Gerald (Jerry) Ford (birthname: Leslie Lynch King, Jr)

 

 

 Wolverine Pride Man

 

 

Where I Live(ed):

Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ann Arbor, Michigan representin the maize and blue yo

Blog: http://iamediacenter.blogspot.com

Website: Official White House Biography

 

About Me:

Hello world, my name is Gerald Ford and I'm just your average small town guy from Grand Rapids.  Yeah, I was President of the United States for a little while, but besides that I'm just a regular guy.  My childhood was pretty complicated; my biological Father was an abusive ol' guy so my parents ended up divorced real fast.  I ended up moving to Michigan with my Ma and Step-Dad and life was good.  I spent most of my younger years in Grand Rapids and I grew up with three half brothers who were a big part of my life.  Back when I was a school boy, I was real tough.  I joined the Boy Scouts and learned how live off my bear hands.  When I was in high school at Grand Rapids South, I became captain of the football team.  See, I was a big guy and football was a good fit for me.  Sometimes people were afraid of me because of my size, but I'm really a sweet ol' guy on the inside.  I went to college at University of Michigan, joined a frat house, and played some big ball games up there.  They even asked me to join the NFL with the Detroit Lions, but I wanted to study law instead so I headed off to law school, first at UofM and then later at Yale.  After Pearl Harbor, I felt like giving back to my country, so I enlisted in the Navy and I never regretted it.  I enjoyed being in the national scence, so I decided to run for the House of Reps and got elected for 13 terms.  Sometime around then I met and married the love of my life, Miss Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, my little Betty.  We have four beautiful children and I love them to death.  So during my time in the House, I learned a lot about politics and people.  Some of the guys up there were terrible man, they made fun of my size and football figure.  They used to say that I can't fart and chew gum at the same time.  Sometimes I really wanted to throw a solid punch at their arrogant faces, but I always held back.  After a while, I learned to just shrug it off.  You can't please everyone right?

 

Date of Birth:

July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, United States

 

Date of Death:

December 26, 2006 in Rancho Mirage, California, United States 

(I am the longest living President ever because I died when I was 93).

 

Sex:

Male

 

Political Views:

 Republican

 

Religious Views:

Episcopalian

 

Years Served as President:

1974-1977

 

Status:

Married to Elizabeth Bloomer Warren "Betty"

 

Children:

Michael Gerald

John Gardner

Steven Meigs

Susan Elizabeth

 

Looking for:

Friendship, Networking

 

Occupations:

Lawyer, Chairman and chief executive officer of Golden State Bancorp Inc, Politician

 

Interests/Hobbies:

• Playing Football
• Golf
• Chillin with my political buds
• Spending time with the fam
• Vacationing

 

Education:

• Yale University Law School
• U of M for his Undergrad 

 

Favorite Books:

I wrote many books, yet one of my most popular was in 1979, a memoir of my presidency, A Time to Heal.

The Final Days; a novel about President Nixon's last days in office

The various mystery novels of Agatha Cristie

The Godfather

 

Favorite Movies:

 All the Presidents' Men

 Bonnie and Clyde

 Star Wars

 Jaws

 The Exorcist

 THE GODFATHER

 

Favorite Music:

 Led Zeppelin

 Kiss

 Bob Marley

 The Ramones

 

Friends:

- Philip Buchen; was an ol' friend of mine who helped to make the beginnings of an informal transition team without the vice-president's knowledge.

- Nelson Rockefeller; he was a straight up cool guy and also my right hand man (VP). This guy was always there for me when I didn't need know what was going on in that political world.  He helped me get through those rough days and so I truly love this guy like a bro.

- So I don't have too many close friends, but the few that I do have are important in my life. But my best friend in the world is now my wife, my darling Betty.  Marrying her was the best decision I ever made.  I'm lucky she even said yes because back in the day my fashion sense was totally whack. The day I popped the question on her, I think I was wearing two different colored shoes...And it really doesnt help that I was always running into things either.

 

Sports:

• Football, since I like to run into big things
• Golf
• Because of my size, I'm good at all of them

 

During my stint as president, the political, social and economic factors and challenges that I had to deal with (at home) included:

 

Political

• One time, after we were defeated in Vietnam, the Mayaguez American freighter was taken hostage by Cambodian communistic forces.  Being pressured and up tight about the fact that things didnt go so well in Vietnam, I chose to act and had the U.S. forces attack Cambodian naval bases.  A lot of people agreed with me, although it was looked on as "unjust" to the Cambodians since they I did'nt attempt to negotiate for the crew's release. 

 

Social

• I was pretty popular when I first became president, but when I made the decision to be nice to my ol' friend Nixon by pardoning him for any of the crimes he may have committed in office, my popularity dropped faster than you can say Ford.  I guess I semi-understand why people were a upset, I mean, I know they wanted to see him brought to justice and all, but really, if we held and convicted Nixon, a former president, for criminal offenses, the nation would only continue to be divided.  

 

Economic

When I became elected as president, the economy was suffering from many things, a few of which are...

• Inflation - I tried to veto a few budget bills, but you know how our country is, we can never forget anything, and everyone was still mad at me for pardoning Nixon, so of course no one agreed with any of my ideas at  first. 
• Unemployment, along with inflation, both dropped during my time as president. 
• Energy Crisis.  This didn't seem like a huge deal back then but maybe if we would have dealt with it better, then we wouldn't have the million and half problems that we do today.

 

During my stint as president, the political, social and economic factors and challenges that I had to deal with (abroad) included:

 

Political

• As I was trying to clean up our economy at home, the Vietnam War began to come to an end.  Congress disagreed with my ideas of sending military aid to the South Vietnamese government, and because they were tired of anything to do with war, they shot down all of my ideas.  Instead, I made sure that 130,000 Vietnamese refugees could come into the United States, in order to ensure their safety and make it clear to the Allies where America stood.  
• With the Soviet leader, I reached an arms control agreement in 1975.
• To minimize tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, I also signed the Helsinki Accords.

 

Social

• The biggest social problem with my Presidential Era was dealing with Nixon's Watergate Scandal.  After my man Nixon was impeached, I found myself in the biggest office in this country (the oval office dude) and suddenly I was unsure of what to do.  But I pulled it together and figured out how to run the country and decided to pardon Nixon 'cause I know he really is a good man that Nixon.

• Even though I spent a lot of time dealing with foreign affairs and working to pass new laws, many people thought I was reckless and lacked knowledge.  Lots of people were unable to see beyond my football stature and simply did not think I could get the job done.  This really hurt man, but I know I gave it my all.

 

Economic

• During my time, this ol' country was headed down the path of a recession and I knew something had to be done to curb inflation.  They were difficult times my friend, but we got through it one step and one new law at a time.  I looked back to the ways of my main man FDR and followed his path and tried to mimick his strategies during the Great Depression.
• I'm a Republican so I strongly believe in lower tax rates, so when I took office I quickly lowered taxes for all citizens no matter what their income or fiscal status was.
• Also, when I took office, businesses did not have as much freedom as I would have liked, so I was quick to open up opportunites for them to do their thing without too much interference from our gov.

 

Looking back at my presidential career, I had to wear several "hats."  Wearing these different "hats," these were my most significant achievements and failures:

 

Commander-in-Chief

When I was in office, the Vietnam War was on everyone's mind.  As CIC, I allowed 15,000 Vietnamese refugees to seek shelter in the United States after Congress refused to provied aid to their government.

Chief Executive

I had a lot of good ideas man, but no one seemed to listen to me.  Congress kept trying to pass all these laws that I knew weren't going to be effective, so I chose to exercise my right to veto power and I finally took a stand.

Chief Diplomat

During my years as President, we were still facing controversy with the USSR.  However, since I'm a calm and patient guy, I spoke with Brezhnev (the Russian Soviet leader at the time) and managed to keep the peace.

Ceremonial Head of State

My most memorable experience as Head of State was the time when I gave my speech regarding Former President Nixon.  I understand that what Nixon did was wong, but I also believe that our judicial system is about justice and forgiveness, not just crime and punishment.  So for that reason, I chose to pardon my colleague Nixon and in 1974 I gave the official speech to the nation declaring my feelings.

Manager of the Economy

The economy was the strongest part of my administration.  After replacing the current cabinet members with people of my choosing, I was able to pass new laws in order to help the American people.  I was successfully able to reduce taxes, decrease unemployment, and reduce inflation.

Party Leader

I have always been a staunch Republican because I belive that the values of this party are parallel with my own moral and ethical values.  I have always run for public office as part of this party and it defines my personality and my expertise.

National Leader

I am known for being the first President to ever take office without winning a national election.  Often people criticize me and say that I just "stumbled" into office after Nixon's downfall, but I beg to differ.  It was a lucky opportunity for me and I am greatful to have it.

 

Favorite Quote About Me by a Famous Historian:

 "That Gerald Ford.  He can't fart and chew gum at the same time." - Former President Lydon B. Johnson

          Yeah, I know it wasn't very nice, but I still respect that LBJ.  He was a good guy and even though he didn;t think too highly of me, I still respected the man.  Things like this only make me stronger.  When I hear people talk about me all it does is make me try harder man because I know that I have what it takes to be something in this world, and now it's my time to show 'em.

 

Reasons Why I'm Cool:

- In 1999, guess who got the Presidential Medal of Freedom?  Yup, thats right, yours truly.  Yet, that is not all, along with my lovely ol' wife, we also were awarded with the Congressional Gold Medal.

- Betty and I were models before we moved into that big ol' white house.

- One time I got locked out of my white house and I had to convince those big security dudes to let me back in. What a pain man.

- My baby girl Susan had her senior prom at the White House, it was tight.

- Some people loved me, but other people hated me.  There were two assassination attempts on my life, and both times the would-be assasins were women.  I don't know what I ever did to upset them because I love women.

 

Positive Political Cartoon

 

 

Negative Political Cartoon

 

 Gerald Ford is like a bull in a china shop

 

Works Cited:

 

"Gerald R. Ford." Newsmakers, Issue 2. Gale, 2008.

Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

 

Official White House Biographies

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gf38.html

 

http://mvictors.com/images/2006/ford.gif

 

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/hsc4021l.jpg

 

http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/ford%20in%20the%20comics.JPG

 

 

 YOU MUST USE ACADEMIC SOURCES!

 

 

 

 

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