| An Overview of Gerald Ford's Administration
Ford had been Vice-President for only eight months
when he took office as President. Despite the extremely
unusual circumstances in which he gained the office, the
American people warmly welcomed Ford to the presidency.
He had a calm, friendly manner and an unquestioned
reputation for honesty. But his popularity dropped
sharply after he pardoned former President Richard Nixon for
any and all federal crimes he may have committed while in
office. Ford was also challenged by major economic
problems and high unemployment. U.S. foreign policy
suffered a major defeat in 1975, when the Vietnam War
ended with a Communist victory.
The only person to serve as both Vice-President and
President without being elected to either office, Ford
lost his bid for a full term as President to James Earl Carter, Jr.,
in 1976.
| His
Vice-President and Cabinet |
| Vice-President |
Nelson
A. Rockefeller |
| Secretary of State |
Henry A. Kissinger |
| Secretary of the
Treasury |
William E. Simon |
| Secretary of Defense |
James R. Schlesinger
Donald H. Rumsfeld (1975) |
| Attorney General |
William B. Saxbe
Edward H. Levi (1975) |
| Secretary of the
Interior |
Rogers C.B. Morton
Stanley K. Hathaway (1975)
Thomas S. Kleppe (1975) |
| Secretary of Agriculture |
Earl L. Butz
John A. Knebel (1976) |
| Secretary of Commerce |
Frederick B. Dent
Rogers C.B. Morton (1975)
Elliot L. Richardson (1975) |
| Secretary of Labor |
Peter J. Brennan
John T. Dunlop (1975)
W.J. USery, Jr. (1976) |
| Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare |
Caspar Weinberger
F. David Matthews (1975) |
| Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development |
James T. Lynn
Carla A. Hills (1975) |
| Secretary of
Transportation |
Claude S. Brinegar
William T. Coleman, Jr. (1975) |
| United
States Events During His Administration |
| Population
in 1977 ~220,000,000 |
| 1974 |
Ford pardoned former President
Richard Nixon for all federal crimes Nixon may
have committed during his administration. |
| 1974 |
Ford offered amnesty to draft
dodgers and deserters of the Vietnam War period. |
| 1974 |
The Council on Wage and Price
Stability was established by Congress. |
| 1975 |
The unmanned Viking 1 became the
first U.S. spacecraft to land on Mars. |
| 1975 |
Ford escaped two attempted
assassinations in California. |
| 1975 |
The Mayagüez, a U. S.
merchant ship, was seized by Cambodian troops.
U.S. troops quickly recaptured it. |
| 1976 |
Americans celebrated the
bicentennial of their nation's founding. |
| World
Events During His Administration |
| 1974 |
Turkish troops invaded Cyprus
and took control of a large part of the island. |
| 1975 |
Civil wars broke out in Angola
and Lebanon. |
| 1975 |
The Vietnam War ended when North
Vietnam conquered South Vietnam. |
| 1975 |
Manned U. S. Apollo and Soviet
Soyuz space vehicles linked up in space in the
Apollo Soyuz Test Project. |
| 1975 |
Francisco Franco, ruler of Spain
since 1936, died. |
| 1976 |
Mao
Tse-tung, leader of the Chinese Communist
Revolution and ruler of China since 1949, died. |
See Also
President Richard Nixon
James Earl Carter, Jr.
Nelson A.
Rockefeller
Cyprus
Angola
Lebanon
Mao
Tse-tung
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