Question

Explain why Gerald Ford's presidency is unique to American history.

Answer 1

Gerald Ford's presidency was unique to American history due to the following reasons:

1. Gerald Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon’s resignation in the midst of the Watergate scandal. Ford became the first, and so far the only, person to become President without winning a general election for President or Vice President. Ford is the only person to have served as both vice president and president without being elected to either office by the United States Electoral College.

2. Before Nevada acted as the 38^th state to ratify the 25^th Amendment in February 1967, a different line of presidential succession existed. Speaker of the House Carl Albert, a Democrat, would have served as acting President if Nixon had resigned without the 25^th Amendment’s conditions being in effect.

3. Instead, Ford made the transition to the presidency in 1974, with as Albert second-in-line to the White House for a brief period until Nelson Rockefeller was approved by Congress as Ford’s Vice President.

4. As the 38^th President, Ford served 895 days in office, the fifth-shortest length of any President. After leaving the White House after losing an election bid in 1976 to Democrat Jimmy Carter, Ford was seen as a contender for the 1980 nomination, but he declined to run against Ronald Reagan for the GOP nomination.

5. As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, which marked a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the collapse of South Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republican Party. His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put him at odds with conservative members of the party.