Gerald Ford is remembered today as the only unelected president in history .

He is often

overshadowed by his predecessor, Richard Nixon, because of the damaging Watergate scandal,

and this actually put him in a very tough situation . When Nixon resigned, Ford was faced with a

struggling economy, a fiasco in South Vietnam, and a general lack of trust in political leaders

(Gerald Ford: Impact and Legacy). During his two and a half years as president, he did what

he could to help the country move forward despite all the obstacles in his way. Gerald Ford was

a slightly above average president because he failed to heal the economy, had wins and losses in

foreign policy, improved some parts of society and American life, and restored the trust of the

American people in the president.

After Ford was thrown into his presidency, the first task he inherited from Nixon was to

fix the failing economy. The 1970s was a period of stagflation, which is a mixture of inflation

and stagnation in a countrys economy, and increased unemployment (Economy of the 1970s) .

Even though the economy began to recover in 1976 due to production rates increasing to pre-

recession levels, Ford had already tried and failed to take action . His first economic plan

involved increasing taxes and cutting down on spending to reduce inflation, but he ended up

replacing it with a plan that decreased taxes and government spending in order to stop

unemployment (Gerald Ford: Impact and Legacy) . What he was trying to do by changing his

plan was shift the focus from just inflation to stimulating the economy and lessening

unemployment. Ford also ended up vetoing thirty nine bills that would have increased deficit

spending (Gerald R. Ford) as part of his economic plan . His main economic failures actually

came through politics, however. Even though these plans sounded like they would work, they
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were heavily opposed by both Democrats and conservative Republicans. Because Ford changed

his plan, both of these political groups became suspicious that he was unable to properly address

the problems in the economy and was not doing enough anyway (Gerald Ford: Impact and

Legacy). On the subject of the economy, Ford did make an honest effort to bring the country out

of stagflation but ended up meeting severe opposition from both sides of the political spectrum,

and these economic conditions continued for a few more years.

Throughout his two and a half years as president, Gerald Ford attempted to make many

advances in foreign policy. The main goal at that point was to prevent another war in the Middle

East after Americas defeat in Vietnam (Gerald R . Ford). Ford took a few risky moves that

actually benefited him, including organizing a successful military operation to rescue captured

American soldiers in Cambodia (Gerald Ford: Impact and Legacy) . Another step taken in

foreign policy was with the Soviet Union. On August 1, 1975, the Helsinki Accords were signed

by the United States and Soviet Union. These accords improved relations between the two

superpowers and was an example of dtente . Even though this pact was signed, neither country

would compromise for some sort of arms control agreement (Gerald Ford: Impact and

Legacy). Similar to Fords economic solutions, his foreign policy was met with lots of political

opposition. Democrats and conservative Republicans again criticized Ford because they felt his

policy of dtente was unwillingly accepted by the Soviets and needed to be stricter (Gerald

Ford: Impact and Legacy). He did improve foreign policy by starting dtente with the Soviet

Union and keeping America out of another war in the Middle East, but the dtente was viewed

by many as not as successful as it needed to be because of the failed arms control agreement.
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President Ford also made many advanced in different parts of society and American life .

One of Fords first orders as president was to help the country move on from all the events

surrounding Nixons scandal and resignation. According to Ford, he was dumbfounded by the

stupidity of the Watergate break-in (Kundhardt 79) . Clearly, Ford thought that Watergate was

not something that was worth dwelling upon. The American people, however, did not show any

signs of letting it go any time soon . In response to this, Ford released an official pardon of

former president Nixon to change the national focus from the pursuit of a fallen President to the

pursuit of the urgent needs of a rising nation (Nixons Pardon). Even though this act was

rejected by the American people, it was later appreciated as being just what America needed .

Ford wanted everyone to move on and remember Nixon as serving the American people well

(Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies). Ford realized that if he had not

pardoned Nixon, he would continue to be trialed for more and more crimes, the case would never

close, and the American people would not truly move on from it. Ford believed the American

people were good and should not resort to revenge against Nixon for his crimes, and pardoning

him would ensure that revenge could not happen (Nixons Pardon).

Another way that Ford improved society and American life was advancements in

womens rights. Along with giving his full support for the ratification of the Equal Rights

Amendment, he named August 26 as Womens Equality Day. He chose this date because it was

the day the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, which gave women the right to vote . In

the official document commemorating this day, Ford stated that America, as a Republic

dedicated to liberty and justice for all, this Nation cannot deny equal status to women (Womens
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Equality Day) and Americans cannot discriminate against someone based on gender . He also

encouraged activities and celebrations to take place on August 26 in honor of all women

(Womens Equality Day). Another way that Ford improved American life was through education .

One of his first actions on the education front was to concentrate federal funding on areas and

schools that need it because this funding originally went to schools that needed it ten years prior

but no longer needed it (Statement on the Education Amendment). Ford also had Congress make

a number of categorical programs supporting libraries, educational innovation, and other

services (Statement on the Education Amendment) to boost Americas education system even

more. Another feature of the Education Amendment is that certain educational programs received

more funding so school boards know that they can trust in those programs to always be in place

(Statement on the Education Amendment). There was, however, one section of the Education

Amendment that Ford himself disagreed with, which was how to fix the remaining segregation in

schools. The Amendment included nothing about having the same standards for every school

regardless of region, so schools in the North would be under a different agenda for desegregation

than schools in the South, East, and West (Statement on the Education Amendment). Overall,

Ford did concur with the major components of the Education Amendment, but there was a

section that he did not agree with . One of Fords main missions for American was to improve

society and life in general, which he accomplished through his pardon of Nixon, support of

womens rights, and education reform.

One thing that makes Fords two and a half years as president stand out is the fact that

being a good person actually helped him and the rest of America . After Nixons scandal, it was

crucial to restore lost trust in the government and the president . Even though Ford did not win
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the election in 1976, Americans, by and large, believed that Gerald Ford was an innately decent

and good man and that he would (and did) bring honor to the White House (Gerald Ford:

Impact and Legacy). Nixon led the American people on to believe that he was a good and

honest president, so they felt utter betrayal when Watergate went public and it was revealed that

Nixon lied about his involvement. Americans did not know if they could trust their government

anymore, so a person like Gerald Ford was needed in office to restore that trust . When Ford

became president, he knew that the first thing he had to do was to relieve the country, to show

that there was a decent, respectable new person in the White House, who wasnt at all like

Richard Nixon (Kundhardt 81). This distinct difference between the two of them was important

for Ford to be trusted because he needed the support of the American people to heal the nation

after Watergate . This made it easy for future presidents to enter office without too much

opposition or skepticism due to a lack of trust. The fact that Ford was able to restore the

American peoples faith in the president in his two and a half years of office is very

commendable and was vital at that time.

All of these factors of Fords presidency contribute to his rating of slightly above

average. He is not just average because of his progress in foreign policy, huge advances in

society and American life, and restoration of trust in the White House in a very short amount of

time. He is not quite above average because of his failure to fix the stagflated economy and

disagreement with Russia on a controlled arms agreement . The economy and foreign policy were

two very big problems at that time, and Ford simply did not do enough on those fronts . Despite

this, America was grateful for Fords presidency. Even though Ford did not win the
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1976 election, newly elected President Jimmy Carter began his inauguration speech by

saying, For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done

to heal our land (Gerald R. Ford).

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Works Cited

Economy of the 1970s. Economicshelp.org. Economics Help, 25 April 2012. Web. 11 May

2017.

Ford, Gerald R. Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies. Washington, DC: 10

October 1974. Print.

Ford, Gerald R. Nixons Pardon. Washington, DC: 17 October 1974. Print.

Ford, Gerald R. Statement on the Education Amendment. Washington, DC: 21 August 1974.

Print.

Ford, Gerald R. Womens Equality Day. Washington, DC: 22 August 1974. Print.

Gerald R. Ford. Whitehouse.gov. USA.gov. Web. 10 May 2017.

Gerald Ford: Impact and Legacy. Miller Center. University of Virginia. Web. 10 May 2017.

Kundhardt, Philip B., et al. The American President. The Easton Press, Norwalk, Connecticut:

1999. Print.