Gerald Rudolph Ford (July 14, 1913-December 26, 2006) became the 38th President of the United States, 1974-77, after Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned, and President Nixon resigned; the only person to succeed to that office without being elected; U.S. Representative, 1948-73, being elected House Minority Leader in 1964; married Betty Bloomer, 1948; practiced law in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1945-48; served in U.S. Navy during World War II, 1941-45; graduated from Yale Law School, 1940; coached at Yale University; attended the University of Michigan on a football scholarship, being named Most Valuable Player; the first Eagle Scout President; given the name Leslie Lynch King, Jr. at his birth, his stepfather renamed him Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.
On August 9, 1974, in the East Room at the White House, Vice- President Gerald R. Ford took the Presidential Oath of Office:
<I, Gerald R. Ford, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.> 1913GF001
On Friday, August 9, 1974, after swearing in as the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford addressed Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, members of Congress and the citizens of America:
<I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many....
Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a Government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a Higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.
As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the Golden Rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.
In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and his family. May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House....
I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6; to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best I can for America. God helping me, I will not let you down.> 1913GF002
On Monday, August 12, 1974, in his First Address to Congress, President Gerald R. Ford stated:
<I am not here to make an inaugural address. The Nation needs action, not words. Nor will this be a formal report of the State of the Union. God willing, I will have at least three more chances to do that....I do not want a honeymoon with you. I want a good marriage.> 1913GF003
On Sunday, September 8, 1974, in announcing his decision to pardon former President Nixon, President Gerald R. Ford stated:
<To procrastinate, to agonize, and to wait for a more favorable turn of events that may never come or more compelling external pressures that may as well be wrong as right, is itself a decision of sorts and a weak and potentially dangerous course for a President to follow. I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.
I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became President but many times since. The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions as citizens. Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it.
As we are a Nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do....
I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President, but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.> 1913GF004
On September 8, 1974, in Presidential Proclamation 4311, President Gerald R. Ford stated:
<Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety ninth. Gerald R. Ford.> 1913GF005
On Thursday, December 5, 1974, in a National Day of Prayer Proclamation, President Gerald R. Ford, stated:
<Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first-the most basic-expression of Americanism. Thus the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God's help, it will continue to be.> 1913GF006
Gerald Ford requested Congress assist Vietnam and Cambodia, January 28, 1975:
<Communists...violated the political provisions of the Paris Agreement.
They have refused all South Vietnamese offers to set a specific date for free elections... Recent events have made it clear that North Vietnam is again trying to impose a solution by force... North Vietnamese forces captured an entire province, the population centers of which were clearly under the control of the South Vietnamese Government...
Communists have intensified hostilities by attacking on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and attempting to cut the land and water routes to the capital. We must continue to aid the Cambodian Government in the face of externally supported military attacks. Unless such assistance is provided, the Cambodian army will run out of ammunition...The Cambodian people are totally dependent on us for their only means of resistance to aggression.
Communist forces now attacking have a constant, massive outside source of supply from the North as has been demonstrated by their ability to sustain the current heavy offensive. If additional military assistance is withheld or delayed, the Government forces will be forced, within weeks, to surrender.> 1913GF007
Gerald Ford wrote to the Speaker of the House urging assistance, February 25, 1975:
<I wish to convey...my deep concern over the...critical situation in Cambodia. An independent Cambodia cannot survive unless the Congress acts very soon... Refugees forced to flee their homes by the Communists' repressive measures and scorched earth policies have poured into Phnom Penh... Severe food shortages are already beginning. If the Congress does not provide for continued deliveries of...supplies, millions of innocent people will suffer-people who depend on us for their bare survival.> 1913GF008
Gerald Ford spoke at a News Conference, March 6, 1975, on Cambodia and Vietnam:
<On...assistance to Cambodia and to Vietnam...Food for those who hunger and medical supplies for the men and women and children who are suffering the ravages of war. We seek to stop the bloodshed and end the horror and the tragedy that we see on television as rockets are fired wantonly into Phnom Penh. I would like to be able to say that the killing would cease if we were to stop our aid, but that is not the case. The record shows, in both Vietnam and Cambodia, that Communist takeover of an area does not bring an end to violence, but on the contrary, subjects the innocent to new horrors.> 1913GF009
In an address to a Joint Session of the Congress, August 12, 1974, President Gerald Ford made a statement that he repeated with similar wording over 50 times during the next three years of his administration:
<Whether we like it or not, the American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.> 1913GF010
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:.
1913GF001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, August 9, 1974, in taking the President Oath of Office. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 12, 1974. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. 20, p. 30.
1913GF002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, August 9, 1974, after swearing in as the 38th President of the United States, in an address to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, members of Congress and the citizens of America. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 12, 1974. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL:x Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. 20, pp. 30-32. Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 158. Willard Cantelon, Money Master of the World (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1976), p. 122.
1913GF003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, August 12, 1974, in his First Address to Congress. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 19, 1974. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. 20, pp. 32-33.
1913GF004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, September 8, 1974, Sunday, in announcing his decision to pardon former President Nixon. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, September 16, 1974. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. 20, pp. 36-37.
1913GF005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, September 8, 1974, in Presidential Proclamation 4311, pardoning former President Nixon. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, September 16, 1974. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968, 1977), Vol. 20, p. 38.
1913GF006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, December 5, 1974, Thursday, National Day of Prayer, 1974, Proclamation 4338, in quoting a 1955 speech of Dwight David Eisenhower. Mrs. James Dobson (Shirley), chairman, The National Day of Prayer Information Packet (Colorado Springs, CO: National Day of Prayer Tack Force, May 6, 1993).
1913GF007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, January 28, 1975, requested Congress assist Vietnam and Cambodia.
1913GF008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, February 25, 1975, wrote to the Speaker of the House urging assistance to Vietnam and Cambodia.
1913GF009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, March 6, 1975, News Conference on Vietnam and Cambodia.
1913GF010. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Gerald Rudolph Ford, statement made over 50 times in his speeches, 1974-1977.