Here are some quick facts, opinions, quotes and other information on President Gerald Ford.
Personal Information on Gerald Ford:
- Thirty-Eighth President (1974-1977)
- Birthday: July 14, 1913 (Monday)
- Birthplace: Omaha, Nebraska
- Birthplace Website: President Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens
- Zodiac Sign: Cancer
- Date of Death: December 26, 2006 (Tuesday)
- Place of Death: Rancho Mirage, California
- Place of Burial: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Burial Website: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
- Presidential Library: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
- Cause of Death: arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease, diffuse arteriosclerosis, and other issues
- Age: 93 years old
- Length of Retirement: 10932 days
Interesting Gerald Ford facts:
- Gerald Ford was not born Gerald Ford. He was named Leslie Lynch King Jr. after his Dad. His Dad was the son of a prominent banker and King, his wife and his son lived with Gerald’s paternal grandparents. Dorothy, Gerald’s Mom, separated sixteen days after Gerald was born. It was said that his Dad had a very violent temper. His Dad would hit his Mom and he threatened, with a butcher knife, his Mom, little Gerald, and the nursemaid. His Mom went to live with her sister and brother-in-law, and eventually moved back in with her Mother. Two and a half years after she moved in with her parents, his Mother married Gerald Rudoff Ford. His step-father never adopted Gerald. Ford legally changed his name to Gerald Rudolph (he liked this spelling much better) Ford on December 3, 1935. Ford would have been twenty-two years old when he legally changed his name.
- The Former Presidents Act, in 1958, was designed to help former Presidents with their lives after the White House. It provided a yearly pension, and benefits such as staff, office space and free use of mail. That wasn’t enough for former President Ford. Ford had a very modest income. When he was in college, he was so strapped for money that he sold his blood to a hospital for $25 a pop. He was determined he would live a different type of retirement. Many claimed he “profited” from the Presidency. Ford would claimed it was the free market system at work. He had very little savings when he left the Presidency. With book and article deals, lecturing and speaking fees, seats on the boards of some of the biggest companies (like Shearson Loeb Rhoades, AMAX, Tiger International, Texas Commerce Bancshares, American Express, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, and Pebble Beach Corporation), hawking Bicentennial metals for the Franklin Mint, and even a stint with NBC, Ford was worth an estimated $25 million at his death.
- John F. Kennedy was the first Navy man to serve as President. Including Kennedy, there were five Presidents in a row (from Kennedy to Carter) who had served in the US Navy. Ford was the fourth of those five Navy men in a row. Ford was also the fifth of eight Presidents in a row (from Eisenhower to GHW Bush) to serve in some military capacity during World War II.
My favorite Gerald Ford Quotes:
Things are more like today than they have ever been before.
I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.”
If Lincoln were alive today, he’d be turning over in his grave.
When a man is asked to make a speech, the first thing he has to decide is what to say.
I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.
Gerald Ford blogs (click the title to go to that page):
Gerald Ford page on Presidential Crossroads (click “Gerald Ford” below):
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford Blogs:
Did he know he was going to be President?
University of Michigan Football Star with a Conscience
What similiar trait do I have with Presidents Nixon to Obama
Personal thoughts on Gerald Ford:
Strengths:
Integrity, wisdom, unselfishness
Weaknesses:
Not a good motivator, Not a good speaker, Clumsy at times, sometimes naive
Presidential Greatness Scale (1-poor to 5-great):
Comments: 3
His own personal chances of being elected on his own right were sharply reduced by his pardon of Richard Nixon. This unselfish act, which was really the best thing for the nation, is one of the greatest gifts any President has ever given our nation. But, by pardoning Nixon he upset both Democrats and Republicans and he was unable to accomplish much in his remaining time in office. He was more effective on a one-on-one level, and he was not a very gifted speaker, so he was unable to motivate the nation out of one of our darkest hours.
Favorite Gerald Ford book:
Write It When I’m Gone by Thomas DeFrank
Favorite Gerald Ford story:
The way he came about his decision to pardon Richard Nixon. He knew, better than we ourselves did, that the nation could never move forward if we kept all of our focus on the wrongs of the past.
Favorite Gerald Ford memory:
When Gerald Ford died I went up to Washington DC to see his casket being carried up the steps of the Capitol. It was dark, but very well lit, which gave the occasion an almost royal feeling.
Favorite Gerald Ford possession (see picture at the top):
A Topps card of Gerald Ford when he was a football star at the University of Michigan.
