Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford became president in August 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned. Previously a Michigan congressman and House Republican leader, he had entered the vice presidency through appointment after Spiro Agnew’s resignation. Ford therefore assumed the presidency without having been elected to either national executive office. His immediate task was to restore confidence after Watergate while confronting inflation and recession. ¹

Ford retained Henry Kissinger as secretary of state and continued détente with the Soviet Union and engagement with China. The 1974 Vladivostok discussions outlined principles for another strategic arms agreement. In 1975 he signed the Helsinki Final Act, which combined commitments on European security and borders with provisions on human rights and cooperation. Those human rights commitments later gave dissidents an important language for challenging communist governments. ²

North Vietnam’s victory in 1975 ended the government of South Vietnam despite Ford’s requests for additional assistance. The evacuation of Americans and some Vietnamese from Saigon became a defining image of the end of the war. Conflicts over covert action in Angola and investigations of intelligence abuses also produced sharp disputes between the executive branch and Congress over the conduct of foreign policy. ²

Ford pardoned Nixon, a decision he defended as necessary to move beyond Watergate but which provoked widespread criticism. His domestic administration struggled with inflation, unemployment, and energy shortages, moving from calls for voluntary restraint toward tax and spending measures. He narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan’s challenge for the Republican nomination in 1976 but lost the general election to Jimmy Carter. ^{3, 1}