Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford PDF Author: Douglas Brinkley
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429933410
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Get Book Here

Book Description
The "accidental" president whose innate decency and steady hand restored the presidency after its greatest crisis When Gerald R. Ford entered the White House in August 1974, he inherited a presidency tarnished by the Watergate scandal, the economy was in a recession, the Vietnam War was drawing to a close, and he had taken office without having been elected. Most observers gave him little chance of success, especially after he pardoned Richard Nixon just a month into his presidency, an action that outraged many Americans, but which Ford thought was necessary to move the nation forward. Many people today think of Ford as a man who stumbled a lot--clumsy on his feet and in politics--but acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley shows him to be a man of independent thought and conscience, who never allowed party loyalty to prevail over his sense of right and wrong. As a young congressman, he stood up to the isolationists in the Republican leadership, promoting a vigorous role for America in the world. Later, as House minority leader and as president, he challenged the right wing of his party, refusing to bend to their vision of confrontation with the Communist world. And after the fall of Saigon, Ford also overruled his advisers by allowing Vietnamese refugees to enter the United States, arguing that to do so was the humane thing to do. Brinkley draws on exclusive interviews with Ford and on previously unpublished documents (including a remarkable correspondence between Ford and Nixon stretching over four decades), fashioning a masterful reassessment of Gerald R. Ford's presidency and his underappreciated legacy to the nation.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford PDF Author: Douglas Brinkley
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429933410
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Get Book Here

Book Description
The "accidental" president whose innate decency and steady hand restored the presidency after its greatest crisis When Gerald R. Ford entered the White House in August 1974, he inherited a presidency tarnished by the Watergate scandal, the economy was in a recession, the Vietnam War was drawing to a close, and he had taken office without having been elected. Most observers gave him little chance of success, especially after he pardoned Richard Nixon just a month into his presidency, an action that outraged many Americans, but which Ford thought was necessary to move the nation forward. Many people today think of Ford as a man who stumbled a lot--clumsy on his feet and in politics--but acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley shows him to be a man of independent thought and conscience, who never allowed party loyalty to prevail over his sense of right and wrong. As a young congressman, he stood up to the isolationists in the Republican leadership, promoting a vigorous role for America in the world. Later, as House minority leader and as president, he challenged the right wing of his party, refusing to bend to their vision of confrontation with the Communist world. And after the fall of Saigon, Ford also overruled his advisers by allowing Vietnamese refugees to enter the United States, arguing that to do so was the humane thing to do. Brinkley draws on exclusive interviews with Ford and on previously unpublished documents (including a remarkable correspondence between Ford and Nixon stretching over four decades), fashioning a masterful reassessment of Gerald R. Ford's presidency and his underappreciated legacy to the nation.

Truth and Honor

Truth and Honor PDF Author: Lindsey McDivitt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781534110625
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
"When Gerald Ford became president, Americans were ready for an honest, hardworking politician. He was trustworthy, cooperative, and cared deeply about all Americans. His life, tougher than some and filled with character-building lessons, had prepared him for the job. Backmatter includes a letter from the Ford family and a timeline"--

The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford

The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford PDF Author: John Robert Greene
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Riveting from start to finish". -- Herbert S. Parmet, author of Richard Nixon and His America.

Young Jerry Ford

Young Jerry Ford PDF Author: Hendrik Booraem
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802869424
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book Here

Book Description
An account of the early life of Gerald R. Ford, up through high school.

Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford PDF Author: James Cannon
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472029460
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 513

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Not since Harry Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt twenty-nine years earlier had the American people known so little about a man who had stepped forward from obscurity to take the oath of office as President of the United States.” —from Chapter 4 This is a comprehensive narrative account of the life of Gerald Ford written by one of his closest advisers, James Cannon. Written with unique insight and benefiting from personal interviews with President Ford in his last years, Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Lifeis James Cannon’s final look at the simple and honest man from the Midwest.

When the Center Held

When the Center Held PDF Author: Donald Rumsfeld
Publisher: Free Press
ISBN: 1501172948
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A personal look behind the scenes” (Publishers Weekly) of the presidency of Gerald Ford as seen through the eyes of Donald Rumsfeld—New York Times bestselling author and Ford’s former Secretary of Defense, Chief of Staff, and longtime personal confidant. In the wake of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, it seemed the United States was coming apart. America had experienced a decade of horrifying assassinations; the unprecedented resignation of first a vice president and then a president of the United States; intense cultural and social change; and a new mood of cynicism sweeping the country—a mood that, in some ways, lingers today. Into that divided atmosphere stepped an unexpected, unelected, and largely unknown American—Gerald R. Ford. In contrast to every other individual who had ever occupied the Oval Office, he had never appeared on any ballot either for the presidency or the vice presidency. Ford simply and humbly performed his duty to the best of his considerable ability. By the end of his 895 days as president, he would in fact have restored balance to our country, steadied the ship of state, and led his fellow Americans out of the national trauma of Watergate. And yet, Gerald Ford remains one of the least studied and least understood individuals to have held the office of the President of the United States. In turn, his legacy also remains severely underappreciated. In When the Center Held, Ford’s Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld candidly shares his personal observations of the man himself, providing a sweeping examination of his crucial years in office. It is a rare and fascinating look behind the closed doors of the Oval Office, including never-before-seen photos, memos, and anecdotes, from a unique insider’s perspective—“engrossing and informative” (Kirkus Reviews) reading for any fan of presidential history.

Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency

Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency PDF Author: Jerald F. TerHorst
Publisher: New York : Third Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description


A Companion to Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter

A Companion to Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter PDF Author: Scott Kaufman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444349945
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 606

Get Book Here

Book Description
With 30 historiographical essays by established and rising scholars, this Companion is a comprehensive picture of the presidencies and legacies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Examines important national and international events during the 1970s, as well as presidential initiatives, crises, and legislation Discusses the biography of each man before entering the White House, his legacy and work after leaving office, and the lives of Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, and their families Covers key themes and issues, including Watergate and the pardon of Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, neoconservatism and the rise of the New Right, and the Iran hostage crisis Incorporates presidential, diplomatic, military, economic, social, and cultural history Uses the most recent research and newly released documents from the two Presidential Libraries and the State Department

The Education of Gerald Ford

The Education of Gerald Ford PDF Author: Hendrik Booraem V
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802869432
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Get Book Here

Book Description
GERALD R. FORD (1913-2006), the thirty-eighth president of the United States, grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and by all accounts modeled exemplary behavior. In this biography Hendrik Booraem carefully examines that image and the reputation that Ford earned during his early years, telling about Ford's life up until his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1935. Booraem uses in-depth research of numerous written sources — plus interviews with some twenty people who personally knew Ford — to show how Jerry Ford excelled at academics and athletics, forging his way through challenges, family difficulties, economic setbacks, and more on his way to a remarkable political career. Booraem's historical portrait offers fascinating insight into the early years of this president who sought to heal the nation at a very low point in its history.

Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party

Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party PDF Author: Scott Kaufman
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700625003
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 464

Get Book Here

Book Description
Within eight turbulent months in 1974 Gerald Ford went from the United States House of Representatives, where he was the minority leader, to the White House as the country's first and only unelected president. His unprecedented rise to power, after Richard Nixon's equally unprecedented fall, has garnered the lion's share of scholarly attention devoted to America's thirty-eighth president. But Gerald Ford's (1913–2006) life and career in and out of Washington spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party captures for the first time the full scope of Ford's long and remarkable political life. The man who emerges from these pages is keenly ambitious, determined to climb the political ladder in Washington, and loyal to his party but not a political ideologue. Drawing on interviews with family and congressional and administrative officials, presidential historian Scott Kaufman traces Ford's path from a Depression-era childhood through service in World War II to entry into Congress shortly after the Cold War began. He delves deeply into the workings of Congress and legislative–executive relations, offering insight into Ford's role as the House minority leader in a time of conservative insurgency in the Republican Party. Kaufman's account of the Ford presidency provides a new perspective on how human rights figured in the making of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War era, and how environmental issues figured in the making of domestic policy. It also presents a close look at the 1976 presidential election—emphasizing the significance of image in that contest—and extensive coverage of Ford's post-presidency. In sum, Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party is the most comprehensive political biography of Gerald Ford and will become the definitive resource on the thirty-eighth president of the United States.