1. Gerald Rudolph Ford

2. INTRODUCTION: Background Info
Born July 14, 1913 to Dorothy Ayer Gardner and Leslie Lynch King in Omaha Nebraska
Ford Sr. was honest, charitable, and had deep seeted work ethics, values that Ford himself would keep throughout his life 

3. INTRODUCTION: Background Info
Avid eagle scout
Football star for U. of Mich; received offers from the Detroit Lions and the green Bay Packers, but turned down offers to go to law school in YALE
 From football, learned discipline, teamwork and adherence to the game plan, values that he brought to the POLITICAL FIELD.

4. INTRODUCTION: Background Info
April 1942 Ford joined the U.S. Naval Reserve 
 Returned from war, set up a law partnership in Grand Rapids with frat brother Phillip A. Buchen.
Active in a group of reform-minded Republicans in Grand Rapids, called the Home Front, who were interested in challenging the hold of Frank McKay  

5. INTRODUCTION: Background Info
 For House of Representatives against Mckay- backed Bartel Jonkman.
Unlike his opponent, Ford listened to his voters
He won 23, ,341
Throughout his entire career he only suffered 1 defeat
Served in the House of Representatives from
            January 3, 1949 to December 6, 1973,
 Reelected twelve times, each time with more than 60% of the vote.   
October , he married Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren, a divorcee, and had 4 children

6. INTRODUCTION: Background Info
Ambition was to become Speaker of the House
 Never became Speaker of the House, but in 1965, became minority leader of the House, which he held for 8 years
Republicans didn't have a majority in the house for all those years

7. INTRODUCTION: "Election"
...the road to Vice Presidency...
-Spiro Agnew VP of Nixon
-Baltimore construction contractors paid him cut of fees from contracts.
-He took tens of thousands of dollars of bribes even in the White House
-Announced Vice President October 12, 1976
Speech: "I am a Ford, not a Lincoln"
-reasons chosen:
    *would be approved by Congress
    *same ideas as Nixon
    *not risky
    *character
    *good friends with Nixon

8. INTRODUCTION: "Election"
...the road to Presidency...
-August 7, :01 radio and television from Oval Office
resignation speech by Nixon
Ford becomes Pres

10. Nelson Rockefeller (NY GOV) Suggested by Nixon
Ford’s VP was
Nelson Rockefeller (NY GOV)
Suggested by Nixon
“nice hair”

11. INTRODUCTION: Party Affiliation
Republican
Described himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy."   

12. OVERVIEW: ”Killas”
September 5 Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme tries to assassinate Ford in Sacramento, California. Ford is the first president who has had a woman attempt to kill him.
September 22-Sara Jane Moore attempts to assasinate President Ford in San Francisco, California. She is the second woman to attempt the assassination of Ford.
Lynette Fromme

13. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief Executive (ensures that laws are faithfully executed.)
enforced the American spirit of democracy and opposition to Communism by fully supporting and continuing the Vietnam War.

14. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
REASONS:
Nixon's health and relieving his agony
end Watergate and move on
"It is my duty, not merely to proclaim domestic tranquility but to use every means that I have to insure it."
Chief of State (official "leader" of a nation)
-Sept. 8, 1974: completely pardons Nixon's wrongdoings. This disturbs many people and raises suspicions that...
Ford was in bed with Nixon

15. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief of State (cont)
Public wanted to see trial
Approval rate 71% to 49%
"Throwing away his presidency to do a favor"
Thought that trade pardon for resignation and presidency
The 6th point
Ford never regretted it
"Shift from fallen president to rising nation"

16. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Commander in Chief (commander of a nation's military forces)
-Ford decides to evacuate troops from South Vietnam as Saigon is captured by North Vietnam (Communist) and war ends.  

17. Commander in Chief ~ Bungled Vietnam
OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Commander in Chief ~ Bungled Vietnam
Operation Frequent Wind
April 29 and the morning of April 30, 1975, soldiers evacuated the American embassy in Saigon.
  US promised about 90,000 who had worked for or had ties to the US evacuation
many were not fetched and they stormed the embassy.  
Only about1,373 U.S. citizens and 5,595 Vietnamese and third country nationals were evacuated 

18. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief Diplomat (manage foreign relations/policies) 
                                                          
 -Joining of the U.S. and Soviet space 
    >Apollo-Soyuz Test project launched   Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft
   >This was symbolic because it represented the two nation's efforts to reconcile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Helsinki Accords: Signed in Helsinki, Finland, on August 1, 1975
    >Designed to increase cooperation among the Communist and non-Communist countries of Europe (Eastern and Western Europe)
    >Acknowledged that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were under Soviet control.

19. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Arab oil power was predominant at the time 
OPEC (Organization of Oil Exporting Countries) implemented an Oil Embargo from , which was difficult for America's economy
One of his major goals was to prevent a war between the Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East
Implemented "Shuttle Diplomacy" in the Middle East, which seemed to work well
Provided more aid to both Egypt and Israel, so was able to get them to accept a truce agreement, but it didn't last
Chief Diplomat ~ OPEC

20. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief Legislator (sign/veto bills drafted by Congress and suggest new laws for Congress to consider)
Inflation in double digits and to fix the problems:
Whip Inflation Now (WIN)
No effect on the economy
Shows that Ford can't deal with it
Wear WIN Buttons to spread awareness
Pledge to spend less and clean their plates
Sharing is caring (pain, sorrow, & joy)
(not)

21. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief of Legislator (cont)
Wanted a 5% tax surcharge but the idea died away
Wanted to reduce spending budget to under $300 billion
Vetoes on whatever he thought was too high and would sign until changed
"Decontrol" energy prices to stimulate production

22. Bad Reputation with Farmers:
OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief of Legislator (cont)
Bad Reputation with Farmers:
Embargo with Russia on grain
Try to help keep food prices down
But no help with inflation
Russia just traded with other countries that traded with US
Vetoes bills for boosting prices for dairy, grain and cotton

23. OVERVIEW: Specific Roles
Chief of Legislator ~ Recession, public enemy #1
9.2% peak of unemployment
Wanted spending cuts again
Tax flip-flop
Now wanted to cut taxes before wanted to raise taxes
Has energy tax and rebate too

24. 1976 Bicentennial –200th year annivesary
200 sailing ships in NYC July 4th

26. REASONS LOST ELECTION 1976 VS CARTER
Pardon of Nixon barely a month in office
Veto attempts to increase expenditures for social programs and resist development of new layers of government bureaucracy
Stressed virtues of free enterprise and dangers of over regulating economy
Proposed tax increase to combat inflation but changed his idea when unemployment increased
Embargo on grain

27. Assassination Attempts
The two attempts occured less than three weeks apart
First attempt by Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme at the beginning of September 1975
Fromme wanted to kill him because she didn't think his policies protected the California Redwoods enough, so she tried to shoot him with a pistol when he shook her hand, but the bullets weren't in the firing chamber, so he wasn't harmed

28. Assassination Attempts
Second attempt by Sara Jane Moore in the middle of September 1975
Moore became desperate and violent due to personal issues and she was a political radical, a follower of Marxism, so she tried to kill Ford with a pistol, but the shot was deflected by a marine and Ford was unharmed
Both women were arrested and sentenced to life in prison, but Moore was later released on parole

29. OVERVIEW: Timeline
1976
November 3-Republican Ford loses to Democrat Jimmy Carter in his re-election campaign
 1979
June 6-Ford's memoir, A Time to Heal, is published
April 27-Ford dedicates his Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan
September 18-Ford dedicates his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan
1999
August 11-President Clinton awards Ford the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award
2006
December 26-Ford dies in his California home at age 93

30. Supportive Political Cartoon

31. Recession: "Remember--don't vote for anyone who would interfere with the way we've been handling things," October 30, 1974
In a televised address on October 15, 1974, President Gerald Ford appealed to Americans to mobilize in the fight against inflation, suggesting a list of voluntary individual measures. His "Whip Inflation Now" campaign was called WIN but turned out to be a loser. Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns had announced that the nation was in a recession, despite Ford's insistence to the contrary. Ford campaigned for Republican congressmen and senators, urging support for candidates who supported his fight against inflation. 31

32. Critical Political Cartoon 1

33. Critical Political Cartoon 2

34. CONCLUSION: ranking Moral integrity Legacy Leadership
(beginning from #1 as best)
Moral integrity
Legacy
Leadership
Crisis management
Domestic and foreign policies
Relationship with Americans

35. THE END