Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford, 38th president of the United States, was the first person to assume the offices of vice president and president upon the resignation of his predecessors. This followed 25 years of service in Congress, including eight as House minority leader.

• He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His service included time on an aircraft carrier that saw action in the Pacific until the carrier was irreparably damaged by a typhoon and fire.
• In 1948 Ford married Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer and was elected to the first of 13 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, President Richard Nixon selected him to fill the vacancy, and he was confirmed by the House and Senate as required by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
• On August 9, 1974, Nixon himself left office because of the ongoing Watergate scandal, and Ford assumed the presidency. Among the challenges he faced were low public confidence in the government, economic inflation, conflict in the Middle East, the fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia, and an increasing Soviet military threat.
• He ran for election to a full term in 1976 but was defeated.
• He died on December 26, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda from December 30, 2006, to January 2, 2007.