Gerald Ford Held America Together After Nixon's Resignation and the Watergate Scandal
Enjoying this? Share it with someone who needs to see it.
Up Next
Elizabeth Spalding Reveals How Harry Truman Saved Western Civilization From Soviet Domination After World War II
5:54
Richard Lim Reveals Why William Howard Taft Was Far More Than America's Heaviest President
5:57
Elizabeth Spalding Chronicles Harry Truman's Journey from Missouri Farmer to Cold War President
5:42
Gerald Ford Held America Together After Nixon's Resignation and the Watergate Scandal
August 9th, 1974 marked a first in American history: a president resigned. Richard Nixon left office amid the Watergate scandal, leaving the nation fractured by Vietnam, economic recession, and shattered faith in government. Gerald Ford, now the 38th president, faced the monumental task of healing a divided country. From his humble beginnings escaping an abusive father to becoming a star football player at the University of Michigan, Ford embodied American resilience. His controversial pardon of Nixon tanked his popularity, but his steady leadership through Vietnam's collapse and economic turmoil slowly restored national morale. Despite fierce opposition and being unfairly caricatured as clumsy by Saturday Night Live, Ford's grace under pressure proved exactly what America needed in its darkest hour.
August 9th, 1974 marked something unprecedented in American history: a president resigned. Richard Nixon, forced out of office by the Watergate scandal, left behind a nation in crisis. The fate of the Vietnam War remained uncertain, the economy was mired in recession, and faith in basic government institutions had nearly evaporated. America was coming unglued.
Gerald Ford, now the 38th president of the United States, would have to hold it together. And that's exactly what he did. In his first speech after being sworn in, Ford declared that "our long National nightmare is over." It was what the American people needed to hear.
From Adversity to Achievement
Ford was no stranger to adversity. He was born in Nebraska on July 14th, 1913, the child of an abusive alcoholic father. His mother, to save her son and herself, fled to Grand Rapids, Michigan after divorcing Gerald's father. She married again, and this time she got it right. Her new husband, the owner of a paint store, raised young Gerald as his own.
Gerald grew into a popular, handsome, and athletic young man. A star football player in high school and college, he won back-to-back national championships with the University of Michigan team in 1932 and 1933. Recruited by both the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, Ford reluctantly turned them down. He was set on a career in law.
He worked his way through law school, supplementing his earnings by modeling. A photo of Ford and his girlfriend even made the cover of Cosmopolitan. After passing the bar, Ford set up shop in his hometown of Grand Rapids.
World War II and a New Vision for America
Like millions of others at the time, his plans were interrupted by the Second World War. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Ford joined the Navy and saw considerable action in the South Pacific. He returned home convinced that America could not retreat into isolation as it had after World War I. If peace and freedom were to be preserved, America would have to preserve them.
The voters of Grand Rapids agreed. In 1948, they elected him to Congress as a Republican. Ford's easygoing personality quickly earned him friends on both sides of the political aisle, including fellow Navy veterans John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Rising Through the Ranks
Ford summed himself up as a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy. By 1965, he had worked his way up to Republican minority leader. But his ultimate goal was to become speaker of the house. To achieve that goal, however, the Republicans would have to win a majority of seats.
But in election after election, they failed. Even in 1972, when Ford's longtime friend President Richard Nixon won reelection in a landslide, the Republicans still could not take that majority in the house. After that, Ford gave up. He told his wife Betty that he planned on serving only one more term.
Fate had other plans.
An Unlikely Path to the Presidency
In October 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned as the result of a bribery scandal. The 25th amendment required Nixon to nominate a new vice president subject to Congressional approval. Weakened by Watergate, Nixon asked House and Senate leaders of both parties who they would approve. Gerald Ford was the almost unanimous choice.
Nixon, of course, hardly considered the possibility that he would have to resign, and Ford hardly considered the possibility that he would become president. But that's exactly what happened. Ford became the first and only chief executive to ascend to the office without winning a single vote for vice president or president.
The Nixon Pardon Crisis
Initially, Americans were pleased with their new captain. Ford came across as honest, genial, and well-adjusted. He personified the American middle class, a devoted husband and father of four. But Watergate refused to go away. The media that hounded Nixon out of office wanted blood. They wanted Nixon tried, convicted, and behind bars.
Ford saw it differently. One month into his term, he decided to spare the nation from further turmoil and division. Against the advice of nearly all of his advisers, Ford pardoned Nixon for Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal.
If the pardon spared the nation, it did not spare Gerald Ford. His popularity plummeted almost overnight.
The Fall of Vietnam
And that was not his only crisis. He had to get America out of Vietnam, but how? The overwhelmingly Democratic Congress demanded a sudden and complete withdrawal. Ford said no and warned of disaster. The Democrats refused to listen. They got the victory they wanted: defeat in Vietnam.
With Ford's hands tied, the South was left to fend for itself. North Vietnam and its Viet Cong allies overran the south in a matter of months.
The Saturday Night Live Effect
There was one other catastrophe in Ford's administration. It came from an unexpected source: a new late night comedy show called Saturday Night Live. Taking one stumble on an airport tarmac as their inspiration, the comedy troupe turned the former star athlete into a clumsy buffoon.
A Legacy of Healing
Despite reducing inflation, standing firm against an aggressive Soviet Union, and steadily rebuilding the nation's morale, Ford could not overcome the Nixon pardon and his SNL image. He lost a close election to Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976.
In his inauguration speech, Carter had the grace to acknowledge Ford's legacy, thanking him for all he has done to heal our land. History has confirmed Carter's judgment.
