Gerald Ford was the only president in American history to assume office without running either for the office of president or vice-president after Richard Nixon became the first president to resign from office. Although John F. Kennedy’s legacy was focused on US-Soviet relations, Ford’s presidency was mired in domestic controversy.
When Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, he was a Boy Scout and enjoyed outdoor activities like fishing and camping. He became an Eagle Scout at age 14 and the governor of Michigan selected him to serve in an honour guard in Mackinac Island on the border with Canada. He continued to wear a uniform, this time military, in WWII serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Monterey in the Pacific theatre.
When he returned to the US, Ford won a seat in congress in 1948 by challenging the incumbent’s isolationist post-war view of the world, after which he was re-elected 12 more times winning over 60% of the vote each time. During JFK’s presidency, Ford kept his ties to defence by being on the Defence Appropriations Committee and led the commission to investigate the murder of JFK. He later served as minority leader during Lyndon B. Johnson’s first term.
Ford and Nixon became friends when they were both still congressmen because they had similar views on defence and spending, something Ford was an expert on. Ford always supported Nixon every time he ran for president. Spiro Agnew was the vice=president when Nixon took office, but he resigned amid a criminal investigation, so Nixon appoint Ford as his new vice-president.
While he was vice-president for Nixon, Ford defended Nixon’s innocence for as long as he could until the tapes were released. Then, he got ready to assume the presidency when Nixon finally got impeached. After Ford took office the day after Nixon resigned, he controversially chose to pardon Nixon, saying that it is better for the country to move forward to more pressing needs than to be stuck with a political trial.
During Ford’s presidency, there were two attempts on his life within the same month, after which the Secret Service issued him a bulletproof kevlar jacket. One of the guns used in an assassination attempt is on display in the museum. That same year, he also famously ordered the evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon, the ladder from the top of the embassy that took staff to a helicopter is in the museum.
