Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006)

38th President of the United States (1974-1977)

He replaced Richard Nixon who was forced to resign over the Watergate Scandal in 1974 and appointed Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice-President. He served for the remainder of the term but was defeated in the 1976 Presidential election by the Democrat Jimmy Carter. In 1948, he married Betty Bloomer (founder of the Betty Ford Center for alcohol and drug abuse) and they were the parents of four children.

He was originally named "Leslie Lynch King Jr." for his biological father but his parents separated when he was two weeks old. When he was three his mother remarried Gerald Rudolff Ford and they began calling him "Gerald R. Ford Jr." He had his name changed officially in 1935 to honor his stepfather, the only real father he had.

Parents (3)

Gerald Rudolff Ford Sr.

Paint Salesman, of Grand Rapids, Michigan

1890-1962

Leslie Lynch King

Leslie Lynch King Sr., of Tucson, Arizona

1880-1941

Dorothy Ayer (Gardner) Ford

Mrs Dorothy Ayer (Gardner) King, Ford

1892-1967

Spouse (1)

Betty Ford

Mrs Elizabeth Anne (Bloomer) Warren, Ford; 38th First Lady of the United States

1918-2011

Children (4)

Michael Gerald Ford

Associate Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute at Wake Forest University, N.C.

b.1950

John Gardner Ford

"Jack Ford" Delegate to various Republican National Conventions

b.1952

Steven Meigs Ford

"Steven Ford" Actor & Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation

b.1956

Susan Ford Bales

Mrs Susan Elizabeth (Ford) Bales, Chairwoman of the Betty Ford Center

b.1957

Associated Houses (1)

The White House

Washington D.C.