Gerald R. Ford, Jr.
Born: July 14, 1913
Died: December 26, 2006
Term in Office: 1974-1977
Apologies to fans and family of this guy. Try as I might, I couldn't do the poor dude justice with his caricature. Not only is it unflattering, but it's downright terrible. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date. I think I got distracted by his Homer Simpson-like forehead. Couldn't get past that, much to the detriment of the rest of his face.
Enough on that. Here's some info I picked up from www.history.com...
Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. His parents separated shortly after he was born, and his mother moved to Grand Rapids, where she met and married Gerald Rudolph Ford. As he was immediately called Gerald R. Ford, Jr., he didn't learn that the elder man wasn't his father until he was a teenager. He legally changed his name in his 22nd year.
He won a scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he was that football team's MVP his senior year. He turned down offers with the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers so he could take a job as the head boxing coach at Yale, where he wanted to study law. His past as a football player didn't go unnoticed by his political critics, including Lyndon Johnson, who, when president, famously remarked that then-Congressman Ford had "played too much football without a helmet."
Ford has the rather dubious distinction of being the only person to serve as president without having been elected as either vice president or Big Kahuna. In 1973 then Vice President Spiro Agnew, under indictment for tax evasion, was forced to resign. Nixon chose Ford to replace the disgraced Agnew, which seemed to serve Tricky Dick well, as nine months later, having taken over for Nixon, Ford pardoned the "if-the-president-does-it-it-means-it's-not-illegal" guy. Ford stood by his decision to pardon throughout his life, believing that the action was needed to heal the nation from the distrust after the Watergate scandal. The decision likely cost him the 1976 election, which he lost to non-Washington-insider Jimmy Carter.
Ford's wife Betty remains one of the most popular first ladies, widely admired for being forthcoming with her battles against breast cancer and alcohol/pain medication addictions. She was also an outspoken proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, the passage of which remains frustratingly elusive well into the 21st century.
Peace to all, and how about lobbying your representatives for that Equal Rights Amendment?
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