Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford in 2002. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert)

Gerald R. Ford became the 38th president of the United States on Aug. 9, 1974. In an essay written for The New York Times in 1998, Ford said of his swearing-in that his immediate and overriding priority was to "draw off the poison that had seeped into the nation's bloodstream during two years of scandal and partisanship."

The "two years of scandal" he referred to involved the Watergate affair that eventually toppled a disgraced Richard Nixon.

Ford thus became the first vice-president to succeed a president who resigned from office, under the terms of the 25th Amendment. And one of Ford's first acts as President was to pardon Nixon.

"Some Americans have yet to forgive me for pardoning my predecessor," Ford said in his 1998 essay. "In the days leading up to that hugely controversial action I didn't take a poll for guidance, but I did say more than a few prayers. In the end I listened to only one voice, that of my conscience. I didn't issue the pardon for Nixon's sake, but for the country's."

Ford assumed the presidency just eight months after being sworn in as vice-president – Nixon’s choice to replace Spiro Agnew who’d resigned in disgrace following a bribery scandal. Ford was the only person to serve as president without ever having been elected to either the presidency or the vice-presidency.

Ford's brief tenure as president, from August 1974 to January 1977, was scandal-free. The most errant actions of Ford while in office were his enthusiastic but wild golf shots that occasionally conked spectators lining the fairways to watch him.

He never did get the Big Job by winning an election, losing the 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. When Carter was inaugurated in 1977 he said of Ford: "For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."

Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha, Neb., in 1913. His parents separated two weeks after the birth, whereupon his mother took him to live with her parents in Grand Rapids, Mich. Two years later, she married a local paint salesman named Gerald R. Ford. His mother and stepfather began calling the boy Gerald R. Ford, though the name wasn't officially changed until 1935, when Ford was 22.

He was a superb athlete in high school and at the University of Michigan, where he majored in economics and political science, "Jerry" Ford – intimates continued to call him "Jerry" for the rest of his life – played for the Wolverines, a team that won national college championships in 1932 and 1933. He received two offers to play for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, but he opted to study law at Yale University.

Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford in this Jan. 30, 2005 photo. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)

His wife, Elizabeth Bloomer Ford – better known as Betty Ford – was an outspoken First Lady, never one to shy away from speaking her mind on sensitive issues such as alcoholism, abortion, pre-marital sex and marijuana. She perhaps is known for her groundbreaking work with alcoholics, founding the Betty Ford Clinic for treating alcoholism. There was speculation in the 1970s that her penchant for making the news hurt her husband's election chances in 1976.

Ford earned a reputation for integrity and openness during his 25 years in Congress. As president, Ford dedicated himself to attacking inflation. He could be fast on his feet, however, and when the major problem in the country became recession, Ford devoted himself to measures to stimulate the economy.

Twice as president, he encountered assassination attempts, both times on trips to California, both times by women. The first attempt came from Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme (a "family" member of convicted mass murderer Charles Manson), the second from Sara Jane Moore.

Ford described himself as "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs.” He was vehemently business-friendly, a champion of tax cuts, and an opponent of regulatory agencies he felt were strangling the economy.

"We declared our independence 200 years ago," Ford said in the election campaign of 1976, "and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers."

After he left office, he continued to speak on matters of public interest. He penned a memoir of his presidential years and later authored a look at humour and the presidency. He continued to play golf. Two small strokes in 2000 slowed him down and he was hospitalized for dizziness in 2003. But he managed an appearance at former president Ronald Reagan’s funeral in 2004.