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By
George Tames, 1974. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution;
© The New York Times/George Tames. |
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Thirty-eighth
President, 1974-1977
Gerald Ford was perfectly happy with his lot as a Michigan congressman
and House minority leader. When revelations of misconduct forced Spiro
Agnew to resign the vice presidency in 1973, however, Ford's congressional
career abruptly ended with his appointment by President Richard Nixon
to succeed Agnew. Within a year, Ford's political fortunes took yet
another sharp turn. On August 9, 1974, with Nixon himself forced to
resign from office amid charges of wrongdoing, Ford became the only
unelected Vice President to succeed to the White House. Ford's pardoning
of Nixon shortly thereafter drew angry criticism. Nevertheless, Ford's
conciliatory leadership succeeded in restoring a much-eroded confidence
in the presidency. Summarizing the orderly way he came to office despite
the unsettling events that put him there, he had said at his swearing-in:
"Our Constitution works." In large measure, it was Ford who insured
that it did. |
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