Gerald R. Ford
(b. 1913)

Gerald Ford became the 38th president of the United States when his predecessor, Richard Nixon, was faced with impeachment and resigned from the presidency on August 9, 1974. Ford said after taking the oath of office, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances…This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."

Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Michigan. He was a football star at the University of Michigan, but he turned down offers to play professional ball and instead went on to earn a law degree from Yale University. Later, during World War II, he was a lieutenant commander of the Navy. Ford was elected to Congress in 1948 and represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next 25 years. In 1973, when Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned amid controversy, President Nixon nominated Ford to serve as vice-president. One year later Nixon resigned, and Ford assumed the office of president. For the next two-and-a-half years as president, Ford attempted to restore the nation's confidence in a government tarnished by scandal, economic instability, and unemployment.

During his presidency, Ford signed a proclamation and gave a speech denouncing the Japanese American internment camps during World War II. In 1976, Ford ran for a second term as president but lost the election to Jimmy Carter, who became the 39th president of the United States.

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