He was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr., in Omaha, Nebraska.
His mother, Dorothy left his father and took him to live with relatives.
She met Gerald R. Ford and married him in 1916.
Although Gerald never formally adopted Dorothy’s son, she gave him Gerald’s name. In 1935 Gerald R. Ford became the future president’s legal name.
He worked in his stepfather’s paint and varnish shop and achieved the rank of eagle scout.
He became a star center for the South High School football team. His skills eventually won him a scholarship to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1931.
At Michigan he was an average student but a star at football. After his graduation in 1935, both the Green Bay packers and Detroit Lions of the National Football league offered him professional
contracts. Instead, he entered Yale University to study law.
After graduation, he returned to Grand rapids to open a law firm with a friend from the University of Michigan.
Unfortunately, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United states declared war the next day. He enlisted in the Navy and after the war, he was discharged as a full
lieutenant.
he represented his district in congress for 25 years.
After the resignation of Vice president Spiro T. Agnew on October 10, 1973, he was chosen to take his place.
After the resignation of president Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974, he became president.
Presidential Facts
He was the only president not elected to the presidency or vice presidency.
He escaped two assassination attempts; both by women.
He granted pardon to Richard Nixon in 1974.
He ordered evacuation of the remaining personnel in Vietnam in 1974, signaling the end of the Vietnam war.
He signed the Helsinki Accords in 1975, pledging to improve relations between the United States and Soviet Bloc countries.
Ordered military action to rescue the crew of the Mayaguez, a commercial ship that had been seized by Cambodian Communist.
