Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States (1974–1977) and 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974). Prior to 1973, he served for over eight years as the Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; he was first elected to Congress in 1948 from Michigan's 5th congressional district.Ford was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation. As president, he signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War, even as the former ally South Vietnam was invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Ford did not intervene in Vietamese affairs, but did help extract friends of the U.S. Domestically, the economy suffered from inflation and a recession under President Ford. One of his more controversial decisions was granting a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.After experiencing health troubles and being admitted to hospital four times in 2006, Ford died on December 26 of that year, aged 93.Ford was born named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on July 14, 1913, at 12:43 a.m. CST, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Leslie Lynch King, Sr., a wool trader whose father was a prominent banker, and his wife, the former Dorothy Ayer Gardner, separated 16 days after his birth. His mother took him to the Oak Park, Illinois home of her sister Tannisse and her husband, Clarence Haskins James. From there she moved to the home of her parents, Levi Addison Gardner and his wife, the former Adele Augusta Ayer, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford's parents divorced the following December, the mother gaining full custody. |