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- When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, I assume the Presidency under
- extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.
- It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth
- Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign.
- Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed
- economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.
- The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and spending as a means of solving the problems of
- American society and the economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift would bring a better life for all Americans.
- Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, he
- was House Minority Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He starred on the
- University of Michigan football team, then went to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree.
- During World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids,
- where he began the practice of law, and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to Congress in 1948, he
- married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan.
- As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former President Nixon a full pardon. His nominee for Vice
- President, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the second person to fill that office by appointment.
- Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own.
- Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal
- was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed
- at stimulating the economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have
- further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures. His
- vetoes were usually sustained.
- Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal
- affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs. A major goal was to help business operate more freely by
- reducing taxes upon it and easing the controls exercised by regulatory agencies. We...declared our independence 200 years
- ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers, he said.
- In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Viet
- Nam. Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford
- Administration helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union
- continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons.
- President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976, but lost the election to his Democratic opponent,
- former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia.
- On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for
- all he has done to heal our land. A grateful people concurred.
- <br><br><b>Bibliography</b><br><br>
- When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, I assume the Presidency under
- extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.
- It was indeed an unprecedented time. He had been the first Vice President chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth
- Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign.
- Ford was confronted with almost insuperable tasks. There were the challenges of mastering inflation, reviving a depressed
- economy, solving chronic energy shortages, and trying to ensure world peace.
- The President acted to curb the trend toward Government intervention and spending as a means of solving the problems of
- American society and the economy. In the long run, he believed, this shift would bring a better life for all Americans.
- Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress. From 1965 to 1973, he
- was House Minority Leader. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1913, he grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He starred on the
- University of Michigan football team, then went to Yale, where he served as assistant coach while earning his law degree.
- During World War II he attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids,
- where he began the practice of law, and entered Republican politics. A few weeks before his election to Congress in 1948, he
- married Elizabeth Bloomer. They have four children: Michael, John, Steven, and Susan.
- As President, Ford tried to calm earlier controversies by granting former President Nixon a full pardon. His nominee for Vice
- President, former Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, was the second person to fill that office by appointment.
- Gradually, Ford selected a cabinet of his own.
- Ford established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal
- was to curb inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed
- at stimulating the economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have
- further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures. His
- vetoes were usually sustained.
- Ford continued as he had in his Congressional days to view himself as a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal
- affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs. A major goal was to help business operate more freely by
- reducing taxes upon it and easing the controls exercised by regulatory agencies. We...declared our independence 200 years
- ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers, he said.
- In foreign affairs Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Viet
- Nam. Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; by providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford
- Administration helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Detente with the Soviet Union
- continued. President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons.
- President Ford won the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1976, but lost the election to his Democratic opponent,
- former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia.
- On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for
- all he has done to heal our land. A grateful people concurred.
- <br><br>
- Words: 596
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