Gerald R. Ford: The American Presidents Series: The 38th President, 1974-1977

Gerald R. Ford became president in August 1974 without having been elected, inheriting an office damaged by the Watergate scandal. He faced a recession, the closing stages of the Vietnam War, and widespread skepticism about his ability to succeed. One month into his presidency, he pardoned Richard Nixon—a decision that angered many Americans but which Ford believed necessary for the nation to move forward. Historian Douglas Brinkley presents Ford as a man of independent judgment and moral conviction rather than the clumsy figure popular memory often depicts. As a young congressman, Ford opposed isolationism within Republican leadership and advocated for an active American role in world affairs. Later, as House minority leader and president, he resisted his party's right wing, refusing to embrace their confrontational approach to communism. After Saigon fell, Ford overruled advisers to permit Vietnamese refugees into the United States, viewing it as the humane course. Brinkley draws on exclusive interviews with Ford and previously unpublished documents, including a four-decade correspondence between Ford and Nixon, to reassess Ford's presidency and his legacy.