POSTED: 8:47 a.m. EST, December 27, 2006
Former President Ford dead at 93
Story Highlights Most Complete Links At The Moment:
Former President Ford dead at 93
Story Highlights Most Complete Links At The Moment:
NEW: Ex-rival Carter: "I will always cherish [our] personal friendship" • President Bush: "Ford came along when we needed him most"• In 1974, after Watergate, Ford said, "our long national nightmare is over"• Ford, 93, was oldest surviving president; funeral plans pending
More on TV: Gerald Ford is remembered on a special edition of "Larry King Live" tonight 9 p.m. ET.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California (CNN) -- Former President Gerald R. Ford, who sought to heal the nation after the tumultuous years of the Watergate scandal, died Tuesday at age 93, his widow, Betty Ford said.
A statement issued by Ford's office said he "died peacefully" at 6:45 p.m. at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.
"His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country," said a written statement from Betty Ford. (Watch what history will remember about Ford )
An official cause of death and funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.
In a brief address to the nation Wednesday, President Bush called Ford a "great man" who was a "true gentleman." (Watch Bush describe how Americans "will always admire Gerald Ford's devotion" )
"He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil," Bush said. "For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most."
Bush's remarks followed those of the man who defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential race, Jimmy Carter, who said Ford "frequently rose above politics by emphasizing the need for bipartisanship and seeking common ground on issues critical to our nation."
"I will always cherish the personal friendship we shared," said the former Georgia governor. (More reaction to Ford's death)
Gerald Ford was the unlikeliest of presidents, a man brought to power by unprecedented circumstances without seeking the office, at a time when Americans -- reeling from the Watergate scandal -- were disillusioned and weary.
During his famous address to the nation after he assumed office in 1974, he tried to set a tone of reconciliation and renewal, telling his countrymen that "our long national nightmare is over." (Full story)
He announced his decision to pardon his predecessor, President Richard Nixon, saying he hoped the pardon would "shut and seal this book" on Watergate.
His enormously controversial decision to pardon Nixon is widely blamed for costing him his own presidential election victory in the 1976 race, which was one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history. (Full story)
At 93, Ford was the nation's oldest surviving former president and the only president and vice president never to be elected to office. (Full story)
His death leaves three surviving former presidents: Bill Clinton, 60, George H. W. Bush, 82, and Carter, 82.
The nation's 38th president spent several days in the fall of 2006 at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage for medical tests. At the time of his release, on October 16, his chief of staff, Penny Circle, said he would "resume normal activities."
In August, he was discharged from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, after undergoing an angioplasty procedure to reduce or eliminate blockages in his coronary arteries. Doctors also implanted a pacemaker to improve his heart performance.
He is survived by his widow, Betty, 88; three sons, Michael, Jack and Steven; and a daughter, Susan.
Funeral plans are expected to involve a small private ceremony in Palm Desert, California, and an opportunity for the public to pay respects there before the body is flown to Washington for a period of public mourning in the capital, according to The Associated Press. (Full story)
Born in Nebraska with a different name
Ford was born Leslie Lynch King on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. When he was just 2 years old, his parents divorced, and his mother moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he grew up. His mother remarried, and he was adopted and renamed after his stepfather, Gerald Rudolph Ford.
After playing football at the University of Michigan and serving on an aircraft carrier in the Navy during World War II, Ford was elected to the U.S. House in 1948 as a Republican, representing a district that included his hometown of Grand Rapids. He spent 25 years in Congress, working his way up to minority leader in 1965. (Watch Ford describe his football days and how he entered politics )
In October 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion. President Nixon, ensnared in the rising Watergate scandal, asked the well-respected Ford to leave Congress to replace Agnew, and he accepted.
Pardoned President Nixon
In September 1974, Ford granted Nixon a pardon, sparing the former president the prospect of going to prison. The public and political backlash was angry and bitter, with Ford accused of making a tawdry deal with Nixon to secure the White House for himself.
Ford always denied that any deal had been struck. But the pardon colored the rest of his presidency.
"It was a tough decision," Ford told USA Today in an interview in 2000. "We needed to get the matter off my desk. ... so I could concentrate on the problems of 260 million Americans and not have to worry about the problems of one man."
The pardon was just the beginning of the challenges Ford faced in office. He inherited stubborn inflation, a recession, high unemployment and an energy crisis. As U.S. involvement in Vietnam wound down, North Vietnamese forces eventually overran South Vietnam, triggering a chaotic evacuation of U.S. loyalists from the country in 1975.
Even though he hadn't sought the presidency, Ford decided he wanted to stay in the White House and sought a full term in 1976. It was an uphill battle from the start.
He only narrowly won the GOP nomination, after a hard-fought campaign against Ronald Reagan, and started the general election campaign far behind the Democratic nominee, Carter.
But Ford stormed back by election day, carrying 27 states and coming to within a whisker of beating Carter in the Electoral College. A shift of just 23,000 votes in two states, Ohio and Wisconsin, would have given Ford the win.
After leaving the White House, Ford kept a generally low profile, limiting his appearances largely to golf tournaments and splitting his time between homes in Rancho Mirage and Beaver Creek, Colorado. He built a presidential library and museum in Michigan.
VIDEO LINKS
Bush: 'We mourn the loss' (2:36)
Ford describes his early years (12:57)
Watergate may define Ford's legacy (3:23)
Reaction to Ford's death
Tradition guides presidents' funerals
TIME takes a look back
Ford Presidential Library
SPECIAL REPORT
1913~2006
• The accidental president
• The Nixon pardon
• Timeline
• Photo gallery
• Special Report
UPDATE FUNERAL SCHEDULING:
Funeral plans for President Ford (all times are local):
• 12:20 p.m., President Ford's casket arrives at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, Calif. Mrs. Ford and the family will have a private prayer service.
• 1:15 p.m., close friends and guests will arrive at St. Margaret's for private visitation. The Ford family will return to their residence.
• 4:20 p.m., public repose begins at St. Margaret's. The church will remain open until 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. on Saturday.
Saturday, Dec. 30
• 9 a.m., departure ceremony from St. Margaret's.
• 9:40 a.m., Ford's body leaves St. Margaret's for Washington, D.C.
• 5:20 p.m., Ford's body arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, traveling to the U.S. Capitol. The motorcade will pause at the World War II Memorial.
• 6:20 p.m., the casket will be carried up the east steps of the Capitol to the door of the House of Representatives.
• 7 p.m., state funeral begins in the Capitol Rotunda.
• 8:20 p.m., Ford's body lies in state.
Sunday, Dec. 31, and Monday, Jan. 1
• Ford's body continues in state.
Tuesday, Jan. 2
• 8:30 a.m., the casket is moved from the Rotunda to the U.S. Senate door for a period of repose.
• 9:15 a.m., departure ceremony on the east steps of the U.S. Senate.
• 10 a.m., Ford's casket arrives at Washington National Cathedral.
• 10:30 a.m., funeral services will begin.
• 12:15 p.m., casket will leave the cathedral for trip to Grand Rapids, Mich.
• 2:15 p.m., body will arrive in Michigan.
• 3:30 p.m., casket will arrive at the presidential museum in Grand Rapids. An arrival ceremony for Mrs. Ford and guests will follow. The body will lie in public repose through the night.
Wednesday, Jan. 3
• 2 p.m., funeral services at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. The president will be interred at a hillside site north of the museum.
Thursday, Jan. 4
• 1 p.m., Mrs. Ford and the family will return to California
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