Dead Presidents
By Anthony Bergen
E-Mail: bergen.anthony@gmail.com
When Gerald Ford was born on July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, he was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr., after his biological father. Leslie Sr. was a brutal, physically and emotionally abusive man who had problems with alcohol. The first time that he beat his wife Dorothy — the future President’s mother — was on their honeymoon in 1912. Less than a week after Dorothy gave birth to the man who would become the 38th President, a drunken Leslie Sr. grabbed a butcher knife and threatened to kill both Dorothy and Leslie Jr. The future President was just 16 days old when Dorothy took him out of the dangerous household, fled to Michigan and initiated divorce proceedings. In 1916, Dorothy married Gerald Ford Sr. and Leslie Jr. was renamed after his adoptive stepfather, a good man who President Ford revered throughout his life.
Jerry Ford met his biological father briefly on only two other occasions. By that time, Leslie Lynch King Sr. was successful and wealthy, yet he had never made an effort to make amends and get to know the future President. King had remarried and had three children, but he ignored his firstborn son and never provided any type of child support, even as Dorothy struggled to raise Jerry. King’s father (Jerry Ford’s grandfather) helped Dorothy out with child support, but Leslie Sr. showed no interest in his eldest son’s life. It was an experience that forever influenced Jerry Ford’s beliefs.
In January 1949, Gerald Ford took his seat and proudly began representing Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives. A few months later, Congressman Ford introduced legislation targeting deadbeat dads in order to close up any loopholes which might help absentee parents from having to pay child support, particularly by moving to different states or jurisdictions. For close to a quarter-century, Ford represented Michigan in Congress and — at the beginning of each of his 13 terms in the House — he introduced similar legislation targeting deadbeat dads or absentee parents trying to avoid child support payments. This legislation from Ford became known as the “Runaway Pappy bill”.
The scandals of the Nixon/Agnew Administration led to Ford being named Vice President in 1973 to replace the disgraced Agnew, and then succeeding to the Presidency in August 1974 upon Nixon’s resignation. Now that he was working out of the Executive branch, Ford could no longer introduce his Runaway Pappy legislation, but that didn’t slow down his lifelong war with deadbeat dads. In 1975, President Ford created the Office of Child Support Enforcement which gave the federal government some jurisdiction in delinquent child support cases which had previously been up to the individual states to handle on their own. While Ford never admitted any personal reasoning behind the Runaway Pappy legislation, longtime doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, William “Fishbait” Miller wrote that he and Ford had both been deserted by their fathers and that Ford’s legislative targeting of deadbeat dads was definitely personal.
When the first Space Shuttle orbiter was completed in 1976, NASA planned to unveil it to Americans on Constitution Day, September 17th, and because it was the year the nation was celebrating its bicentennial, intended to name the Space Shuttle Constitution.
Before the Space Shuttle was revealed, however, letters began pouring into the White House. They were from science fiction lovers and fans of the hit TV show, Star Trek, which had aired from 1966-1969, but still had a following that only continued to grow in the years afterward. The letters that the White House received begged President Gerald R. Ford and NASA to name the Space Shuttle after Captain Kirk’s Starship Enterprise.
There had been no poll or vote that included alternate names for the new Space Shuttle, but on September 2, 1976, President Ford called NASA Administrator James Fletcher and told him, “I’m a little partial to the name Enterprise.” Ford never mentioned the Star Trek connection, and he pointed out to Fletcher that during World War II he served on a ship in the Pacific Ocean that worked in connection with the aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. Whatever the reason was, Star Trek nerds rejoiced and NASA’s first Space Shuttle orbiter was christened Enterprise when it was unveiled on September 17, 1976 in Palmdale, California. Among the spectators in the crowd that day were Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and members of the television show’s original cast.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise never actually flew in space, however. It was used in test flights in which the orbiter was released from a carrier plane and guided down by astronauts to simulate landing after the Space Shuttle’s reentry following an orbital mission. Enterprise has spent the past few years at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, D.C. The Space Shuttle Discovery was moved to that location just this week, and the Enterprise will soon be transported to New York City and put on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
nedzissou Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
I think Obama is probably better-suited temperamentally for the judiciary than the Presidency. Ford probably would have been a good Supreme Court Justice. John Quincy Adams would have been a fantastic judge, as well.
Gerald Ford
38th President of the United States
FULL NAME: Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., but renamed after his adoptive father in 1916 and legally changed his name in 1935)
BORN: July 14, 1913, 3202 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska
HEIGHT: 6’0”
WEIGHT: 195 lbs. during his Presidency
COLLEGE: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics on June 17, 1935); Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut (Graduated with a law degree in January 1941)
RELIGION: Episcopalian
WIFE: Elizabeth “Betty” Bloomer Warren (Apr. 8, 1918- )
MARRIAGE: October 15, 1948, Grace Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
AGE AT MARRIAGE: 35 years, 93 days
LENGTH OF MARRIAGE: 58 years, 72 days
POLITICAL PARTY: Republican
STATE REPRESENTED: Michigan
TERM: August 9, 1974-January 20, 1977
LENGTH OF TERM: 2 years, 155 days
VICE PRESIDENT: Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller of New York
ADMINISTRATION: 47th Presidential Administration
CONGRESSES: 93rd and 94th Congresses
AGE AT INAUGURATION: 61 years, 26 days
AGE UPON LEAVING OFFICE: 63 years, 190 days
LENGTH OF RETIREMENT: 29 years, 340 days
DEATH: December 26, 2006, 40365 Sand Dune Road, Rancho Mirage, California
AGE AT DEATH: 93 years, 165 days
CAUSE OF DEATH: Heart failure; arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease; diffuse arteriosclerosis
BURIAL PLACE: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Election as President
Ford was never elected to the Presidency or the Vice Presidency — he is the only person in American History to hold both offices without winning a national election. Ford was appointed Vice President by President Richard Nixon after Spiro Agnew’s resignation in 1973. Ford succeeded to the Presidency upon President Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974.
Important Dates in Ford’s Life and Career
1913: Ford’s mother fled with the future President to escape an abusive relationship with Ford’s biological father, Leslie Lynch King
1916: Ford’ mother married Gerald Rudolff Ford; Ford took his adoptive father’s name and legally changed names in 1935
1931-1935: Studied at the University of Michigan
1935: MVP of Michigan’s football team; played in the College All-Star Game against the Chicago Bears
1935: Graduated from Michigan with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics
1935: Turned down contracts with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions NFL football teams to enter law school
1935-1940: Took jobs coaching boxing an assistant varsity football at Yale University in order to earn money for Yale Law School
1936: Worked as a park ranger at Yellowstone National Park in the summer
1938-1941: Studied at Yale Law School
1939-1942: Worked part-time as a male model; appeared in Look magazine and featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan in 1942
1941: Graduated with a law degree from Yale Law School; admitted to the Michigan bar
1942: Enlisted in the United States Navy
1943-1944: Served aboard the USS Monterey in the Pacific Ocean during World War II
1946: Discharged from the U.S. Navy
1946-1948: Practiced law in Grand Rapids, Michigan
1948: Nominated as the Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan’s 5th Congressional District
1949-1973: United States Representative from Michigan’s 5th Congressional District
1963-1964: Member of the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson
1965-1973: House Minority Leader
1968 & 1972: Permanent Chairman of the Republican National Convention
1973-1974: 40th Vice President of the United States (nominated by President Nixon upon Vice President Spiro Agnew’s resignation and confirmed by the Senate under the Twenty-fifth Amendment)
1974-1977: 38th President of the United States (assumed the Presidency upon the resignation of President Nixon)
1976: Republican nominee for President of the United States; Defeated by Jimmy Carter in the general election
1979: Published his autobiography, A Time To Heal
1980: Briefly considered accepting the nomination as Ronald Reagan’s Vice Presidential running mate
1981: Opened the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan
1981: Represented the United States (along with former Presidents Nixon and Carter) at the funeral of assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat
1999: Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton
2001: Awarded the John F. Kennedy Profiles In Courage Award for his controversial pardon of former President Nixon in 1974
SIX FACTS
1. Originally named “Leslie Lynch King, Jr.” after his biological father upon his birth in 1913, the future President took the name of his adoptive father, Gerald Rudolff Ford, and legally changed his name in 1935. Ford spelled his middle name “Rudolph” — a less Germanic spelling of the name during the time of Hitler’s rise. Ford’s mother left his abusive biological father just 16 days after Ford’s birth, after Leslie Lynch King, Sr. allegedly beat her. Ford only met King twice. When Ford was 17, King visited the restaurant that Ford worked at in Grand Rapids, Michigan, had lunch with him, and gave him $25. King also visited Ford briefly when Ford was attending Yale Law School. Ford loved his adoptive father and namesake, but viciously resented his biological father who was wealthy and seemingly happy while Ford struggled through college.
2. Ford is one of the all-time great football players in the illustrious history of the University of Michigan’s famed football program. Ford played football (center on offense, linebacker on defense) for all four years of college and helped Michigan win national titles as a sophomore and junior in 1932 and 1933. As a senior in 1934, Ford was the team’s most valuable player and played in the College All-Star Game against the Chicago Bears. After college, Ford was offered contracts by the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, but turned down the NFL to study law. Michigan retired Ford’s jersey number, #48, at halftime of a game in 1994. Ford always retained his love for the University of Michigan. At his funeral, the music included Michigan’s fight song, The Victors.
3. Ford was the only person to serve as President and Vice President without being elected to either office or ever winning a national election. Ford was appointed to the Vice Presidency by President Richard Nixon in 1973 after Spiro Agnew resigned due to corruption charges. It was less than nine months later when Nixon was forced tor resign the Presidency due to the Watergate scandal and Ford succeeded to the Presidency. Ford later noted that he had no ambition for the Presidency prior to moving into the White House, but had instead hoped to someday be Speaker of the House. After he became President, Ford did hope to win election in his own right, but narrowly lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter.
4. Ford was the first President to pardon another President when he issued a pardon of Richard Nixon “for all offenses against the United States which he…has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.” Ford’s pardon — handed down just a month after he succeeded Nixon — was unpopular at the time, criticism was vicious, and Ford faced opposition from many of his own aides (the White House Press Secretary resigned in protest). President Ford stood by the decision, however, and noted that it was the correct move to make in order for the country to move forward from the Watergate scandal and begin the process of healing. The pardon was probably a big factor in Jimmy Carter’s victory over Ford in the 1976 Presidential election. In hindsight, most historians and even Ford’s political opponents have called the pardon the right move and a courageous act of political risk. Ford was later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the John F. Kennedy Profiles In Courage award and his pardon of Nixon was recognized on those occasions, as well as upon his death.
5. President Ford was the target of two assassination attempts, just 17 days apart, and both attempts were made by women. On September 5, 1975, former Charles Mansion follower Squeaky Fromme tried to shoot President Ford at the California State Capitol in Sacramento but was stopped by a Secret Service agent before she could pull the trigger. On September 22, 1975, Sara Jane Moore fired one shot at President Ford outside of the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Moore’s bullet narrowly missed Ford, sailing over his head and grazing a nearby taxi driver. As she tried to fire again, Moore was disarmed by a former Marine who was standing next to her. Both women were sentenced to life in prison and both women were released on parole after Ford’s death.
6. Ford died at the age of 93 years, 165 days on December 26, 2006. Ford was the longest-living President in American History, and he lived 45 days longer than Ronald Reagan, who was also 93 when he died in 2004. Ford lived an active life well into his 90s — golfing and skiing until after he turned 90, and swimming up until a few months before his death. Ford and his wife, Betty, were married for 58 years and are the longest-lived Presidential couple. As of 2011, Betty Ford was still alive and she celebrated her 93rd birthday in April. The only First Ladies who have lived longer than Betty Ford are Bess Truman (died at the age of 97 in 1982) and Lady Bird Johnson (died at the age of 94 in 2007).
“I take myself seriously, but I don’t embarrass myself by appearing to.” — Gerald Ford (1913-2006), 38th President of the United States (1974-1977)
The Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation has posted an album of photos on Facebook from Tuesday’s unveiling of the Gerald Ford statue in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where has become one of Michigan’s additions to the National Statuary Hall. Ford’s statue is located near fellow Presidents Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan.
This is a great article from a 2006 issue of American Heritage about the remarkable 1981 trip to Egypt for the funeral of assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by three former Presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter.
Happy Birthday to Betty Ford!
The widow of the 38th President, Gerald Ford, turns 93 years old today. Born on April 8, 1918 in Chicago, Betty Ford married the future President in 1948 and they were practically inseparable until President Ford’s death in December 2006.
Betty Ford was one of the most influential First Ladies in American History. With her candid talk about a wide variety of then-controversial issues, Betty was both a popular advocate for independent women and a lightning rod for conservative backlash about many of her comments. Betty Ford’s most lasting impression was made after the Ford family moved out of the White House. Betty had long been addicted to alcohol and prescription painkillers and the Ford family staged an intervention, confronted the former First Lady, and helped her seek treatment.
After her recovery, Betty spoke openly about her struggles and identified substance abuse as a disease instead of a choice that people rationally make. In 1982, she opened the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California and that facility has helped thousands of patients fight substance abuse and seek the necessary treatment for their disease.
For all of her public service, Betty Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. Betty actually received a Presidential Medal of Freedom eight years before her husband did! The decades of public service given by both Gerald and Betty Ford resulted in the couple being awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal in 1998.
Declining health since the funeral of her husband in January 2007 has prevented Mrs. Ford from continuing a visible role in public life. At 93 years old, she is now the third longest-lived First Lady in American History. Only Bess Truman (died in 1982 at the age of 97) and Lady Bird Johnson (died in 2007 at the age of 94) lived longer than Mrs. Ford has. Gerald and Betty Ford are the only First Couple who both lived into their 90s.
w95thstreethigh Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
I don’t know if I would have had the courage to do it.
We know, with hindsight to assist us, that Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon was the correct decision. In September 1974, the pardon looked corrupt and almost instantly damaged Ford’s chances at being elected President in his own right in 1976. Scores of Americans, from all political parties and all walks of life, vehemently disagreed with Ford’s pardon of Nixon. For many observers, it seemed as if a deal was struck before Nixon’s resignation: Nixon would leave and Ford would pardon him in return.
The truth, however, was that the pardon was a political necessity and absolutely the right thing to do. Just a month into his Presidency, Ford found himself crippled by questions about Nixon and nothing could could get done because reporters invariably asked about Nixon and Watergate. To get America moving again and spare the nation the sight of a former President on trial and, possibly, a prison term.
When President Ford died in December 2006, it was almost universally agreed that the pardon of Richard Nixon in 1974 was a courageous act of Presidential power. It was looked at with disdain by many Americans, but we now see the importance of what Ford did. Nearly 35 years later, Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon remains one of the most courageous acts in Presidential History.
bbkld Asks:
I believe we as the American public had a fairly good handle on his Republican predecessors (Nixon, Ford) and successors (Reagan, Bush 41). We got what we saw: the crook, the Boy Scout, the movie star, and the bureaucrat. Simplistic but true.
But Jimmy Carter?. A Southern governor and peanut farmer in the White House? And he was a nuclear engineer, an Annapolis graduate (a presidential first, btw), and a submarine officer, not to mention a devoted Christian and a future Nobel Laureate. The parts don't add up to a single person.
If Ford had won his second term in 1976, I suspect Reagan would have still won in 1980 and Carter probably wouldn't have gotten to the White House. I wouldn't have missed his presidency but I would have been sorry not to know the man.
deadpresidents Said:
This is as good of an explanation as I can think of. Let me stress that Jimmy Carter is an extraordinarily good human being who has done amazing things for this world and totally deserves our admiration and his Nobel Peace Prize. He was just a crappy President from 1977-1981. He might have been a great President from 1981-1985, but it just wasn’t his time. That’s how history works, unfortunately.
I agree that Reagan would have been elected in 1980 if Ford had won in 1976. Honestly, I wish Ford had been elected in 1976. I think Ford was just beginning to learn the Presidency (remember, he had only been President for two years by the time of the 1976 election) and if Ford had total control of how to use the office, he could have been really good for the country. I think Ford was really good for the country anyway, but I wish he had those four years to show us more.
octopusmatthew Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
No, there has never been a former President who later joined another President’s Cabinet, but I think we will someday see it. All former Presidents end up being unofficial advisers to their successors and are often called upon to act as special goodwill ambassadors or advocates for certain causes. Most Presidents wouldn’t want to appoint a former President to their Cabinet because it would cause some people to question their leadership and wonder if there might be some sort of co-Presidency. If a former President was appointed to the Cabinet, I believe it would be in response to a crisis or a very specific reason and I doubt that a former President would be appointed to any Cabinet-level position other than Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense or maybe Secretary of the Treasury.
Depending on whether you consider the Vice President a member of the Cabinet, the closest we’ve come to a former President becoming a member of another President’s Cabinet was when Ronald Reagan seriously considering naming Gerald Ford as his running mate in 1980. The possibility of a Reagan-Ford ticket in 1980 was so significant that Reagan met with Ford personally during the 1980 Republican National Convention and sounded the former President out on the potential offer. The biggest obstacle ended up being some hesitancy from Reagan towards offering Ford too big of a role in his Administration. Reagan wanted Ford’s name value and Congressional experience and connections, but in return for accepting the second spot in 1980, Ford wanted an unprecedented amount of power for a Vice President that basically amounted to an Assistant President position or Co-Presidency. Reagan balked at Ford’s demands and the deal for a Reagan-Ford ticket fell through shortly before the Republican Convention started balloting for the Vice Presidential nominee.
goliathanddavid Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
I don’t think that there can be much argument about this: Gerald Ford was the most athletic President. For a long time, Ford has been ridiculed for being clumsy because of a couple of silly accidents like slipping on the stairs of Air Force One, taking a tumble while skiing, and hitting some spectators with errant golf drives.
Ford was a star football played for two University of Michigan NCAA championship teams in the 30’s and turned down contract offers from the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in order to go to law school. Sure, he hit somebody while golfing and fell while skiing, but he was skiing until his 80’s and played golf until after his 90th birthday. Ford also swam regularly until having to give that up shortly before his death at 93. Ford was undoubtedly the most athletic of our Presidents, and I can’t even think of another President who comes close.
Just doing a quick scan of the Presidents, Obama is a hell of a basketball player (apparently he’s even still got some game at nearly 50). George W. Bush was a devout runner until his knees got bad and then switched the some pretty hardcore mountain biking. Clinton wasn’t much of an athlete, but hit the golf links pretty regularly. George H.W. Bush was a star baseball player at Yale, team captain during his senior year, and played in two NCAA College World Series (Yale came up short both year), and later was an avid tennis player and jogger. Reagan played football in college, ran track, and swam — apparently, Reagan was a tremendous swimmer.
Dwight Eisenhower was so famous for his love of golf that it helped promote the game nationally and landed him in the National Golf Hall of Fame. At West Point, Eisenhower was the starting halfback and linebacker on the U.S. Military Academy’s football team, but his football career ended when he injured his knee tackling the legendary Jim Thorpe in a game. There are also allegations — some promoted in part by Eisenhower himself — that Ike briefly played minor league baseball under the name of “Wilson” before entering West Point. Eisenhower secretly played minor league baseball in order to earn some money while also protecting his amateur eligibility.
We can’t leave Theodore Roosevelt out of discussions about athletic Presidents. TR practice jiu-jitsu, wrestled, boxed, and did a lot of crazy stuff to promote the “strenuous life”.
