Gerald R. Ford Biography Quotes 31 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Leslie Lynch King Sr. and Dorothy Ayer Gardner King, separated soon after his birth, and his mother took the infant to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she would raise him. In 1916 she married Gerald Ford, a Grand Rapids paint salesman. The boy grew up known as Gerald Ford Jr., and as a teenager learned that the man he called father was in fact his stepfather. He later formalized the name change, adopting the middle initial R., and maintained a respectful relationship with his stepfather, crediting him with providing a stable and loving home. He had three younger half-brothers through his mother's second marriage and remained close to his extended family in Grand Rapids.

Education, Athletics, and Law
Ford excelled at Grand Rapids South High School, where football and leadership came naturally to him. At the University of Michigan he played center and linebacker and was twice named an All-American, helping the Wolverines win national championships early in the 1930s. Despite offers from professional teams, he chose academics, accepting a position as an assistant football and boxing coach at Yale while pursuing a law degree. At Yale Law School he developed a reputation for diligence and integrity, traits noticed by colleagues who later worked with him in public service. He earned his law degree in 1941 and returned to Grand Rapids to practice law, forming a partnership that included Philip Buchen, a friend who would later serve as his White House Counsel.

World War II Service
After the United States entered World War II, Ford joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. He trained naval aviators at the preflight school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and later served aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Monterey in the Pacific. As a gunnery officer and later assistant navigator, he saw extensive sea duty. During a violent 1944 typhoon that battered the fleet, he narrowly avoided being swept overboard, an experience he often recalled as a test of steadiness under pressure. He left active duty in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant commander and returned to Grand Rapids.

Entry into Politics and Congressional Career
Ford's wartime service reinforced his interest in public life. In 1948 he married Elizabeth Anne "Betty" Bloomer, whose candor, resilience, and public spirit would make her a widely admired First Lady. That same year he ran for Congress as a Republican, challenging the incumbent in a primary and emphasizing pragmatic conservatism and responsive representation. He won and began a House career that would span nearly a quarter century.

In the House of Representatives, Ford gained respect across the aisle for diligence on the Appropriations Committee and for his willingness to master details. He cultivated working relationships with leaders such as Speaker Carl Albert and, later, Tip O'Neill, despite frequent partisan battles. In 1963 he was appointed to the Warren Commission investigating President John F. Kennedy's assassination, working alongside figures such as Chief Justice Earl Warren and future President Gerald Ford's colleague Allen Dulles. He co-authored a book explaining the commission's findings in an effort to inform the public. By 1965 he had risen to House Minority Leader, succeeding Charles Halleck, and served as the Republican foil to Democratic majorities in the era of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and the Vietnam War. In that role he worked closely with Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen and later with his own staff director, a young Donald Rumsfeld, to unify a fractious caucus.

Vice Presidency
The constitutional novelty of the Twenty-fifth Amendment came into play in 1973 when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. President Richard Nixon nominated Ford to fill the vacancy. Seen as honest, genial, and experienced, Ford was overwhelmingly confirmed by both the Senate and the House. He took office as Vice President on December 6, 1973, immediately becoming a central figure during the final phase of the Watergate crisis. He maintained cordial but candid dealings with senior administration figures such as Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig, while reassuring congressional leaders that the constitutional process would prevail.

Becoming President
When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Ford took the oath of office as the 38th President of the United States, declaring that the American constitutional system had worked and that it was time for healing. He was the first person to become President without having been elected as either President or Vice President. In assembling his administration he retained Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State, appointed Donald Rumsfeld as White House Chief of Staff (later moving him to the Pentagon), and elevated Brent Scowcroft to National Security Adviser. He named economist Alan Greenspan to chair the Council of Economic Advisers and selected New York's former governor Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President, reflecting a centrist Republican balancing act.

The Nixon Pardon and Political Costs
On September 8, 1974, Ford issued a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon might have committed as President. He framed the decision as an effort to end national division and allow the country to move forward, but the immediate reaction was intensely negative. His press secretary, Jerald terHorst, resigned in protest. The controversy shadowed Ford's presidency, and although he later received bipartisan praise for the decision's statesmanship, it carried heavy political costs at the time.

Domestic Policy and Economy
Ford inherited a troubled economy marked by recession, inflation, and the aftershocks of oil price shocks. He initially urged restraint through a public campaign known as Whip Inflation Now, then shifted toward tax cuts and measures to stimulate growth as conditions evolved. He exercised the veto power frequently to restrain spending, often clashing with a Democratic Congress led by figures such as Carl Albert and Mike Mansfield. In 1975, New York City's fiscal crisis led to a confrontation memorialized by a famous newspaper headline suggesting he would abandon the city; after negotiations, the federal government extended loans to avoid default. Ford also nominated John Paul Stevens to the Supreme Court in 1975, a choice widely praised for legal acumen and moderation.

Two assassination attempts in California in 1975, one by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and another by Sara Jane Moore, were foiled by the Secret Service, underscoring the volatility of the era. Through it all, the First Lady, Betty Ford, became a courageous public voice for women's health and candid discussion of breast cancer and addiction, shaping a legacy that would later include the founding of a renowned treatment center.

Foreign Policy
Ford's foreign policy centered on steadiness amid transition. He continued strategic arms talks with the Soviet Union, reaching understandings at Vladivostok with Leonid Brezhnev that framed subsequent agreements. In Europe, the 1975 Helsinki Accords affirmed postwar borders while embedding human rights principles that dissidents would later invoke. In Southeast Asia, he oversaw the evacuation of Americans and thousands of at-risk Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon, an emotionally wrenching end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He also managed the Mayaguez crisis with Cambodia, a brief and violent episode that tested his resolve and command structure.

In the Middle East, Ford supported Henry Kissinger's step-by-step diplomacy that produced a second disengagement agreement between Egypt and Israel, reducing the likelihood of renewed large-scale war. As defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld pushed for modernization while budget pressures mounted; Ford sought balance between fiscal discipline and military readiness, guided by advisers including Brent Scowcroft.

1976 Campaign
Ford faced a strong intraparty challenge from Ronald Reagan in 1976, reflecting ideological divides within the Republican Party. After a bruising primary season, he won the nomination and chose Senator Bob Dole as his running mate, a decision that signaled a more conservative ticket than the one he had formed with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. In the general election against Jimmy Carter, Ford emphasized experience and competence, while Carter campaigned on trust and change. A debate misstep in which Ford appeared to deny Soviet domination of Eastern Europe hurt his momentum, and he narrowly lost the election. Despite the defeat, the campaign highlighted his resilience and personal decency, qualities recognized by adversaries and allies alike.

Later Life
Leaving office in January 1977, Ford retired from elective politics but remained active in public affairs. He and Betty Ford divided their time between California and Colorado. He served on corporate boards, offered counsel to younger leaders, and cultivated friendships across party lines, notably with Jimmy Carter, with whom he later co-chaired a bipartisan commission on election reform. He supported a pragmatic brand of Republicanism and spoke out for civility, often urging cooperation even when partisan winds were strong. Betty Ford's advocacy for addiction treatment became nationally significant, and the couple's partnership in public service remained a defining feature of their post-White House years.

Ford received high honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of his steady leadership during a constitutional crisis. He revisited difficult choices, including the Nixon pardon, explaining the legal reasoning and moral calculus in interviews and forums, and over time public opinion softened. He also maintained connections with former aides such as Dick Cheney, who had succeeded Rumsfeld as White House Chief of Staff, and Brent Scowcroft, whose measured approach to national security Ford admired and later Presidents would emulate.

Character and Legacy
Gerald R. Ford is remembered as a President defined by integrity, modesty, and the courage to make unpopular decisions for what he believed was the nation's long-term good. He brought a Midwestern straightforwardness shaped by family trials, team sports, and wartime service, and he relied on relationships built over decades in Congress. The bicentennial celebrations of 1976, which took place during his term, gave him an opportunity to reflect publicly on constitutional resilience, a theme that ran through his life from the Warren Commission to the day he took office amid Watergate's collapse.

He died on December 26, 2006, in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 93. At memorial services in Washington and elsewhere, political figures from both parties, including Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, and President George W. Bush, honored his example. The tributes underscored a legacy less about grand visions than about essential virtues: honesty, loyalty, respect for the law, and a calm hand when the country needed it. In that sense, Gerald R. Ford's career, from Leslie King Jr. to President of the United States, forms a uniquely American story of personal steadiness meeting public duty.

Our collection contains 31 quotes who is written by Gerald, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Ethics & Morality - Justice - Friendship - Freedom.

Other people realated to Gerald: Earl Warren (Judge), Robert Orben (Entertainer), Warren E. Burger (Judge), Vernon A. Walters (Soldier), John Sherman Cooper (Politician), Earl Butz (Public Servant), David R. Gergen (American), George Aiken (Politician), John E. Moss (Politician), James R. Thompson (Politician)

• 1979 A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford (Autobiography)