Gerald R. Ford

1. Gerald R. Ford

2. Gerald Ford • VP- Nelson Rockefeller • Dates in office: 1974-1977 • July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006 • Elected from Michigan • Republican

3. Political Background • 1948-73 U.S. Representative from Michigan • 1965-73 U.S. House Minority Leader • 1973 Appointed vice president by Richard Nixon • 1974-77 Thirty-eighth U.S. president following the resignation of Richard Nixon • 1976 Loses presidential election to Jimmy Carter

4. Ford’sVice Presidential Appointment a. Appointed by Nixon and confirmed by congress after the resignation of VP Spiro Agnew under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution b. Sworn in as VP on December 6, 1973

5. Terms of Acquisition to the Presidency a. August 9, 1974 – Ford took the presidential oath of office after Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal b. “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” He Asked the American public to pray for Nixon and his family.

6. Ford selected New York governor Nelson Rockefeller as his VP and kept Nixon’s cabinet in place • Ford and Rockefeller are the only president and VP never elected to their positions serving at the same time

8. Pardon of Nixon • Proclamation 4311, Granting a Pardon to Richard Nixon • “Someone must write an end to an American tragedy” • Once Nixon was pardoned (the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it) Ford’s approval rating nosedived – 71% to 49% in less than a week

9. Speech Pardoning Nixon d. Critics believed a Republican “deal” allowed him to become president if he pardoned Nixon

10. V. Domestic Policy a. Vietnam Era Reconciliation Program 1. Clemency planfor draft-dodgers- to give them leniency/compassion/ forgiveness for avoiding to go to Vietnam (controversial because Ford had draft-dodger sons) 2. In exchange for forgiveness, the draft-dodgers had to reaffirm their allegiance to the U.S. and spend 2 years performing public service.

11. b. Economic Troubles 1. Inflation continued to increase – called by Ford “domestic enemy number one” 2.“Whip Inflation Now” (WIN) – program designed to reduce federal spending and created a national volunteer organization to find ways to keep prices down 3. Congress rejected Ford’s plan; a year later Congress approved tax cuts but rejected a spending cap on federal budget.

12. 1975 State of the Union address • First Address to Congress and the Nation ... “my motto toward the Congress iscommunication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation. ...”

13. VI. Foreign Affairs a. Presided over the official end to the Vietnam War Cease fire 1973 South Vietnam fallsto communism with the fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975 to North Vietnam control

14. b. Approved several million dollars in aid for war in Angola – area trying to fight communist guerrillas c. Approved aid to Israel and Egypt – helped leaders of the warring nations to agree to interim peace proposals d. Negotiated an arms-reduction agreement with the USSR

15. e. Authorized a successful military response to a seizing of an American merchant ship by Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces f. Reorganized the CIA after reviewing involvement Cuba and Watergate (other problems as well)

16. Helsinki Accords • the Helsinki Accords were pretty broad, but the one issue that was important to the United States, was the elevation of Human Rights, ...signed by US, USSR, 33 others -

17. h. Aid to South Vietnam and Cambodia • The most important aid offered to these two countries after the withdrawal of American involvement was helping refugees escape

18. Aid to South Vietnam:Approved several million dollars in aid for war in Angola – area trying to fight communist guerrillas Aid to Cambodia:Authorized a military response trying to defeat Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces ***The Khmer Rouge is remembered mainly for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to two million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labor. Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society—a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects (est. 7.5 million people dead , as of 1975),

19. VII. Random Information about Ford Asked the Marine Band to play the University of Michigan fight song rather than Hail to the Chief

20. b. Two assassination attempts 1. Lynette Alice “Squeaky” Frome – follower of Charles Manson, approached Ford in a Sacramento hotel with her hand extended (had a gun – Ford thought she wanted to shake hands!) 2. Sara Jane Moore – identified as a radical, fired at Ford across the street from his hotel in San Francisco, California

21. Squeaky Frome and Ford Escaping an Assassination Attempt

22. Sara Jane Moore 3. Both are serving life sentences (1965 law making the attempt to assassinate a president a federal crime)

23. VIII. President during the (10)Bicentennial Celebration 1. “Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be President of the United States on its 200th birthday” July 4, 1976 2. Celebrated the day in NYC