USA Gerald Ford FDC

USA FDC
Name: Gerald Rudolph Ford
Issue date: 2007 August 31st

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States (1974–1977), and is, to date, the only person to occupy that office who had been elected neither to the presidency nor the vice-presidency. Ford was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and, after serving as the 40th Vice President (1973–1974) of the United States for less than a year, became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation. Prior to 1973, he served for over eight years as the Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; he was first elected to Congress in 1948 from Michigan's 5th congressional district.

In foreign policy, the Helsinki Accords marked a move toward detente in the Cold War, even as the former ally South Vietnam was invaded and conquered by North Vietnam; Ford did not intervene, but did help extract friends of the U.S. At home, the economy suffered from inflation and recession. Ford came under intense criticism for granting a preemptive pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost the general election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

After experiencing health troubles and being admitted to hospital four times in 2006, Ford died on December 26 of that year, aged 93.

Gerald Ford Infromation in Wikipedia.com