. Ford

  
  

• Notes

  38th President of the United States. He was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. who served as the 38th president of t h e United States from 1974 to 1977. Earlier, he served as the leader o f th e Republican Party in the House of Representatives, and then as th e 40t h vice president of the United States from 1973 to 1974. When Presi dent R ichard Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford succeeded to the presidency, b ut wa s defeated for election to a full term in 1976. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ford atte n ded the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the school's f oo tball team, winning two National Championships. Following his senior y ear , he turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers , ins tead opting to go to Yale Law School. After the attack on Pearl Har bor, h e enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving from 1942 to 1946; h e lef t as a lieutenant commander. Ford began his political career in 194 9 as t he U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district . He ser ved in this capacity for 25 years, the final nine of them as th e House mi nority leader. In December 1973, two months after the resignat ion of Spir o Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice p residency un der the terms of the 25th Amendment. After the subsequent re signation o f President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed th e presidency . To date, this was the last intra-term U.S. presidential su ccession. As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, which marked a move towa r d détente in the Cold War. With the collapse of South Vietnam nine mont h s into his presidency, US involvement in the Vietnam War essentially en de d. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four deca de s since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession d uri ng his tenure. In one of his most controversial acts, he granted a pr esid ential pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal . Dur ing Ford's presidency, foreign policy was characterized in procedur al ter ms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corres pondin g curb on the powers of the president. In the Republican president ial pri mary campaign of 1976, Ford defeated former California Governor R onald Re agan for the Republican nomination. He narrowly lost the preside ntial ele ction to the Democratic challenger, former Georgia Governor Jim my Carter . Surveys of historians and political scientists have ranked Fo rd as a be low-average president. Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republic a n Party. His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put h i m at odds with conservative members of the party in the 1990s and earl y 2 000s. In retirement, Ford set aside the enmity he had felt towards Ca rte r following the 1976 election, and the two former presidents develop e d a close friendship. After experiencing a series of health problems , h e died at home on December 26, 2006.