 Official portrait, 1974 | |
| Presidency of Gerald Ford August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977 | |
Vice President |
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|---|---|
| Cabinet | See list |
| Party | Republican |
| Election | None |
| Seat | White House |
| Library website | |
Gerald Ford's tenure as the38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon theresignation of PresidentRichard Nixon, and ended on January 20, 1977. Ford, aRepublican fromMichigan, had beenappointedvice president on December 6, 1973, following the resignation ofSpiro Agnew from that office. Ford was the only person to serve as president without being elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. His presidency ended following his narrow defeat in the1976 presidential election toDemocratJimmy Carter, after a period of 895 days in office. His 895-day presidency remains the shortest of all U.S. presidents who did not die in office.
Ford took office in the aftermath of theWatergate scandal and in the final stages of theVietnam War, both of which engendered a new disillusion in American political institutions. Ford's first major act upon taking office was to grant apresidential pardon to Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, prompting a major backlash to Ford's presidency. He also created a conditional clemency program for Vietnam War draft dodgers.
Much of Ford's focus in domestic policy was on the economy, which experienced arecession during his tenure. After initially promoting a tax increase designed to combatinflation, Ford championed a tax cut designed to rejuvenate the economy, and he signed two tax reduction acts into law. The foreign policy of the Ford administration was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the president.[1] Overcoming significant congressional opposition, Ford continued Nixon'sdétente policies with theSoviet Union.
In the 1976 presidential election, Ford was challenged byRonald Reagan, a leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. After a contentious series ofprimaries, Ford narrowly won the nomination at the1976 Republican National Convention. In the general election, Ford lost to Carter by a narrow margin in the popular and electoral vote. Inpolls of historians and political scientists, Ford is generally ranked as a below average president, much like both his predecessor and successor.[2]
The Republican ticket of PresidentRichard Nixon and Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew won a landslide victory in the1972 presidential election. Nixon's second term was dominated by theWatergate scandal, which stemmed from a Nixon campaign group's attempted burglary of theDemocratic National Committee's headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration.[3] Due to a scandal unrelated to Watergate, Vice PresidentAgnew resigned on October 10, 1973. Under the terms of theTwenty-fifth Amendment, Nixon nominated Ford as Agnew's replacement. Nixon selected Ford, then theHouse Minority Leader and representative fromMichigan's 5th congressional district, largely because he was advised that Ford would be the most easily confirmed of the prominent Republican leaders.[4] Ford wasconfirmed by overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, and he took office as vice president in December 1973.[5]
In the months after his confirmation as vice president, Ford continued to support Nixon's innocence with regards to Watergate, even as evidence mounted that the Nixon administration had ordered the break-in and subsequently sought to cover it up. In July 1974, after the Supreme Courtordered Nixon to turn over recordings of certain meetings he had held as president, theHouse Judiciary Committee voted to beginimpeachment proceedings against Nixon. After the tapes became public and clearly showed that Nixon had taken part in the cover-up, Nixon summoned Ford to the Oval Office on August 8, where Nixon informed Ford that he would resign. Nixon formally resigned on August 9, making Ford the first President of the United States who had not been elected as either president or vice president.[6]
Immediately after taking the oath of office in theEast Room of the White House, Ford spoke to the assembled audience in a speech broadcast live to the nation.[7] Ford noted the peculiarity of his position: "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers."[8] He went on to state:
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.[9]
Upon assuming office, Ford inherited Nixon'scabinet, although Ford quickly replaced Chief of StaffAlexander Haig withDonald Rumsfeld, who had served as aCounselor to the President under Nixon. Rumsfeld and Deputy Chief of StaffDick Cheney rapidly became among the most influential people in the Ford administration.[10] Ford also appointedEdward H. Levi as Attorney General, charging Levi with cleaning up a Justice Department that had been politicized to unprecedented levels during the Nixon administration.[11] Ford brought inPhilip W. Buchen,Robert T. Hartmann,L. William Seidman, andJohn O. Marsh as senior advisers with cabinet rank.[12] Ford placed a far greater value in his cabinet officials than Nixon had, though cabinet members did not regain the degree of influence they had held prior toWorld War II. Levi, Secretary of State andNational Security AdviserHenry Kissinger, Secretary of the TreasuryWilliam E. Simon, and Secretary of DefenseJames R. Schlesinger all emerged as influential cabinet officials early in Ford's tenure.[13]
Most of the Nixon holdovers in cabinet stayed in place until Ford's dramatic reorganization in the fall of 1975, an action referred to by political commentators as the "Halloween Massacre".[14] Ford appointedGeorge H. W. Bush asDirector of theCentral Intelligence Agency,[15] while Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense and Cheney replaced Rumsfeld as Chief of Staff, becoming the youngest individual to hold that position.[14] The moves were intended to fortify Ford's right flank against a primary challenge from Ronald Reagan.[14] Though Kissinger remained as Secretary of State,Brent Scowcroft replaced Kissinger as National Security Advisor.[16]
Ford's accession to the presidency left the office of vice president vacant. On August 20, 1974, FordnominatedNelson Rockefeller, the leader of the party's liberal wing, for the vice presidency.[17] Rockefeller and former RepresentativeGeorge H. W. Bush from Texas were the two finalists for vice presidential nomination, and Ford chose Rockefeller in part due to aNewsweek report that revealed that Bush had accepted money from a Nixonslush fund during his 1970 Senate campaign.[18] Rockefeller underwent extended hearings before Congress, which caused embarrassment when it was revealed he made large gifts to senior aides, including Kissinger. Although conservative Republicans were not pleased that Rockefeller was picked, most of them voted for his confirmation, and his nomination passed both the House and Senate.[19] He was sworn in as the nation's 41st vice president on December 19, 1974.[20] Prior to Rockefeller's confirmation,Speaker of the HouseCarl Albert was next inline to the presidency. Ford promised to give Rockefeller a major role in shaping the domestic policy of the administration, but Rockefeller was quickly sidelined by Rumsfeld and other administration officials.[21]
In the wake of Nixon's heavy use ofexecutive privilege to block investigations of his actions, Ford was scrupulous in minimizing its usage. However, that complicated his efforts to keep congressional investigations under control. Political scientistMark J. Rozell concludes that Ford's:
Ford made one appointment to theSupreme Court while in office, appointingJohn Paul Stevens to succeedAssociate JusticeWilliam O. Douglas. Upon learning of Douglas's impending retirement, Ford asked Attorney General Levi to submit a short list of potential Supreme Court nominees, and Levi suggested Stevens, Solicitor GeneralRobert Bork, and federal judgeArlin Adams. Ford chose Stevens, an uncontroversial federal appellate judge, largely because he was likely to face the least opposition in the Senate.[23] Early in his tenure on the Court, Stevens had a relatively moderate voting record, but in the 1990s he emerged as a leader of the Court's liberal bloc.[24] In 2005 Ford wrote, "I am prepared to allow history's judgment of my term in office to rest (if necessary, exclusively) on my nomination 30 years ago of Justice John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court".[25] Ford also appointed 11 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 50 judges to theUnited States district courts.
Along with the experience of theVietnam War and other issues, Watergate contributed to a decline in the faith that Americans placed in political institutions. Low public confidence added to Ford's already formidable challenge of establishing his own administration without apresidential transition period or the popular mandate of a presidential election.[26] Though Ford became widely popular during his first month in office, he faced a difficult situation regarding the fate of former President Nixon, whose status threatened to undermine the Ford administration.[27] In the final days of Nixon's presidency, Haig had floated the possibility of Fordpardoning Nixon, but no deal had been struck between Nixon and Ford before Nixon's resignation.[28] Nonetheless, when Ford took office, most of the Nixon holdovers in the executive branch, including Haig and Kissinger, pressed for a pardon.[29] Through his first month in office, Ford publicly kept his options open regarding a pardon, but he came to believe that ongoing legal proceedings against Nixon would prevent his administration from addressing any other issue.[30] Ford attempted to extract a public statement of contrition from Nixon before issuing the pardon, but Nixon refused.[31]
On September 8, 1974, Ford issuedProclamation 4311, which gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while president.[32][33][34] In a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford explained that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country, and that the Nixon family's situation "is a tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must."[35]
The Nixon pardon was highly controversial, andGallup polling showed that Ford's approval rating fell from 71 percent before the pardon to 50 percent immediately after the pardon.[36] Critics derided the move and said a "corrupt bargain" had been struck between the men.[37] In an editorial at the time,The New York Times stated that the Nixon pardon was a "profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence".[38] Ford's close friend and press secretary,Jerald terHorst, resigned his post in protest.[39] The pardon would hang over Ford for the remainder of his presidency, and damaged his relationship with members of Congress from both parties.[40] Against the advice of most of his advisers, Ford agreed to appear before a House Subcommittee that requested further information on the pardon.[41] On October 17, 1974, Ford testified before Congress, becoming the first sitting president sinceWoodrow Wilson to do so.[42]
After Ford left the White House, the former president privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text ofBurdick v. United States, a 1915 Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt, and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt.[43]
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During the Vietnam War, about one percent of American men of eligible age for the draft failed to register, and approximately one percent of those who were drafted refused to serve. Those who refused conscription were labeled as "draft dodgers"; many such individuals had left the country forCanada, but others remained in the United States.[44] Ford had opposed any form of amnesty for the draft dodgers while in Congress, but his presidential advisers convinced him that a clemency program would help resolve a contentious issue and boost Ford's public standing.[45] On September 16, 1974, shortly after he announced the Nixon pardon, Ford introduced a presidential clemency program for Vietnam War draft dodgers. The conditions of the clemency required a reaffirmation of allegiance to the United States and two years of work in a public service position.[46] The program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters established a Clemency Board to review the records and make recommendations for receiving a presidential pardon and a change inmilitary discharge status.[47] Ford's clemency program was accepted by most conservatives, but attacked by those on the left who wanted a full amnesty program.[48] Full pardon for draft dodgers would later come in theCarter Administration.[49]
The 1974 congressional midterm elections took place less than three months after Ford assumed office. The Democratic Party turned voter dissatisfaction into large gains in theHouse of Representatives elections, taking 49 seats from the Republican Party, increasing their majority to 291 of the 435 seats. Even Ford's former House seat was won by a Democrat. In theSenate elections, the Democrats increased their majority to 61 seats in the 100-seat body.[50] The subsequent94th Congress would override the highest percentage of vetoes sinceAndrew Johnson served as president in the 1860s. Ford's successful vetoes, however, resulted in the lowest yearly spending increases since the Eisenhower administration.[51][52] Buoyed by the new class of "Watergate Babies," liberal Democrats implemented reforms designed to ease the passage of legislation. The House began to selectcommittee chairs by secret ballot rather than through seniority, resulting in the removal of some conservative Southern committee chairs. The Senate, meanwhile, lowered the number of votes necessary to end afilibuster from 67 to 60.[53]
Ford was at odds with the liberal Democratic majority in Congress during his presidency, as he reflected in his autobiography:
In 1949, when I arrived in Washington, President Truman was a moderate-to-liberal Democrat who had struggled with a conservative Republican Eightieth Congress. He wanted to spend, and we Republicans wanted to save. Here I was in 1974, a conservative-to-moderate Republican about to struggle with a liberal Democratic Congress. The President wanted to save, and the Congress wanted to spend. Well, Truman had won a good share of his battles on Capitol Hill. With any luck, I would too.[54]
| Fiscal Year | Receipts | Outlays | Surplus/ Deficit | GDP | Debt as a % of GDP[56] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 279.1 | 332.3 | –53.2 | 1,606.9 | 24.6 |
| 1976 | 298.1 | 371.8 | –73.7 | 1,786.1 | 26.7 |
| TQ[57] | 81.2 | 96.0 | –14.7 | 471.7 | 26.3 |
| 1977 | 355.6 | 409.2 | –53.7 | 2,024.3 | 27.1 |
| Ref. | [58] | [59] | [60] | ||
By the time Ford took office, the U.S.economy had entered into a period ofstagflation, which economists attributed to various causes, including the1973 oil crisis and increasing competition from countries such as Japan.[61] Stagflation confounded the traditional economic theories of the 1970s, as economists generally believed that an economy would not simultaneously experience inflation and low rates of economic growth. Traditional economic remedies for a dismal economic growth rate, such as tax cuts and increased spending, risked exacerbating inflation. The conventional response to inflation, tax increases and a cut in government spending, risked damaging the economy.[62] The economic troubles, which signaled the end of thepost-war boom, created an opening for a challenge to the dominantKeynesian economics, andlaissez-faire advocates such asAlan Greenspan acquired influence within the Ford administration. Ford seized the initiative, abandoned 40 years of orthodoxy, and introduced a new conservative economic agenda as he sought to adapt traditional Republican economics to deal with the novel economic challenges.[61][63]
At the time that he took office, Ford believed that inflation, rather than a potential recession, represented the greatest threat to the economy.[64] He believed that inflation could be reduced, not by reducing the amount of new currency entering circulation, but by encouraging people to reduce their spending.[65] In October 1974, Ford went before the American public and asked them to "WhipInflationNow". As part of this program, he urged people to wear "WIN" buttons.[66] To try to mesh service and sacrifice, "WIN" called for Americans to reduce their spending and consumption, especially with regards togasoline. Ford hoped that the public would respond to this call for self-restraint much as it had to PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's calls for sacrifice duringWorld War II, but the public received WIN with skepticism. At roughly the same time he rolled out WIN, Ford also proposed a ten-point economic plan. The central plank of the plan was a tax increase on corporations and high earners, which Ford hoped would both quell inflation and cut into government's budget deficit.[65]
Ford's economic focus changed as the country sank into theworst recession since theGreat Depression.[67] In November 1974, Ford withdrew his proposed tax increase.[68] Two months later, Ford proposed a 1-year tax reduction of $16 billion to stimulate economic growth, along with spending cuts to avoid inflation.[69] Having switched from advocating for a tax increase to advocating a tax reduction in just two months, Ford was greatly criticized for his "flip-flop".[70] Congress responded by passing a plan that implemented deeper tax cuts and an increase in government spending. Ford seriously considered vetoing the bill, but ultimately chose to sign theTax Reduction Act of 1975 into law.[71] In October 1975, Ford introduced a bill designed to combat inflation through a mix of tax and spending cuts. That December, Ford signed the Revenue Adjustment Act of 1975, which implemented tax and spending cuts, albeit not at the levels proposed by Ford. The economy recovered in 1976, as both inflation and unemployment declined.[72] Nonetheless, by late 1976 Ford faced considerable discontent over his handling of the economy, and the government had a $74 billion deficit.[73]
Prior to Ford's presidency, theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) had illegally assembled files on domestic anti-war activists.[74] In the aftermath of Watergate, CIA DirectorWilliam Colby put together a report of all of the CIA's domestic activities, and much of the report became public, beginning with the publication of a December 1974 article by investigative journalistSeymour Hersh. The revelations sparked outrage among the public and members of Congress.[75] In response to growing pressure to investigate and reform the CIA, Ford created theRockefeller Commission.[76] The Rockefeller Commission marked the first time that a presidential commission was established to investigate the national security apparatus.[76] The Rockefeller Commission's report, submitted in June 1975, generally defended the CIA, although it did note that "the CIA has engaged in some activities that should be criticized and not permitted to happen again." The press strongly criticized the commission for failing to include a section on the CIA's assassination plots.[77] The Senate created its own committee, led by SenatorFrank Church, to investigate CIA abuses. Ford feared that theChurch Committee would be used for partisan purposes and resisted turning over classified materials, but Colby cooperated with the committee.[78] In response to the Church Committee's report, both houses of Congress establishedselect committees to provide oversight to the intelligence community.[79]
Due to the frustration of environmentalists left over from the Nixon days, includingEnvironmental Protection Agency headRussell E. Train, environmentalism was a peripheral issue during the Ford years. Secretary of the InteriorThomas S. Kleppe was a leader of the "Sagebrush Rebellion", a movement of western ranchers and other groups that sought the repeal of environmental protections on federal land. They lost repeatedly in the federal courts, most notably in the 1976 Supreme Court decision ofKleppe v. New Mexico.[80] Ford's successes included the addition of two national monuments, six historical sites, three historic parks and two national preserves. None were controversial. In the international field, treaties and agreements with Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, the Soviet Union and several European countries included provisions to protect endangered species.[81]
Ford and his wife were outspoken supporters of theEqual Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed constitutional amendment that had been submitted to the states for ratification in 1972.[82] The ERA was designed to ensure equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender. Despite Ford's support, the ERA would fail to win ratification by the necessary number of state legislatures.[citation needed]
As president, Ford's position onabortion was that he supported "a federal constitutional amendment that would permit each one of the 50 States to make the choice".[83] This had also been his position as House Minority Leader in response to the 1973 Supreme Court case ofRoe v. Wade, which he opposed.[84] Ford came under criticism fora60 Minutes interview his wife Betty gave in 1975, in which she stated thatRoe v. Wade was a "great, great decision".[82] During his later life, Ford would identify aspro-choice.[85]
After the 1972 elections,good government groups likeCommon Cause pressured Congress to amendcampaign finance law to restrict the role of money in political campaigns. In 1974, Congress approved amendments to theFederal Election Campaign Act, establishing theFederal Election Commission to oversee campaign finance laws. The amendments also established a system of public financing for presidential elections, limited the size of campaign contributions, limited the amount of money that candidates could spend on their own campaigns, and required the disclosure of nearly all campaign contributions. Ford reluctantly signed the bill into law in October 1974. In the 1976 case ofBuckley v. Valeo, the Supreme Court overturned the cap on self-funding by political candidates, holding that such a restriction violatedfreedom of speech rights.[86] The campaign finance reforms of the 1970s were largely unsuccessful in lessening the influence of money in politics, as more contributions shifted topolitical action committees and state and local party committees.[87]
In 1971, the United States Supreme Court ruled inSwann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that "Busing was a permissible tool for desegregation purposes." However, in the closing days of the Nixon administration, the Supreme Court largely eliminated District Court ability to order busing across city and suburban systems in the case ofMilliken v. Bradley.[88] It meant that disgruntled white families could move to the suburbs and not be reached by court orders regarding segregation of the central city schools. Ford, representing a Michigan district, had always taken the position in favor of the goal of school desegregation but opposition to court-ordered forced busing as a means of achieving it. In the first major bill he signed as president, Ford's compromise solution was to win over the general population with mild anti-busing legislation. He condemned anti-busing violence, promoted the theoretical goal of school desegregation, and promised to uphold the Constitution. The problem did not go away – it only escalated and remained on the front burner for years.Tension exploded in Boston, where working-class Irish neighborhoods inside the city limits violently resisted court-ordered busing of black children into their schools.[89]
When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975,MayorAbraham Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. The incident prompted the New YorkDaily News' famous headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead", referring to a speech in which "Ford declared flatly ... that he would veto any bill calling for 'a federal bail-out of New York City'".[90][91] The following month, November 1975, Ford changed his stance and asked Congress to approve federal loans to New York City, upon the condition that the city agree to more austere budgets imposed by Washington, D.C. In December 1975, Ford signed a bill providing New York City with access to $2.3 billion in loans.[92]
Despite his reservations about how the program ultimately would be funded in an era of tightpublic budgeting, Ford signed theEducation for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which establishedspecial education throughout the United States. Ford expressed "strong support for full educational opportunities for our handicapped children" upon signing the bill.[93]
Ford was confronted with a potentialswine flupandemic. In the early 1970s, aninfluenza strainH1N1 shifted from a form of flu that affected primarily pigs and crossed over to humans. On February 5, 1976, anarmy recruit atFort Dix mysteriously died and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized;health officials announced that "swine flu" was the cause. Soon after, public health officials in the Ford administration urged that every person in the United States bevaccinated.[94] Although the vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, some 25% of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was canceled in December 1976. The vaccine was alleged to have been a factor in twenty-five deaths.[95]
Ford continued Nixon'sdétente policy with both theSoviet Union and China, easing the tensions of theCold War. In doing so, he overcame opposition from members of Congress, an institution which became increasingly assertive in foreign affairs in the early 1970s.[96] This opposition was led by SenatorHenry M. Jackson, who scuttled a U.S.–Soviet trade agreement by winning passage of theJackson–Vanik amendment.[97] The thawing relationship with China brought about byNixon's 1972 visit to China was reinforced with another presidential visit in December 1975.[98]
Despite the collapse of the trade agreement with the Soviet Union, Ford and Soviet LeaderLeonid Brezhnev continued theStrategic Arms Limitation Talks, which had begun under Nixon. In 1972, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had reached theSALT I treaty, which placed upper limits on each power's nuclear arsenal.[99] Ford met Brezhnev at the November 1974Vladivostok Summit, at which point the two leaders agreed to a framework for another SALT treaty.[100] Opponents of détente, led by Jackson, delayed Senate consideration of the treaty until after Ford left office.[101]
When Ford took office in August 1974, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) negotiations had been underway inHelsinki, Finland, for nearly two years. Throughout much of the negotiations, U.S. leaders were disengaged and uninterested with the process; Kissinger told Ford in 1974 that "we never wanted it but we went along with the Europeans ... [i]t is meaningless—it is just a grandstand play to the left. We are going along with it."[102] In the months leading up to the conclusion of negotiations and signing of the Helsinki Final Act in August 1975, Americans of Eastern European descent voiced their concerns that the agreement would mean the acceptance of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe and the permanent incorporation of theBaltic states into the USSR.[103] Shortly before President Ford departed for Helsinki, he held a meeting with a delegation of Americans of Eastern European background, and stated definitively that U.S. policy on the Baltic States would not change, but would be strengthened since the agreement denies the annexation of territory in violation of international law and allows for the peaceful change of borders.[104]
The American public remained unconvinced that American policy on the incorporation of the Baltic States would not be changed by the Helsinki Final Act. Despite protests from all around, Ford decided to move forward and sign the Helsinki Agreement.[105] As domestic criticism mounted, Ford hedged on his support for the Helsinki Accords, which had the impact of overall weakening his foreign-policy stature.[106] Though Ford was criticized for his apparent recognition of the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, the new emphasis on human rights would eventually contribute to the weakening of theEastern bloc in the 1980s and speed up its collapse in 1989.[107]
One of Ford's greatest challenges was dealing with the ongoing Vietnam War. American offensive operations against North Vietnam had ended with theParis Peace Accords, signed on January 27, 1973. The accords declared a cease fire across bothNorth andSouth Vietnam, and required the release of Americanprisoners of war. The agreement guaranteed the territorial integrity of Vietnam and, like theGeneva Conference of 1954, called for national elections in the North and South.[108] South Vietnamese PresidentNguyen Van Thieu was not involved in the final negotiations, and publicly criticized the proposed agreement, but was pressured by Nixon and Kissinger into signing the agreement. In multiple letters to the South Vietnamese president, Nixon had promised that the United States would defend Thieu's government, should the North Vietnamese violate the accords.[109]
Fighting in Vietnam continued after the withdrawal of most U.S. forces in early 1973.[110] As North Vietnamese forces advanced in early 1975, Ford requested Congress approve a $722 million aid package for South Vietnam, funds that had been promised by the Nixon administration. Congress voted against the proposal by a wide margin.[111] SenatorJacob K. Javits offered "...large sums for evacuation, but not one nickel for military aid".[111] Thieu resigned on April 21, 1975, publicly blaming the lack of support from the United States for the fall of his country.[112] Two days later, on April 23, Ford gave a speech atTulane University, announcing that the Vietnam War was over "...as far as America is concerned".[109]
With the North Vietnamese forces advancing on the South Vietnamese capital ofSaigon, Ford ordered the evacuation of U.S. personnel, while also allowing U.S. forces to aid others who wished to escape from the Communist advance. Forty thousand U.S. citizens and South Vietnamese were evacuated by plane until enemy attacks made further such evacuations impossible.[113] InOperation Frequent Wind, the final phase of the evacuation preceding thefall of Saigon on April 30, military andAir America helicopters took evacuees to off-shoreU.S. Navy vessels. During the operation, so many South Vietnamese helicopters landed on the vessels taking the evacuees that some were pushed overboard to make room for more people.[114]
The Vietnam War, which had raged since the 1950s, finally came to an end with the Fall of Saigon, and Vietnam was reunified into one country. Many of the Vietnamese evacuees were allowed to enter the United States under theIndochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. The 1975 act appropriated $455 million toward the costs of assisting the settlement of Indochinese refugees.[115] In all, 130,000 Vietnamese refugees came to the United States in 1975. Thousands more escaped in the years that followed.[116] Following the end of the war, Ford expanded the embargo of North Vietnam to cover all of Vietnam, blocked Vietnam's accession to theUnited Nations, and refused to establish full diplomatic relations.[117]
North Vietnam's victory over the South led to a considerable shift in the political winds in Asia, and Ford administration officials worried about a consequent loss of U.S. influence in the region. The administration proved it was willing to respond forcefully to challenges to its interests in the region whenKhmer Rouge forces seized an American ship ininternational waters.[118]
In May 1975, shortly after the fall of Saigon and the Khmer Rouge conquest ofCambodia, Cambodians seized the American merchant shipMayaguez in international waters, sparking theMayaguez incident.[119] Ford dispatchedMarines to rescue the crew from an island where the crew was believed to be held, but the Marines met unexpectedly stiff resistance just as, unknown to the U.S., the crew were being released. In the operation, three military transport helicopters were shot down and 41 U.S. servicemen were killed and 50 wounded while approximately 60 Khmer Rouge soldiers were killed.[120] Despite American losses, the rescue operation proved to be a boon to Ford's poll numbers; SenatorBarry Goldwater declared that the operation "shows we've still got balls in this country."[121] Some historians have argued that the Ford administration felt the need to respond forcefully to the incident because it was construed as a Soviet plot.[122] But work by Andrew Gawthorpe, published in 2009, based on an analysis of the administration's internal discussions, shows that Ford's national security team understood that the seizure of the vessel was a local, and perhaps even accidental, provocation by an immature Khmer government. Nevertheless, they felt the need to respond forcefully to discourage further provocations by other Communist countries in Asia.[123]
In the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, two ongoing international disputes developed into crises during Ford's presidency. TheCyprus dispute turned into a crisis with the 1974Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which took place following theGreek-backed1974 Cypriot coup d'état. The dispute put the United States in a difficult position as both Greece and Turkey were members ofNATO. In mid-August, theGreek government withdrew Greece from the NATO military structure; in mid-September 1974, the Senate and House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to halt military aid to Turkey. Ford vetoed the bill due to concerns regarding its effect on Turkish-American relations and the deterioration of security on NATO's eastern front. A second bill was then passed by Congress, which Ford also vetoed, although a compromise was accepted to continue aid until the end of the year.[1] As Ford expected, Turkish relations wereconsiderably disrupted until 1978.[citation needed]
In 1973,Egypt andSyria had launched a joint surprise attack againstIsrael, seeking to re-take land lost in theSix-Day War of 1967. However, early Arab success gave way to an Israel military victory in what became known as theYom Kippur War. Although an initialcease fire had been implemented to end active conflict in the Yom Kippur War, Kissinger's continuingshuttle diplomacy was showing little progress. Ford disliked what he saw as Israeli "stalling" on a peace agreement, and wrote, "[Israeli] tactics frustrated the Egyptians and made me mad as hell."[124] During Kissinger's shuttle to Israel in early March 1975, a last minute reversal to consider further withdrawal, prompted a cable from Ford to Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin, which included:
I wish to express my profound disappointment over Israel's attitude in the course of the negotiations ... Failure of the negotiation will have a far reaching impact on the region and on our relations. I have given instructions for a reassessment of United States policy in the region, including our relations with Israel, with the aim of ensuring that overall American interests ... are protected. You will be notified of our decision.[125]
On March 24, Ford informed congressional leaders of both parties of the reassessment of the administration policies in the Middle East. "Reassessment", in practical terms, meant canceling or suspending further aid to Israel. For six months between March and September 1975, the United States refused to conclude any new arms agreements with Israel. Rabin notes it was "an innocent-sounding term that heralded one of the worst periods in American-Israeli relations".[126] The announced reassessments upset many American supporters of Israel. On May 21, Ford "experienced a real shock" when seventy-six U.S. senators wrote him a letter urging him to be "responsive" to Israel's request for $2.59 billion in military and economic aid. Ford felt truly annoyed and thought the chance for peace was jeopardized. It was, since the September 1974 ban on arms to Turkey, the second major congressional intrusion upon the President's foreign policy prerogatives.[127] The following summer months were described by Ford as an American-Israeli "war of nerves" or "test of wills".[128] After much bargaining, theSinai Interim Agreement (Sinai II) between Egypt and Israel was formally signed, and aid resumed.[citation needed]
A civil war broke out inAngola after the fledgling African nation gained independence fromPortugal in 1975. The Soviet Union and Cuba both became heavily involved in the conflict, backing the left-wingMPLA, one of the major factions in the civil war. In response, the CIAdirected aid to two other factions in the war,UNITA and theFNLA. After members of Congress learned of the CIA operation, Congress voted to cut off aid to the Angolan groups. The Angolan Civil War would continue in subsequent years, but the Soviet role in the war hindered détente. Congress's role in ending the CIA presence marked the growing power of the legislative branch in foreign affairs.[129]
During the Ford administration, the United States began to distance itself from theapartheid regime ofSouth Africa'snuclear weapons program. By this point, however, the program was highly advanced, and this policy shift was, by this point, too late in time to significantly stall the apartheid regime's ultimate goal of developing a nuclear deterrent.[130]
U.S. policy since the 1940s has been to supportIndonesia, which hosted American investments in petroleum and raw materials and controlled a highly strategic location near vital shipping lanes. In 1975, the left-wingFretilin party seized power after a civil war inEast Timor (now Timor-Leste), a former colony ofPortugal that shared the island ofTimor with the Indonesian region ofWest Timor. Indonesian leaders feared that East Timor would serve as a hostile left-wing base that would promote secessionist movements inside Indonesia.[131] Anti-Fretilin activists from the other main parties fled to West Timor and called upon Indonesia to annex East Timor and end the communist threat. On December 7, 1975, Ford and Kissinger met Indonesian PresidentSuharto inJakarta. Suharto discussed the plans to invade East Timor; both Ford and Kissinger indicated the United States would not take a position on East Timor.Indonesia invaded the next day, andannexed the country.[132]A bloody civil war broke out, and over one hundred thousand died in the fighting or from executions or starvation. Upwards of half of the population of East Timor became refugees fleeing Fretilin-controlled areas between 1975 and 1981.[133] Later, after international intervention in the1999 East Timorese crisis, East Timor became an independent nation in 2002.[134][135]
| Dates | Country | Locations | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 21, 1974 |  Mexico | Nogales,Magdalena de Kino | Met with PresidentLuis Echeverría and laid a wreath at the tomb ofPadreEusebio Kino. |
| 2 | November 19–22, 1974 |  Japan | Tokyo, Kyoto | State visit. Met with Prime MinisterKakuei Tanaka. |
| November 22–23, 1974 |  South Korea | Seoul | Met with PresidentPark Chung Hee. | |
| November 23–24, 1974 |  Soviet Union | Vladivostok | Met with General SecretaryLeonid Brezhnev anddiscussed limitations of strategic arms. | |
| 3 | December 14–16, 1974 |  France | Fort-de-France, Martinique | Met with PresidentValéry Giscard d'Estaing. |
| 4 | May 28–31, 1975 |  Belgium | Brussels | Attended theNATO Summit Meeting. Addressed the North Atlantic Council and met separately with NATO heads of state and government. |
| May 31 – June 1, 1975 |  Spain | Madrid | Met with GeneralissimoFrancisco Franco. Received keys to city from Mayor of Madrid Miguel Angel García-Lomas Mata. | |
| June 1–3, 1975 |  Austria | Salzburg | Met with Chancellor Bruno Kreisky and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. | |
| June 3, 1975 |  Italy | Rome | Met with PresidentGiovanni Leone and Prime MinisterAldo Moro. | |
| June 3, 1975 |  Vatican City | Apostolic Palace | Audience with PopePaul VI. | |
| 5 | July 26–28, 1975 |  West Germany | Bonn, Linz am Rhein | Met with PresidentWalter Scheel and ChancellorHelmut Schmidt. |
| July 28–29, 1975 |  Poland | Warsaw, Kraków | Official visit. Met with First SecretaryEdward Gierek. | |
| July 29 – August 2, 1975 |  Finland | Helsinki | Attended opening session of theConference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Met with the heads of state and government of Finland, Great Britain, Turkey, West Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Also met with Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev. Signed the final act of the conference. | |
| August 2–3, 1975 |  Romania | Bucharest, Sinaia | Official visit. Met with President Nicolae Ceaușescu.[137] | |
| August 3–4, 1975 |  Yugoslavia | Belgrade | Official visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito and Prime MinisterDžemal Bijedić. | |
| 6 | November 15–17, 1975 | France | Rambouillet | Attended the1st G6 summit. |
| 7 | December 1–5, 1975 |  China | Peking | Official visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Vice PremierDeng Xiaoping. |
| December 5–6, 1975 |  Indonesia | Jakarta | Official visit. Met with President Suharto. | |
| December 6–7, 1975 |  Philippines | Manila | Official visit. Met with PresidentFerdinand Marcos. |
Ford faced two assassination attempts during his presidency. InSacramento, California, on September 5, 1975,Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower ofCharles Manson, pointed aColt .45-caliber handgun at Ford.[138] As Fromme pulled the trigger,Larry Buendorf,[139] a Secret Service agent, grabbed the gun, and Fromme was taken into custody. She was later convicted of attempted assassination of the President and was sentenced to life in prison; she was paroled on August 14, 2009.[140]
In reaction to this attempt, the Secret Service began keeping Ford at a more secure distance from anonymous crowds, a strategy that may have saved his life seventeen days later. As he left theSt. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco,Sara Jane Moore, standing in a crowd of onlookers across the street, pointed her.38-caliber revolver at him.[141] Moore fired a single round but missed because the sights were off. Just before she fired a second round, retired MarineOliver Sipple grabbed at the gun and deflected her shot; the bullet struck a wall about six inches above and to the right of Ford's head, then ricocheted and hit a taxi driver, who was slightly wounded. Moore was later sentenced to life in prison. She was paroled on December 31, 2007, after serving 32 years.[142]
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Ford made the first major decision of his campaign in mid-1975, when he selectedBo Callaway to run his campaign.[143] The pardon of Nixon and the disastrous 1974 mid-term elections weakened Ford's standing within the party, creating an opening for a competitive Republican primary.[144] The intra-party challenge to Ford came from the conservative wing of the party; many conservative leaders had viewed Ford as insufficiently conservative throughout his political career.[145] Conservative Republicans were further disappointed with the selection of Rockefeller as vice president, and faulted Ford for the fall of Saigon, the amnesty for draft dodgers, and the continuation of détente policies.[146] Ronald Reagan, a leader among the conservatives, launched his campaign in autumn of 1975. Hoping to appease his party's right wing and sap Reagan's momentum, Ford requested that Rockefeller not seek election and the vice president agreed to this request.[147] Ford defeated Reagan in the first severalprimaries, but Reagan gained momentum after winningNorth Carolina's March 1976 primary.[148] Entering the1976 Republican National Convention, neither Ford nor Reagan had won a majority of delegates through the primaries, but Ford was able to win the support of enough unpledged delegates to win the presidential nomination. SenatorBob Dole of Kansas won the vice presidential nomination.[149]
In the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate, Ford campaigned at a time of cynicism and disillusionment with government.[150] Ford adopted a "Rose Garden strategy", with Ford mostly staying in Washington in an attempt to appear presidential.[150] The campaign benefited from several anniversary events held during the period leading up to theUnited States Bicentennial. The Washingtonfireworks display on theFourth of July was presided over by the president and televised nationally.[151] The 200th anniversary of theBattles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts gave Ford the opportunity to deliver a speech to 110,000 in Concord acknowledging the need for a strong national defense tempered with a plea for "reconciliation, not recrimination" and "reconstruction, not rancor" between the United States and those who would pose "threats to peace".[152] Speaking in New Hampshire on the previous day, Ford condemned the growing trend toward big government bureaucracy and argued for a return to "basic American virtues".[153]
Eleven major contenders competed in the1976 Democratic primaries. At the start of the primaries, former GovernorJimmy Carter of Georgia was little-known nationally, but he rocketed to prominence with a victory in the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Aborn again Christian, Carter emphasized his personal morality and his status as a Washington outsider. Carter won the presidential nomination on the first ballot of the1976 Democratic National Convention, and selected liberal SenatorWalter Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate. Carter began the race with a huge lead in the polls, but committed a major gaffe by giving an interview toPlayboy in which he stated that "I've committed adultery in my heart several times." Ford made his own gaffe during a televised debate, stating that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe."[154] In an interview years later, Ford said he had intended to imply that the Soviets would never crush thespirits of eastern Europeans seeking independence. However, the phrasing was so awkward that questionerMax Frankel was visibly incredulous at the response.[155] As a result of this blunder, Ford's surge stalled and Carter was able to maintain a slight lead in the polls.[156]
In the end, Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297electoral votes compared with 48.0% of the popular vote and 240 electoral votes for Ford.[157] Ford dominated in the West and performed well in New England, but Carter carried much of the South and won Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.[158][157] Though Ford lost, in the three months between the Republican National Convention and the election he had managed to close what polls had shown as a 33-point Carter lead to a 2-point margin.[159]
Polls of historians and political scientists have generallyranked Ford as a below-average president. A 2018 poll of theAmerican Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Ford as the 25th best president.[160] A 2017C-SPAN poll of historians also ranked Ford as the 25th best president.[161] Historian John Robert Greene writes that "Ford had difficulty navigating a demanding political environment." He also notes, however, that "Americans, by and large, believed that Gerald Ford was an innately decent and good man and that he would (and did) bring honor to the White House. Although this sentiment proved too little to bring Ford to victory in 1976, it is an assessment that most Americans and scholars still find valid in the years after his presidency."[162]
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