Studying the history of the United States, any attentive reader will pay attention to the fact that the time of the presidency of Gerald Ford is the least studied. But after the end of World War II, this period in the life of a mighty power was perhaps the most tragic.
Characterization of the time period under President Ford
In fact, the increase in crime and the economic crisis increased tension in society. There has also been a rise in the number of citizens losing confidence in government and disillusioned with American society. The Vietnam War and its end, inglorious for the American state, exacerbated the situation.
Despite this, President Ford was able, thanks to his calm and balanced character, to restore the citizens' confidence in the presidency and strengthen hope for a better future. During his presidency, in 1975, a joint Soviet-American flight was carried out under the Soyuz-Apollo program with spacecraft docking. Preparing forThis event began under Nixon. In addition, at the same time, the United States solemnly celebrated the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the American Declaration of Independence.
Nevertheless, this was not enough to raise the prestige of the Republican Party, undermined by the Watergate scandal, which prevented Gerald Ford from becoming president for a second term.
Gerald Ford: biography of childhood and adolescence
Gerald Rudolph Ford, 38th President of the United States, who served from 1973 to 1976, was born on July 14, 1913. This event took place in Omaha, Nebraska. The boy's name was Leslie Lynch King. After a short period of time, the family broke up. The mother of the future head of the Oval Office, Dorothy King, remarried. This time, her chosen one was the merchant Gerald Rudolph Ford, originally from her hometown of Grand Springs. Thus, Leslie Lynch King once turned, thanks to his stepfather, into Gerald Rudolph Ford.
As a child, young Gerald was a scout, in the hierarchy of this organization he reached the very top and received the highest rank of Eagle Scout. In the school football team, a teenager, and then a young man, was the captain. He did not quit playing football even during his studies at the University of Michigan.
Having completed his studies at this alma mater in 1935, the young man continued his education at Yale Law School. Graduation - 1941.
Biography of Gerald Ford before his appearance in big politics
AfterAfter the United States entered World War II, Gerald Ford got into special courses, where he trained military personnel as a military instructor.
In 1943, Ford's instructor career ended, and until 1946 he served on the aircraft carrier Monterey. This ship, while in the Pacific Ocean, participated in a number of military operations against the Japanese Imperial Navy.
After leaving the reserve, Gerald Ford returned to his city of Palm Springs, where he began to work as a practicing lawyer. Then he decided that he would go into politics.
Participation in the political life of the country in the period before joining the Oval Office
It's 1948. Ford is the Republican nominee for the US House of Representatives. With the victory in these elections, his career in big politics began. Ford was repeatedly elected to this position over the years, until 1973.
Sitting in the House of Representatives, the politician participated in the investigation of the sensational assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. The Warren Commission de alt with the case, and Ford was its active employee. True, this work did not bring special laurels, because the results of the investigation reported by the commission to the US authorities and the public have been sharply criticized to this day.
To complete the characterization of Ford the politician, we note that he opposed the escalation of the Vietnam War by the United States, was a supporter and friend of President Nixon.
Rise to the top of power
In 1973, as a result of a tax scandal, he was forced to go toresignation of Spiro Agnew, who at the time was Vice President. Through a constitutional amendment, President Nixon named Gerald Ford as Agnew's successor.
A year later, the notorious Watergate scandal broke out, Nixon was threatened with impeachment. This led to the voluntary early resignation of the head of the White House. So, without elections and congresses, Vice President Gerald Ford, according to the constitution, became the President of the United States, officially taking this post in 1974, on August 9th. Before continuing our story, it would be appropriate to illustrate it. So, meet Gerald Ford (photo below).
Foreign policy
With regard to this area of activity, it can be argued that President Gerald Ford left a significant mark on international history. Continuing the policy of international detente initiated by the previous President Nixon, Ford paid a visit to the USSR, continued the normalization of relations with communist China begun in 1971, and ended the Vietnam War.
At the same time, there were negative moments. So, bypassing Congress, on the orders of President Ford, a special operation was carried out in Cambodia. The US merchant ship detained by the Cambodian warships and its crew of 39 sailors returned home unharmed, but the American marines (41 people) were killed, the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville was bombed from the air. In 1975, again without the knowledge of Congress, Ford authorized the provision of assistance to anti-government forces during the civil war in Angola. The foreign policy of Gerald Ford, among other things, had two important directions that deserve special attention. This is detente and Vietnam. Let's talk about this in more detail later.
Relaxing tensions
In 1975, President Ford paid a visit to the USSR, where in Vladivostok he met with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev. war. As part of the latter problem, issues of limiting strategic offensive weapons were resolved.
Then Ford signed the Helsinki Accords on Security and Cooperation.
However, in this field, too, Democrats-congressmen resisted the president's efforts. Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the 1972 USSR-US Trade Agreement, which tied the implementation of this agreement to the situation with civil rights in the USSR.
Vietnam
A special page in American history is the participation of the United States in the Vietnam War, or, as progressive politicians and journalists called it, the US Vietnam adventure. Without dwelling on all the ups and downs and circumstances of this campaign, painful for American society, we will only say that during the years of Ford's rule it was already known that the reason for the start of the bombing of North Vietnam, the so-called. The Tonkin Incident was a fake concocted by Americanspecial services. Almost the entire world supported the struggle of the Vietnamese people for independence and the reunification of the country, either morally or materially. In 1975, Saigon, the capital of the Republic of South Vietnam, was stormed by the troops of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and a victory banner was hoisted over the presidential palace.
The Americans evacuated their embassy and those Vietnamese who could not stay in the liberated country.
However, the direct participation of American troops in hostilities ended earlier, in 1973, with the signing of a peace treaty in Paris.
The impact of the war on American society was so strong that the US canceled conscription and switched to a contract army. This reform began under President Nixon. The last conscript left the US Army in 1974.
In general, both society and the authorities as a result of this war were struck by the so-called. Vietnamese Syndrome. That is, society and the state carefully avoided the reasons for being drawn into the same war. The consequences of this influenced the foreign policy activities of the presidents and the US Congress for a long time to come.
At the same time, the actions of the US administrations in previous periods to mislead public opinion, both in the international arena and in America itself, became known.
Domestic policy
In this area, a series of actions by the president caused an increase in discontent among citizens. So, in 1974, on September 8, Ford issued a decree by which he pardoned his predecessor for everything, as having becomewell-known, and yet undetected, wrongdoings against the country by Richard Nixon as President of the United States.
As a result of this amnesty, although it was in accordance with constitutional norms, President Gerald Ford did not have a relationship with Congress. In addition, the majority there was for the Democrats.
So, Congress refused to cut social spending. Ford himself over the years of his reign imposed more than 50 vetoes on various bills. In turn, Congress did not agree with the president and approved them again. Ford was also defeated on the issue of income tax rebates. The president was fundamentally a conservative, while congressmen were, for the most part, liberals. And, contrary to the position of the head of the White House, these discounts were received by low-income people. Thus, Gerald Ford's domestic policy could not be effective in the face of constant struggle with Congress.
Economy
At the time of Gerald Ford's accession to the presidency and during his reign, the United States was in a deep economic crisis: inflation and unemployment were constantly growing, production was in decline. The authorities were forced to significantly cut government spending. Funding for any program that was not related in one way or another to the needs of the Pentagon was actually stopped.
End of political career and death
Despite a number of achievements and efforts, despite all the efforts that Gerald madeFord, domestic and foreign policy, briefly described in this article, did not enjoy wide popularity in American society. Measures to reduce inflation were carried out urgently, but this caused unemployment to rise to 12%, the largest recession in the US economy since the Great Depression of 1929-1933 began. In 1974, the permanent opponents of the Republicans - the Democrats - won the midterm elections to both houses of Congress. Next came the turn of their triumph in the race for the presidency. The next - the thirty-ninth - the candidate of the Democratic Party became the President of the United States.
Gerald Ford, after losing the presidential election to rival candidate Jimmy Carter, left the Oval Office and worked for a long time at the American Enterprise Institute.
During his time at the top of the United States power structure, Ford had to endure two failed attempts on his life. Having become the ex-president, he actually left big politics.
In 2006, December 26, former US President Gerald Ford, whose domestic and foreign policies were already beginning to be forgotten, died, leaving behind four children. And of course, quite a noticeable mark in world history.
