Gerald Ford is. Gerald Ford: domestic and foreign policy (briefly), biography, photo Who killed Gerald Ford

Dorothy King gave birth to Leslie to her husband at 3202 Woolworth Avenue. The boy's father, Leslie Lynch King Sr., was engaged in the wool trade. But the marriage broke up due to everyday life and assault 16 days after the birth of the child. Dorothy took the child and went to her parents in Michigan, living there for two and a half years. Dorothy soon tried her luck again and married paint salesman Gerald Ford Sr. on February 1, 1916.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was a scout, played football, and was a diligent student. In both of his hobbies he reached enviable heights. In scouts, Ford Jr. received the highest rank - “Eagle Scout”. It is noteworthy that this is the only Eagle Scout who became the President of the United States. And on the Grand Springs High School football team, Junior became captain. While studying at the university, Ford Jr. continued to play football and became a champion twice in 1932 and 1933. Later, Ford was honored to be invited to the All-Star team and showed off his skills on the football field more than once.

In 1935, Gerald graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in economics. He receives offers from two American football clubs: the Detroit Lions (Michigan) and the Green Bay Packers (Wisconsin). Both proposals were rejected. Gerald chose to become a boxing coach, work as an assistant football coach at Yale University, and attend law school. His real desire was to study law at Yale. However, the management considered that his work would interfere with his studies. Nevertheless, in the summer of ’37, Gerald took preparatory courses at Yale and in ’38 became a law student at Yale University. Ford graduated from law school in 1941 and was admitted to the Michigan State Bar.

During World War II, Gerald takes military instructor courses, after which he trains military personnel. With the entry of the United States into the war, Ford Jr. was sent by command to the aircraft carrier Monterey, which took part in combat operations in the Pacific Ocean. In particular, he participated in the Battle of the Mariana Islands. In February 1946, Rudolf was transferred to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant commander. Has medals, awards and insignia.

After retirement, he entered politics within the Republican Party. His first campaign in 1948 was unexpectedly successful and Ford was elected to Congress.

Ford served as a member of the US House of Representatives from Michigan for nearly 25 years; for 8 years he was the leader of the Republican minority in the House.

During his presidency, Ford suffered two assassination attempts. On September 5, 1975, in Sacramento (California), Charles Manson follower Lynette Fromme pointed a gun at Ford, but did not have time to shoot, as she was immediately captured by a Secret Service officer. Seventeen days later, on September 22, in San Francisco, Sarah Jane Moore, known for radical views, shot at Ford with a revolver and missed, after which she was disarmed by retired Marine Oliver Sipple.

Ford served as ex-president of the United States for 29 years, but did not break Herbert Hoover's record. On November 12, 2006, he broke the record previously held by Ronald Reagan to become the longest-serving US president. Died on December 26, 2006 in

Soon she had to switch to helping her husband, whose health began to noticeably deteriorate. Betty had to admit him to hospitals several times, but doctors were unable to cure the 93-year-old patient. On the evening of December 26, 2006, Gerald R. Ford died at home from arteriosclerosis.

The state funeral lasted three days. In addition to the family, President Bush, former presidents and their spouses, members of Congress, the Supreme Court and the diplomatic corps, as well as many other dignitaries, attended the funeral ceremony in the Capitol and the National Cathedral in Washington.

The coffin with the body of the deceased was transported first to Grand Rapids, where a funeral service was held in the Episcopal Church, and then, having been transported to the city of Rancho Mirage, it was installed in the premises of the Museum. Ford. In these three cities, tens of thousands of US citizens came to say goodbye to Ford. Mourning was declared in the country. On January 3, 2007, the funeral of the ex-president took place on the territory of the museum.

After the death of her husband, the elderly Betty, cared for by her children and grandchildren, continued to live in. Rancho Mirage. However, due to age and deteriorating health, especially after surgery on her legs, her social activities almost completely ceased.

On July 8, 2011, three months after her 93rd birthday, she died while being treated at a medical center. After a farewell ceremony attended by First Lady Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, former President Bush and other famous people in the country, Betty Ford was buried next to her husband.

In memory of Gerald R. Ford, postage stamps have been issued, coins and medals have been minted, and his statues have been installed in a number of cities.

Films, books and articles are devoted to the life and work of the thirty-eighth president. Most authors consider the presidency of Ford, who accidentally ended up in the White House, to be weak and argue that he left a mark in US history only as a person who forgave Nixon.

When studying US history, any attentive reader will notice that the least studied period is the presidency of Gerald Ford. But after the end of World War II, this period in the life of a powerful power was perhaps the most tragic.

Characteristics of the time period under President Ford

In fact, the rise in crime and the economic crisis increased tension in society. The number of citizens losing trust in government and becoming disillusioned with American society also grew. and its completion, inglorious for the American state, aggravated the situation.

Despite this, President Ford was able, thanks to his calm and balanced character, to restore citizens' trust in presidential power and strengthen hope for a better future. During his presidency, in 1975, a joint Soviet-American flight was carried out under the Soyuz-Apollo program with spacecraft docking. Preparations for this event began under Nixon. In addition, at the same time the United States solemnly celebrated the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the American Declaration of Independence.

However, this was not enough to raise the prestige of the Republican Party, which had been undermined by the Watergate scandal, which prevented Gerald Ford from becoming president for a second term.

Gerald Ford: biography of childhood and youth

Gerald Rudolph Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the United States, who served from 1973 to 1976, was born on July 14, 1913. This event took place in Omaha, Nebraska. The boy's name was Leslie Lynch King. After a short period of time, the family broke up. The mother of the future head, Dorothy King, remarried. This time her chosen one was merchant Gerald Rudolph Ford, originally from her hometown of Grand Springs. Thus, Leslie Lynch King one day turned, thanks to his stepfather, into Gerald Rudolph Ford.

As a child, young Gerald was a scout, in the hierarchy of this organization he reached the very top and received the highest rank of Eagle Scout. In the school football team, the teenager, and then the young man, was captain. He did not give up playing football even while studying at the University of Michigan.

Having completed his studies at this alma mater in 1935, the young man continued his education at Yale University Law School. Completion of studies - 1941.

Biography of Gerald Ford before his appearance in big politics

Afterwards, Gerald Ford attended special courses, where he trained military personnel as a military instructor.

In 1943, Ford's instructor career ended, and he served on the USS Monterey until 1946. This ship, while in the Pacific Ocean, took part in a number of military operations against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

After leaving the reserve, Gerald Ford returned to his city of Palm Springs, where he began working as a practicing lawyer. Then he decided that he would go into politics.

Participation in the political life of the country in the period before entering the Oval Office

The year 1948 arrived. Ford is nominated by the Republican Party for the US House of Representatives. His career in big politics began with the victory in these elections. Ford was elected to this position several times over the years, until 1973.

Sitting in the House of Representatives, the politician participated in the investigation into the sensational assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. The Warren Commission was involved in the case, and Ford was an active member of it. True, this work did not bring any special laurels, because the results of the investigation, reported by the commission to the US authorities and public, have been sharply criticized to this day.

To complete the characterization of Ford as a politician, we note that he opposed escalation by the United States and was a supporter and friend of President Nixon.

Rising to the top of power

In 1973, as a result of a tax scandal, Spiro Agnew, who held the post of vice president at that time, was forced to resign. Using a constitutional amendment, President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford to succeed Agnew.

A year later, the notorious Watergate scandal broke out, Nixon was threatened with impeachment. This led to the voluntary early resignation of the head of the White House. So, without elections or congresses, Vice President Gerald Ford, according to the constitution, became President of the United States, officially taking this post in 1974, on August 9. Before continuing our story, it would be appropriate to illustrate it. So, meet Gerald Ford (photo below).

Foreign policy

In this area of ​​activity, it can be argued that President Gerald Ford has left a significant mark on international history. Continuing the policy of détente begun by previous President Nixon, Ford paid a visit to the USSR, continued the normalization of relations with communist China that began in 1971, and ended the Vietnam War.

At the same time, there were also negative aspects. Thus, bypassing Congress, at the direction of President Ford, a special operation was carried out in Cambodia. A US merchant ship detained by Cambodian warships and its crew of 39 sailors returned home unharmed, but American Marines (41 people) were killed and the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville was bombed from the air. In 1975, again unbeknownst to Congress, Ford authorized assistance to anti-government forces during the Civil War. Gerald Ford's foreign policy, among other things, had two important directions that deserve special attention. This is detente and Vietnam. Let's talk about this in more detail later.

Relieving Tension

In 1975, President Ford made a visit to the USSR, where in Vladivostok he met with the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev. At this meeting, the state of relations between the USSR and the USA, and international problems, and ways to reduce the threat of universal restrictions on strategic offensive weapons.

At the same time, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords on security and cooperation.

However, even in this field, congressional Democrats resisted the president’s efforts. Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the 1972 USSR-USSR Trade Agreement, which tied the implementation of this agreement to the situation with civil rights in the USSR.

Vietnam

A special page in American history is the participation of the United States in the Vietnam War, or, as progressive politicians and journalists called it, the US Vietnam adventure. Without dwelling on all the vicissitudes and circumstances of this painful campaign for American society, we will only say that during the years of Ford’s reign it was already known that the reason for the start of the bombing of North Vietnam, the so-called. The Tonkin incident was a fake, concocted by American intelligence agencies. Almost the entire world morally or materially supported the struggle of the Vietnamese people for independence and reunification of the country. In 1975, Saigon, the capital of the Republic of South Vietnam, was stormed by the DRV troops, and a victory banner was raised over the presidential palace.

The Americans evacuated their embassy and those Vietnamese who could not remain in the liberated country.

However, the direct participation of American troops in hostilities ended earlier, in 1973, with the signing of a peace treaty in Paris.

The impact of the war on American society was so strong that the United States abolished conscription and switched to a contract army. This reform began under President Nixon. The last conscript left the US Army in 1974.

In general, both society and the authorities were struck by the so-called as a result of this war. Vietnam syndrome. That is, society and the state carefully avoided reasons to be drawn into the same war. The consequences of this influenced the foreign policy activities of US presidents and the US Congress for a long time.

At the same time, the actions of US administrations in previous periods to mislead public opinion, both in the international arena and in America itself, became known.

Domestic policy

In this area, a number of the president's actions caused growing discontent among citizens. So, in 1974, on September 8, Ford issued a decree pardoning his predecessor for all unidentified offenses against the country committed as President of the United States.

As a result of this amnesty, although it complied with constitutional norms, President Gerald Ford did not have a good relationship with Congress. Moreover, the majority there was for the Democrats.

Thus, Congress refused to reduce appropriations for social needs. During his years in office, Ford himself imposed more than 50 vetoes on various bills. In turn, Congress did not agree with the president and approved them again. Ford also lost on the issue of income tax rebates. The president was essentially a conservative, while the majority of congressmen were liberals. And, contrary to the position of the head of the White House, these discounts were received by low-income individuals. Thus, Gerald Ford's domestic policies could not be effective in the face of constant struggle with Congress.

Economy

At the time Gerald Ford assumed the presidency and during his reign, the United States was in a deep economic crisis: inflation and unemployment were constantly growing, production was in decline. The authorities were forced to significantly reduce government spending. Funding for any program not related in one way or another to the needs of the Pentagon was effectively stopped.

End of political career and death

Despite a number of achievements and efforts, despite all the efforts made by Gerald Ford, the domestic and foreign policies briefly described in this article were not widely popular in American society. Measures to reduce inflation were carried out urgently, but this caused unemployment to rise to 12%, beginning the largest decline in the US economy since the Great Depression of 1929-1933. In 1974, the Republicans' regular opponents, the Democrats, won the midterm elections for both houses of Congress. Next came their turn of triumph in the race for the presidency. The next - thirty-ninth - President of the United States became a candidate from the Democratic Party.

Gerald Ford, having lost the presidential election to a candidate from a rival party, left the Oval Office and worked for a long time at the American Enterprise Institute.

During his tenure at the highest level of power in the United States, Ford survived two failed attempts on his life. Having become ex-president, he actually left big politics.

In 2006, on December 26, former US President Gerald Ford, whose domestic and foreign policies were already beginning to be forgotten, died, leaving behind four children. And of course, a very noticeable mark on world history.

Such conditions were created in 1973, when the current Vice President S. Agnew left his post due to allegations of corruption, and Nixon approved in Congress as his successor his friend Congressman Ford, who had a reputation as a principled and honest politician. It can therefore be stated that Ford, who had never been popularly elected, ended up in the White House by pure chance.

The future president of the United States was born on July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, and his parents were the son of a banker and wool merchant Leslie Ling King and Dorothy Ayer Gardner, the daughter of a businessman and mayor. A year later the couple lived together and sixteen days after the birth of their first child, Leslie Ling Jr., Dorothy, due to her husband’s beatings, took her son, went to her parents’ house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and soon officially divorced the marriage.

In February 1916, she married again, and her husband, an entrepreneur in the paint industry, Gerald Rudolph Ford, adopted a three-year-old boy and changed his name to his own. A few years later, Gerald went to school. Along with his studies, he actively played football. After school, the young man entered the oldest University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and, graduating in 1935, received a Bachelor of Arts degree. During his studies, he was the leader of the student football team, which successfully competed in two annual national championships.

That same year, Gerald moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he worked as an assistant football coach, and soon began attending classes at Yale University Law School. Having completed four years of study, obtained a license and joined the Michigan State Bar, in 1941 the young man opened a joint office with a friend in Grand Rapids.

After the United States entered World War II, the lawyer, postponing his professional activities, entered military service and first attended instructor courses. Then, in May 1942, Ensign Ford was assigned to the North Carolina Naval School, where he taught navigation, gunnery, and other academic subjects for a year, and coached students in football, basketball, boxing, and other sports.

Some time later, Gerald, having become a lieutenant, commissioned the new aircraft carrier Monterey and then, after serving on it for a year and a half, participated in a number of battles with the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean. In 1945–1946 The future politician, awarded four prestigious medals for courage and courage, is sent to the naval schools of the states of California and Illinois, where he, as before, teaches and at the same time conducts sports training with students.

At the end of June 1946, Ford retired with the rank of lieutenant commander and returned to the practice of law. Soon, deciding to switch to political activity, he joined the ranks of the Republican Party and nominated himself as a delegate from the state of Michigan in the US House of Representatives.

A year before the parliamentary elections, in August 1947, the thirty-four-year-old lawyer and war veteran met Elizabeth Ann Bloomer, and a romantic relationship began between them. She was born in Chicago and was the only daughter of a traveling salesman for a trading company; her parents and two older brothers simply called her Betty. Having received secondary education, she graduated from dance school and, having organized a troupe, traveled around the country with concerts.

Elizabeth was in an unsuccessful marriage for five years, taught dance to children, including disabled people, worked in a frozen food factory, as a store clerk, and as a clothing designer in a department store. Gerald and Betty's meeting culminated in a wedding ceremony on October 15, 1948, at the Grand Rapids Episcopal Church, after which the newlyweds attended a political rally and a football game.

The following month, Ford was elected congressman. Subsequently, being re-elected more than ten times, he served in the House of Representatives for twenty-five years, until December 6, 1973. The couple settled in the suburbs of Washington, and here in 1949-1957. their three sons and a daughter were born.

The congressman was a member of the Appropriations and Defense Committees, and also served on the government commission investigating the assassination of President Kennedy (he, in particular, was tasked with studying in detail the biography of Lee Harvey Oswald). In addition, he participated in the development of various bills, invariably showing conservatism, and objected to many proposals of the country's presidents. By the way, colleagues often even called him a reactionary and a hidden racist.

For example, he did not support the laws initiated by the Truman administration on the minimum wage and federal assistance to the education system. He reacted negatively to President Eisenhower's proposals for government assistance to farmers and the construction of modern highways. He did not approve of the measures developed by the Kennedy administration to stimulate economic growth and improve housing legislation.

In 1965, Ford was elected Republican minority leader, and over the next eight years he exerted an even greater negative influence on the activities of the House of Representatives. It became especially acute during the discussion of the Great Society program proposed by President Johnson, which envisaged the implementation of a set of socio-economic reforms in order to eradicate poverty in the country. Just some of the proposals of the next President R.M. For example, in the economic sphere, the Republicans considered it possible to support Nixon.

At the same time, participating in discussions of foreign policy and especially the events of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Ford and his fellow party members approved almost all decisions of the executive branch (with the exception of the escalation of the war in Vietnam). On December 6, 1973, the ex-congressman was officially proclaimed vice-president of the country and over the next eight months successfully fulfilled his official duties.

On August 9, 1974, Gerald R. Ford became, as we already mentioned, President of the United States. Since he was not re-elected to a second term two years later, the Ford couple left the White House on January 20, 1977. During the two years and almost five and a half months that the thirty-eighth president was in power, a number of negative events occurred that significantly complicated his activities.

The most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s erupted in the United States, accompanied by a catastrophic increase in inflation and unemployment. As a result of the parliamentary elections, members of the Democratic Party in conflict with the Republicans received an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress.

A deep split in society was caused by the president's announcement of a pardon for the Watergate scandal of his predecessor, Nixon. Some called Ford's version of his desire to save the nation from a painful trial plausible. Others argued that the pardon was just a disguised form of payment for the president.

In Sacramento and San Francisco (California), on the mornings of September 5 and 21, 1975, when Ford was leaving the hotel, attempts were made on his life, respectively, by a twenty-three-year-old associate of a well-known serial killer in the United States and a forty-five-year-old member of a left-wing radical organization. Fortunately, both attempts to assassinate the head of state were unsuccessful (the girl’s revolver misfired, and the second criminal missed when shooting).

Ford's presidency was marked by the complete collapse of foreign policy in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, in which pro-communist governments came to power, and the United States had to urgently remove military equipment, military personnel and civilians from there. America's intervention in the civil war in Angola, where a socialist regime of government was established with the help of the Cuban army, also ended in failure.

At the same time, despite the above circumstances, the president, using methods of persuasion of legislators, often compromising with them and widely using the veto power, was able to achieve the implementation of some innovations useful for the economy.

For example, in order to quickly eliminate any emergency situations, a law was passed that for the first time clarified the rights and responsibilities of each of the three branches of government. The presidential administration approved a congressional resolution on a temporary reduction in government spending on social protection of the population and federal construction projects for unemployed citizens. To reduce the cost of expensive imported oil, the profitability of domestic energy was actively increased. In addition, the president reformed the tax and judicial systems. In solving economic problems, great assistance was provided by the staff of the American Enterprise Institute, organized in Washington back in the early 40s. Thanks to the efforts of the administration, by the end of Ford's presidency, business activity of businessmen had revived, inflation had dropped, and the unemployment rate had noticeably decreased. In 1974–1977 Other important positive events also occurred.

A satellite navigation system was launched, making it possible to accurately determine the coordinates of any objects on land, in water and in the air, and the first docking of American and Soviet spacecraft took place. The railroads began using improved diesel locomotives, new Washington metro stations opened, digital cameras went on sale, Bill Gates founded Microsoft, and eight scientists received the Nobel Prize.

The detente between the USA and the USSR continued. On November 23–24, 1974, a meeting between Ford and the leader of the Soviet Union L.I. took place near Vladivostok. Brezhnev. Agreements on cooperation in a number of sectors of the economy and a treaty on the limitation of strategic arms were signed.

In August of the following year, representatives of the USA, USSR, Canada and thirty-three European states signed the Final Act of the Helsinki Treaty on Cooperation and Security in Europe. In May 1976, the United States and the USSR signed an agreement to limit nuclear tests. US relations with the People's Republic of China developed positively.

At all stages of Ford's career, his wife Betty provided him with full support. During her husband's service in Congress, she not only managed the house and raised four children, but also managed the congressman's office in the Capitol. Moreover, to help Gerald establish informal relationships with his colleagues, she collaborated with the “Congressmen’s Wives Club.”

A month after moving to the White House, she underwent surgery to remove a breast cancer tumor, and after successful treatment, the first lady began her duties. She skillfully managed the staff, organized crowded receptions, willingly answered any questions from journalists, and in conversations with her husband expressed her opinion on government affairs, for example, she advised to forgive Nixon.

In her free time, she was interested in sports, gardening and volunteer social activities (she demanded mandatory registration of personal firearms, supported the legalization of abortion, participated in programs to help the elderly and mentally retarded children, and sought the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing women equal rights with men).

After the 1976 presidential campaign, the first lady, deeply affected by her husband's defeat, began taking anti-anxiety pills, drinking and using drugs. Therefore, when the Ford family, having left Washington, settled in their own house in Rancho Mirage, California, the family had to place Betty in a rehabilitation center, where she gradually got rid of her addictions.

Subsequently, the couple lived together for almost thirty years.

Ford provided campaigning support to Republican Party candidates in election campaigns, participated in party conferences, and attended presidential inaugurations and memorial events.

He also headed the board of trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowship organization, served on the directors of a number of financial and industrial corporations, collaborated with the American Enterprise Institute for many years, and was a member of the World Trade Center Reconstruction Commission.

The ex-president did not hesitate to criticize the actions of the country's leaders in the media, objecting, for example, to the appointment of some members of the Supreme Court, discrimination against sexual minorities and the invasion of Iraq. He was often invited to the White House for consultations and official receptions. One of them took place in 2003 on the occasion of the 90th birthday of the former politician.

Before the anniversary, he competed in several golf competitions, received a doctorate from the University of Connecticut, published an autobiography and a humorous collection of political anecdotes, founded a library at the University of Michigan and a museum dedicated to his life in Grand Rapids.

The wife of the ex-president founded and for many years headed the Betty Ford Center for the treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts, published memoirs (remembering her passion for dancing, she even went to Moscow and watched the ballet “The Nutcracker”), and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Gold Medal for her multifaceted public activities Congress.

Soon she had to switch to helping her husband, whose health began to noticeably deteriorate. Betty had to admit him to hospitals several times, but doctors were unable to cure the 93-year-old patient. On the evening of December 26, 2006, Gerald R. Ford died at home from arteriosclerosis.

The state funeral lasted three days. In addition to the family, President Bush, former presidents and their spouses, members of Congress, the Supreme Court and the diplomatic corps, as well as many other dignitaries, attended the funeral ceremony in the Capitol and the National Cathedral in Washington.

The coffin with the body of the deceased was transported first to Grand Rapids, where a funeral service was held in the Episcopal Church, and then, having been transported to the city of Rancho Mirage, it was installed in the premises of the Museum. Ford. In these three cities, tens of thousands of US citizens came to say goodbye to Ford. Mourning was declared in the country. On January 3, 2007, the funeral of the ex-president took place on the territory of the museum.

After the death of her husband, the elderly Betty, cared for by her children and grandchildren, continued to live in. Rancho Mirage. However, due to age and deteriorating health, especially after surgery on her legs, her social activities almost completely ceased.

On July 8, 2011, three months after her 93rd birthday, she died while being treated at a medical center. After a farewell ceremony attended by First Lady Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, former President Bush and other famous people in the country, Betty Ford was buried next to her husband.

In memory of Gerald R. Ford, postage stamps have been issued, coins and medals have been minted, and his statues have been installed in a number of cities.

Films, books and articles are devoted to the life and work of the thirty-eighth president. Most authors consider the presidency of Ford, who accidentally ended up in the White House, to be weak and argue that he left a mark in US history only as a person who forgave Nixon.

Material prepared

Leonid LURIE

38th President of the United States

American Republican politician. President of the United States (1974–1977), Vice President (1973–1974), Member of the House of Representatives (1949–1973), Republican Minority Leader of the House (1965–1973). Lawyer by training, veteran of the Second World War. The only head of American state in history who took this post not as a result of a presidential election. Died on December 26, 2006.

The future US president was given the name Leslie Lynch King Jr. at birth. He was born on July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska. Soon, Leslie's parents divorced, and in 1916, his mother Dorothy King married a second time in her hometown of Grand Springs (Michigan) to merchant Gerald Rudolff Ford, who gave his stepson his name. So Leslie King became Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.

As a child, Ford joined the Boy Scouts, where in 1927 he received the highest rank - Eagle Scout. At Grand Springs High School he played sports and became captain of the school's football team. He achieved serious success in football during his student years. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1935 and from Yale Law School in 1941, where he was an assistant coach for the university football team. After the United States entered World War II, he was sent to military instructor courses in 1942, then trained military personnel in various naval disciplines, and was also a sports trainer. In 1943, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier Monterey and took part in combat operations in the Pacific Ocean.

In February 1946, Ford was transferred to the Navy Reserve with the rank of lieutenant commander. He returned to Palm Springs, where he practiced law and became politically active. In 1948, he nominated himself as a candidate for the Republican Party in elections to the House of Representatives of Congress and defeated the incumbent Democratic congressman. He was re-elected many times: he sat continuously in the Chamber until 1973. He became a member of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. In society, the results of the commission's work aroused criticism: it testified that the murder was committed by a loner - Lee Harvey Oswald, , , .

Since 1965, Ford has led the Republican minority in the House of Representatives. He gained fame as a critic of the social programs of the presidential administration of Lyndon Johnson (the so-called Great Society program) and an opponent of the escalation of the military conflict in Vietnam.

Ford's career took a dramatic turn in 1973 when President Richard Nixon, whom he had met in Congress back in 1949, named Ford to succeed Vice President Spiro Agnew. Agnew was forced to resign due to allegations of tax evasion. Nixon invoked the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution for the first time in history and appointed Ford to the second post in the government hierarchy.

The following year, Nixon himself resigned: the case of abuses during the 1972 election campaign, known as the Watergate scandal, threatened the president with impeachment. On August 9, 1974, Ford assumed the presidency in accordance with the Constitution. He became the first and only president in US history who came to the White House not as a result of a presidential election. Soon after this, he granted his predecessor an amnesty for all crimes that he may have committed during his years in power. Ford's decision helped avoid further social destabilization that would have resulted from continuing to prosecute Nixon, but it caused a powerful backlash from Americans. Critics believed that the pardon was the result of a deal between Nixon and Ford, that is, in fact, payment for the presidency.

The new presidential administration faced serious economic difficulties. Inflation was growing in the United States, and the administration launched a public campaign to combat it: badges with the inscription WIN (Whip Inflation Now) were distributed among Americans. Quite predictably, this did not give any real results. When the US economy entered another cyclical downturn, the Ford government resorted to a policy of cutting government spending. Ford repeatedly vetoed decisions on the allocation of funds for non-military needs made by Congress: Democrats won control of both houses in the 1974 midterm elections.

During the years of Ford's presidency, the US position in the international arena was shaken. In particular, American ambitions failed in Vietnam, where the leftist regime finally established itself, and in Angola, where revolutionary rebels won with the support of Cuba. A high-profile incident occurred in May 1975: an American merchant ship was captured by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, and the president ordered the start of an operation to free it. Errors in the planning of the operation led to the death of 41 Marines.

In relations with the USSR, the Ford administration pursued a policy of “détente”—its chief architect was Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Negotiations on strategic arms limitation continued, and in 1974 Ford visited the USSR, where he met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. In 1975, the Agreement on Security and Cooperation in Europe was signed in Helsinki. The policy of "détente" provoked powerful criticism from the right wing of the Republican Party: conservatives accused Ford of actually consolidating the dominance of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. Kissinger's strategy was also opposed by some members of the country's leadership, in particular Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chief of Staff Richard Cheney. Both of them took their positions as a result of personnel changes that Ford carried out in 1975.

President Ford survived two attempts on his life. On September 5, 1975, Charles Manson follower Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to kill him, and on September 22 of the same year, lone revolutionary Sarah Jane Moore tried to kill him.

In the 1976 Republican primaries, Ford managed to defeat a strong opponent, former California Governor Ronald Reagan. Ford had to compromise with conservatives: he chose Senator Bob Dole as his vice presidential candidate over incumbent Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who had been criticized for being too liberal [

On December 26, 2006, the 38th President of the United States, the first and only American head of state who came to the White House not as a result of a presidential election, died at his ranch in California at the age of ninety-four. He broke the record for longevity among American presidents, which previously belonged to Ronald Reagan. As is appropriate in such cases, Americans commemorate the deceased with warm words - a modest and decent man, a good Christian. Apparently, even his worst sin will be forgiven for a while - amnesty for the disgraced and resigned Richard Nixon.

Gerald Ford was born in 1913 and was named Leslie King at birth. Soon, Leslie's mother divorced her alcoholic husband, and two years later she remarried businessman Gerald Rudolph Ford. He adopted the boy and gave him his name: this is how the future president turned into Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. After high school, he graduated from the University of Michigan and then Yale Law School. The start of Ford's legal career was interrupted by the war: in 1941, without waiting for conscription, he applied for enlistment in the navy. He became a military instructor and sports coach (during his school and university years he gained a reputation as an outstanding football player), and from 1943 he participated in combat operations in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1946, Lieutenant Commander Ford was transferred to the Navy Reserve and began practicing law and political activity in Michigan. Two years later, he ran for the House of Representatives as a Republican and became a congressman in 1949. Participated in the Warren Commission, which investigated the murder President Kennedy. In 1965, he led the Republican minority in the House of Representatives and gained fame as an opponent of the social programs of the Lyndon Johnson administration and the escalation of the war in Vietnam.

In 1973, the post of Vice President of the United States became vacant: the incumbent, Spiro Agnew, got bogged down in tax evasion scandals and was forced to resign. After this, for the first time in history, the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution was used to fill the post of vice president: according to the procedure established by it, Agnew's successor had to be appointed by the president. Richard Nixon's choice fell on Ford. There are two explanations for this turn of events. According to the official Republican version, Ford was chosen due to his achievements in the field of lawmaking and leadership of Republicans in Congress. According to another, more prosaic version, the new vice president became a compromise figure: moderate and not prone to conflicts, he was quite acceptable to both various Republican factions and Democrats. One way or another, one thing is certain: Ford had never before been noticed with presidential ambitions.

In 1974, Nixon fell victim to the famous Watergate scandal. Fleeing from impeachment, he resigned, and on August 9 the vice president assumed the post of head of state. A month later, Ford granted his predecessor an unprecedented amnesty: Nixon was pardoned for all the crimes that he “could have committed” during the years of his presidency. Outraged Americans saw this as the result of a criminal conspiracy between Ford and Nixon. Apparently, this decision determined the future fate of Ford as a politician, namely, put an end to it.

Other circumstances were not favorable to the new president. In the fall of 1974, in the wake of Watergate hysteria, the Democratic Party won control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections. Even the traditionally Republican district, from which Ford himself had previously been elected, this time gave preference to the Democrat. Facing a hostile Congress, Ford had to deal with economic difficulties. Inflation was growing, and the administration could not come up with anything better than to launch a massive campaign to distribute badges with the inscription WIN, which means Whip Inflation Now (that is, “Beat inflation now”). Of course, this didn’t help matters much. When the economy began to decline, the government began to cut non-military government spending. This did not add to Ford's popularity.

Troubles seemed to haunt the president. Although in enviable physical shape, he nevertheless fell repeatedly in public, and mockers began to portray him as clumsy. During his short presidential career, Ford survived two attempts on his life. In 1975, two women tried to kill him, two and a half weeks apart: Lynette Fromme, a follower of the self-proclaimed messiah Charles Manson, and Sarah Jane Moore, a lone revolutionary who dreamed of starting all-encompassing chaos.

The state of affairs in foreign policy also left much to be desired. US ambitions failed in Vietnam and Angola. A poorly planned rescue operation of American sailors captured by the Khmer Rouge resulted in the death of 41 Marines. The policy of “détente” in relations with the USSR, pursued by Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, aroused discontent among the conservative part of the Republicans. The confusion was aggravated by the fact that during the personnel changes, Ford appointed such “hawks” as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chief of Staff Richard Cheney to a number of key positions.

In the 1976 Republican primary, former California Governor Ronald Reagan competed against Ford for the presidential nomination. His supporters, the conservative wing of the Republicans, blamed Ford for the virtual capitulation to the USSR in the struggle for influence in Eastern Europe. Conservatives condemned the signing of the Helsinki Agreement on Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the ongoing US-Soviet arms control negotiations. The primary elections turned out to be very difficult, but in the end Reagan dropped out of the fight.

The Republicans nominated Ford, and he made a concession to the conservatives, taking as his running mate not the current Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, known for his liberalism, but the conservative Senator Bob Dole. Apparently, despite the accumulated negative baggage, Ford's victory was quite possible - according to the election results, he lost to the Democratic candidate, the former governor of Georgia, by only 2.1 percent of the vote. However, before the elections, Ford once again made a mistake: during the television debate with Jimmy Carter, he showed insufficient knowledge of the international situation, and this could have played a fatal role. After the defeat, all he had to do was retire and take up his favorite hobby - playing golf.

An inappropriate and clumsy president who pardoned Nixon - this is how Ford's opponents portrayed him. There were also those who raised more serious accusations: they argued, for example, that the 38th president actually gave the green light to the Indonesian authorities to carry out massacres in East Timor. On the other hand, many saw Ford as the man who put an end to the bloody war in Vietnam and did a lot to normalize American-Soviet relations. As always, a fair assessment lies somewhere in the middle. One thing you can’t take away from Ford: he was much nicer as a person and, probably, more decent than most of the subsequent inhabitants of the White House. This is not surprising, because he got there by accident.