Ford, Gerald R. A Book Report
Gerald R. Ford, by Laura Hamilton Waxman
A Book Report by Bobby Everett Smith
June 16, 2018
Spoiler Alert
Setting
White House, Washington, D.C. and around the world, 1913 to 2006
Characters
Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States in 1974.
Betty Ford, wife of Gerald Ford, founder of the Betty Ford Center for Alcohol and Drug Addictions located in Rancho Mirage, California
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States in 1969 and competitor for President with Jack in 1960
Pat Nixon, First Lady, and wife to Richard Nixon. Mother of two girls, Tricia and Julie
Al Haig, Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, and the White House chief of staff under Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford
Executive Summary
Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1913 and his parents divorced when he was just a baby. Jerry (as he was called in his youth) developed with important family values based on hard work and honesty. He was taught to treat people fairly and do the right thing. Ford learned to look for the best in people, to be positive, and keep a friendly attitude.
Jerry was a good athlete and played both high school football and baseball. His father told him, “the harder you work, the luckier you will be.” He became a star player on the high school football team and was offered two professional football contracts when he graduated from the University of Michigan. He declined both in favor of getting his law degree, which he did at Yale.
1n 1942, just after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Ford joined the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the USS Monterey, a transport ship carrying fighter aircraft. When the war was over, he returned to Grand Rapids and the practice of law. Ford began preparations to run as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives.
No one thought Ford had a chance to beat the incumbent, Bartel J. Jonkman but Ford won the primary election in September 1948.
In the meantime, Jerry had fallen in love with Betty Bloomer and they were married in October 1948. The couple had four children:[28]
- Michael Gerald, born in 1950
- John Gardner, known as Jack, born in 1952
- Steven Meigs, born in 1956
- Susan Elizabeth, born in 1957
Ford won the general election at age 35. In January the Fords moved to Washington, D.C. where he was sworn in as Congressman from the State of Michigan.
Ford was assigned to the Appropriations Committee in the House where he made a good name for himself, both in Washington and with his constituents back in Michigan. He was reelected to the House 10 times, each time, winning the election with a comfortable margin.
In 1965, the Republican Party elected Ford to be the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. Ford became a friend of Richard Nixon.
When the Watergate Scandal broke out in the early 1970’s, damaging Nixon’s reputation as President. Not only that, but his Vice President, Spiro Agnew admitted to some criminal activity and was forced to resign. Ford was appointed to be the next Vice President of the United States in 1973.
In August 1974 Nixon, himself, was facing impeachment for his participation in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Nixon resigned rather than risk being impeached, and Ford became the President of the United States, August 8, 1974.
“I’m a Ford, not a Lincoln,” Ford told the American people in a television program.
Ford pardoned Richard Nixon and received some negative feedback from people who thought Nixon should be punished for the Watergate coverup.
Ford lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter. He retired and returned to his home in Michigan where he wrote his memoirs and helped with the development of the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor. Ford died on December 26, 2006 at the age of 93.
For more details about Gerald R. Ford, read “The Story” below. Then go to https://bobsmithsblog.com to get information on other presidents.
The Story
Ford’s Early Years
Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1913 and his parents divorced when he was just a baby. His mom, Dorothy Gardner, moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and remarried. Leslie eventually changed his name to match his step-father, Gerald R. Ford, a paint salesman at the time. The new father treated him as if he were his own son; his friends called him Jerry as he grew up.
Jerry developed with important family values based on hard work and honesty. He was taught to treat people fairly and do the right thing. Ford learned to look for the best in people, to be positive, and keep a friendly attitude.
Jerry was a good athlete and played both high school football and baseball. His father told him, “the harder you work, the luckier you will be.” He became a star player on the high school football team.
In his final year of high school, Jerry took a trip to Washington, D.C. where he toured the United States Capital and House of Representatives. He vowed to himself at that time to become one of the nation’s lawmakers.
Jerry entered the University of Michigan in 1931 and went out for football. He graduated in 1935 and was offered a position on two professional football teams but he turned them down. He had other visions in his mind, like being a lawmaker in Congress.
Ford went to Yale to get his law degree, and he graduated from there in 1941 and he returned home to Michigan and opened his own law business with a friend.
1n 1942, just after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Ford joined the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the USS Monterey, a transport ship carrying fighter aircraft. The Monterey was caught in a typhoon, and Ford was injured in rough seas. When the war was over, he returned to Grand Rapids and the practice of law. Ford began preparations to run as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives.
No one thought Ford had a chance to beat the incumbent, Bartel J. Jonkman. Ford won the primary election in September 1948.
In the meantime, Gerald Ford had fallen in love with Betty Bloomer and they were married in October 1948. Ford won the general election at age 35. In January the Fords moved to Washington, D.C. where he was sworn in as Congressman from the State of Michigan.
Ford’s First Days in Congress
Ford was assigned to the Appropriations Committee in the House where he made a good name for himself both in Washington and with his constituents back in Michigan. He was reelected to the House 10 times, each time, winning the election with a comfortable margin.
President Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy, who had been murdered in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963. Johnson chose only one Republican to be on the Warren Commission and that was Gerald Ford.
In 1965, the Republican Party elected Ford to be the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. Ford became a friend of Richard Nixon.
President Gerald R. Ford
When the Watergate Scandal broke out in the early 1970’s, damaging Nixon’s reputation as President. Not only that, but his Vice President, Spiro Agnew admitted to some criminal activity and was forced to resign. Ford was appointed to be the next Vice President of the United States in 1973.
In August 1974 Nixon, himself, was facing impeachment for his participation in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Nixon resigned rather than risk being impeached, and Ford became the President of the United States, August 8, 1974.
“I’m a Ford, not a Lincoln,” Ford told the American people in a television program.
Ford issued a Presidential Pardon to Richard Nixon, a somewhat unpopular thing to do at the time. In April 1975, Ford declared an end to the Vietnam war.
Retirement
In 1976, Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford in the presidential election. Ford wrote his memoirs, A Time to Heal and he coordinated the construction of the Ford Presidential Library on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Ford died on December 26, 2006 at the age of 93.
The Rating
Four stars out of five. This is a good biography of a President who has served his country faithfully for 34 years including his time in the Navy and the House of Representatives, then President.
I highly recommend reading this biography of Gerald Ford.
List of American Presidents
Number | Name | First Date as President | Ending Date as President |
1 | George Washington | 4/30/1789 | 3/4/1797 |
2 | John Adams | 3/4/1797 | 3/4/1801 |
3 | Thomas Jefferson | 3/4/1801 | 3/4/1809 |
4 | James Madison | 3/4/1809 | 3/4/1817 |
5 | James Monroe | 3/4/1817 | 3/4/1825 |
6 | John Quincy Adams | 3/4/1825 | 3/4/1829 |
7 | Andrew Jackson | 3/4/1829 | 3/4/1837 |
8 | Martin Van Buren | 3/4/1837 | 3/4/1841 |
9 | William Henry Harrison | 3/4/1841 | 4/4/1841 |
10 | John Tyler | 4/4/1841 | 3/4/1845 |
11 | James E. Polk | 3/4/1845 | 3/4/1849 |
12 | Zachary Taylor | 3/4/1849 | 7/9/1850 |
13 | Millard Fillmore | 7/9/1850 | 3/4/1853 |
14 | Franklin Pierce | 3/4/1853 | 3/4/1857 |
15 | James Buchanan | 3/4/1857 | 3/4/1861 |
16 | Abraham Lincoln | 3/4/1861 | 4/15/1865 |
17 | Andrew Johnson | 4/15/1865 | 3/4/1869 |
18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 3/4/1869 | 3/4/1877 |
19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 3/4/1877 | 3/4/1881 |
20 | James A. Garfield | 3/4/1881 | 9/19/1881 |
21 | Chester A. Arthur | 9/19/1881 | 3/4/1885 |
22 | Grover Cleveland | 3/4/1885 | 3/4/1889 |
23 | Benjamin Harrison | 3/4/1889 | 3/4/1893 |
24 | Grover Cleveland | 3/4/1893 | 3/4/1897 |
25 | William McKinley | 3/4/1897 | 09/14/01 |
26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 9/14/01 | 3/14/1909 |
27 | William Howard Taft | 3/14/09 | 3/4/1913 |
28 | Woodrow Wilson | 3/14/13 | 3/4/1921 |
29 | Warren G. Harding | 3/4/21 | 8/2/1923 |
30 | Calvin Coolidge | 8/2/23 | 3/4/1929 |
31 | Herbert Hoover | 3/4/29 | 3/4/1933 |
32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3/4/33 | 4/12/1945 |
33 | Harry S. Truman | 4/12/45 | 1/20/1953 |
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1/20/53 | 1/20/1961 |
35 | John F. Kennedy | 1/20/61 | 11/22/1963 |
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1/22/63 | 1/20/1969 |
37 | Richard Nixon | 1/20/69 | 8/9/1974 |
38 | Gerald Ford | 8/9/74 | 1/20/1977 |
39 | Jimmy Carter | 1/20/77 | 1/20/1981 |
40 | Ronald Reagan | 1/20/81 | 1/20/1989 |
41 | George H.W. Bush | 1/20/89 | 1/20/1993 |
42 | William J. (Bill) Clinton | 1/20/93 | 1/20/2001 |
43 | George W. Bush | 1/20/01 | 1/20/2009 |
44 | Barrack Obama | 1/20/09 | 1/20/2017 |
45 | Donald J. Trump | 1/20/17 | Present |
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