Dates in the life of Gerald Ford

loading...

July 14, 1913: Leslie Lynch King Jr. born, Omaha, Neb. After his parents divorce and his mother remarries, he is adopted by his stepfather and takes his name: Gerald R. Ford.

1935: graduates from

University of Michigan, where he had been a star football player.

1941: graduates from Yale University law school.

1942-46: in U.S. Naval Reserve, including service aboard aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

Oct. 15, 1948: marries Elizabeth “Betty” Bloomer

Warren. They have four

children: Michael Gerald, born 1950; John Gardner, born 1952; Steven Meigs, born 1956; and Susan Elizabeth, born 1957.

Nov. 2, 1948: elected to U.S. House of Representatives after defeating incumbent in Republican primary. In

Congress for nearly 25 years, including stint as House minority leader.

1963-64: serves on Warren Commission that investigated assassination of President Kennedy.

Dec. 6, 1973: confirmed as vice president after

resignation of Spiro Agnew.

Aug. 9, 1974: becomes

president after resignation

of Richard Nixon.

Sept. 8, 1974: gives Nixon an unconditional pardon.

Oct. 17, 1974: goes before a congressional committed to discuss pardon; first sitting president to testify under oath in such circumstances.

Nov. 23-24, 1974: summit in Vladivostok, U.S.S.R., with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev. They reach tentative agreement to limit the number of nuclear weapons.

April 30, 1975: Saigon falls, ending the Vietnam War.

May 12, 1975: The White House announces the new Cambodian government had seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez, in international waters. Two days later, U.S. forces raid a

Cambodian island and

recapture. All crew members are released safely by

Cambodia, but some 40 U.S. servicemen are killed.

July 30-Aug. 2, 1975: Ford among leaders of 35 nations meeting in Helsinki, Finland, on European security. Ford, Brezhnev report progress on strategic arms issues.

Sept. 5, 1975: Charles

Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme arrested after aiming a semiautomatic pistol at Ford in Sacramento, Calif.

Sept. 22, 1975: Activist Sara Jane Moore arrested after firing a gun at Ford in San Francisco. In both attempts, Ford was unhurt.

July 4, 1976: Ford is president as nation pauses to mark its Bicentennial.

Nov. 2, 1976: defeated by Jimmy Carter in quest for a full term as president.

Jan. 20, 1977: Leaves office; Carter is inaugurated.

April 1978: Ford and his children stage “intervention” to

persuade his wife, Betty, to seek treatment for abuse of

medication, alcohol. The

successful treatment leads to founding of Betty Ford

Center.

Oct. 27, 1999: Ford and his wife presented with

Congressional Gold Medals.

August 2000: Suffers small stroke while attending the Republican National

Convention in Philadelphia.

May 21, 2001: Wins John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for pardoning Richard Nixon.

Sept. 14, 2001: Former

presidents Ford, Carter, Bush and Clinton attend prayer service at National Cathedral in Washington after the Sept. 11 attacks. The Rev. Billy

Graham is among the speakers.

June 11, 2004: Joins President Bush and former Presidents Carter, Bush and Clinton at the funeral in Washington of former President

Reagan.

Nov. 12, 2004: Attends groundbreaking ceremony at the University of Michigan for the new home of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public

Policy.

January 2006: Spends 12 days in a California hospital for treatment of pneumonia.

August 2006: Undergoes treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, receiving a cardiac pacemaker and

angioplasty.

Dec. 26, 2006: Betty Ford announces the death of her husband at age 93.