Ford, Gerald Rudolph definition of Ford, Gerald Rudolph in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Ford, Gerald Rudolph, 1913–2006, 38th president of the United States (1974–77), b. Omaha, Nebr. He was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr., but his parents were divorced when he was two, and when his mother remarried he assumed the name of his stepfather. Admitted to the Michigan bar in 1941, he was a member (1949–73) of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as the Republican minority leader (1965–73). Ford gained a reputation as a loyal Republican who supported his party on virtually all issues. A consistent proponent of a large defense budget, he led the Republican opposition to the Great Society Great Society, in U.S. history, term for the domestic policies of President Lyndon Johnson . In his first State of the Union message, he called for a war on poverty and the creation of a "Great Society," a prosperous nation that had overcome racial divisions.
..... Click the link for more information. programs of President Lyndon B. Johnson Johnson, Lyndon Baines, 1908–73, 36th President of the United States (1963–69), b. near Stonewall, Tex.

Early Life

Born into a farm family, he graduated (1930) from Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. . He was permanent chairman of the Republican National Convention in 1968 and 1972.

In Oct., 1973, Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon Nixon, Richard Milhous, 1913–94, 37th President of the United States (1969–74), b. Yorba Linda, Calif.

Political Career to 1968

A graduate of Whittier College and Duke Univ. law school, he practiced law in Whittier, Calif.
..... Click the link for more information. to succeed the disgraced Spiro T. Agnew Agnew, Spiro Theodore (spēr`ō), 1918–96, 39th Vice President of the United States (1969–73), b. Baltimore, Md.
..... Click the link for more information. as vice president of the United States; on Dec. 6, 1973, he was sworn in, becoming the first person to be appointed to the office under the procedures specified by the 25th Amendment. As vice president, Ford traveled widely around the country, attempting to rally for the Nixon administration the support that had eroded as a result of the Watergate affair Watergate affair, in U.S. history, series of scandals involving the administration of President Richard M. Nixon ; more specifically, the burglarizing of the Democratic party national headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C.
..... Click the link for more information. . His tenure as vice president was short, however; when Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Ford became president. He pledged to continue Nixon's foreign policy and to work to curb inflation. One month later he issued a complete pardon to Nixon for all criminal acts perpetrated by Nixon while he was president. In the 1974 congressional elections the Republicans suffered substantial losses, attributable both to Watergate and to the economy. To deal with the economic recession, Ford proposed (1975) tax cuts, limited social spending (with continued high defense expenditure), and heavy taxation on imported oil. The Democratic Congress opposed many elements of the program. Ford was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter Carter, Jimmy (James Earl Carter, Jr.), 1924–, 39th President of the United States (1977–81), b. Plains, Ga, grad. Annapolis, 1946.

Carter served in the navy, where he worked with Admiral Hyman G.
..... Click the link for more information. in the 1976 presidential election.

Bibliography

See Ford's Selected Speeches, ed. by M. V. Doyle (1973); C. Fitzgerald, ed., Gerald R. Ford (1988).