Gerald Ford timeline

Leslie Lynch King Jr. (Gerald Ford) is Born

Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on July 14, 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents lived with his paternal... Read more

Gerald Ford Attends the University of Michigan

1931-1935 Ford attends the University of Michigan and graduates with a B.A. in Economics. He joins the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and is a... Read more

Gerald Ford Accepts Assistant Coaching Job at Yale

Following his graduation in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, he turned down contract offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay... Read more

Leslie Lynch King Legally Changes His Name to Gerald R. Ford Jr.

After two and a half years with her parents, on February 1, 1916 Dorothy King married Gerald Rudolff Ford, a salesman in a family owned paint and... Read more

Gerald Ford Attends Yale Law School

Ford hoped to attend Yale's law school beginning in 1935 while serving as boxing coach, assistant varsity football coach, and teacher of JV... Read more

Gerald Ford Opens Law Firm With Philip Buchen

Ford graduated from law school in 1941, and was admitted to the Michigan bar shortly there after. In May 1941, he opened a Grand Rapids law... Read more

Gerald Ford Reports for Active Duty for the US Navy

Ford received a commission as ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve on April 13, 1942. On April 20, he reported for active duty to the V-5 instructor... Read more

Gerald Ford is Assigned to Sea Duty on the USS Monterey

Applying for sea duty, Ford was sent in May 1943 to the pre-commissioning detachment for the new aircraft carrier USS Monterey, at New York... Read more

Gerald Ford Serves on the Staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command

From the end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois as the... Read more

Gerald Ford is Honorably Discharged from the US Navy

In January 1946, he was sent to the Separation Center, Great Lakes to be processed out. He was released from active duty under honorable conditions... Read more

Gerald Ford Marries Elizabeth Bloomer Warren

On October 15, 1948, at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Ford married Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, a department store fashion consultant.... Read more

Gerald R. Ford is Elected as a US Congressman

After returning to Grand Rapids, Ford became active in local Republican politics, and supporters urged him to take on Bartel J. Jonkman, the... Read more

Lyndon B. Johnson Establishes the Warren Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 29,... Read more

Gerald Ford is Voted the House Minority Leader

In 1964, Democratic President Lyndon Johnson led a landslide victory for his party, securing another term as president and taking 36 seats from... Read more

Spiro Agnew Resigns as the Vice President

On October 10, 1973, Spiro Agnew became the second Vice President to resign the office. Unlike John C. Calhoun, who resigned to take a seat in the... Read more

President Richard Nixon Nominates Gerald Ford to be Vice President

On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part... Read more

Richard M. Nixon Resigns the Office of the President of the United States

On March 1, 1974, former aides to the president, known as the "Watergate Seven" — Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Charles Colson, Gordon C.... Read more

President Ford Appoints George H.W. Bush to the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China (PRC)

Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, appointed Bush to be Chief of the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China. Since the United States at... Read more

Gerald Ford Issues Unconditional Presidential Pardon to Richard Nixon

President Ford granted former President Richard M. Nixon an unconditional pardon today for all Federal crimes that he "committed or may have... Read more

Lynnette Fromm Attempts to Assassinate President Gerald Ford

Ford faced two assassination attempts during his presidency, occurring within three weeks of each other: while in Sacramento, California on... Read more

Sara Jane Moore Attempts to Assassinate President Ford Shortly Following a Similar Incident

Sara Jane Moore, a former FBI informant with connections to various radical groups, today attempted to assassinate President Ford as he left the... Read more

Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford Join the Ticket for the 1976 Republican Presidential Primaries

In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon... Read more

Gerald Ford Dies

Ford died on December 26, 2006 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.... Read more