Gerald Rudolph Ford
Michael Nehme
How Ford Becomes President
Gerald Rudolph Ford was the first man to be made president solely on a vote of Congress
In August 1974, he entered the White House
Ford granted a complete pardon (Ford Pardon) to Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as president
Democrats were outraged, they wanted justice and vengeance for Nixon
Ford first sought to enhance the détente with the Soviet Union that Nixon created
In 1975, Ford joined leaders from 34 other nations in Finland to sign several sets of historic accord
- Ford at first stuck to détente, but after the public’s fury, he refused to even pronounce the word
- Roe v. Wade: All state laws prohibiting abortions were made unconstitutional based on a woman's right to privacy
Bakke v. Regents of University of California 1978: Allan Bakke found out a minority with lower grades was accepted into medical school. He was soon accepted into medical school, but the ruling was that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of rigid quotas was not permissible.
- Title IX: Ford prohibited sex discrimination in any federally funded education program
End of the Vietnam War
In early 1975, the North Vietnamese when full force in their drive southward
- Ford urged congress to vote for more weapons for Vietnam, but his plea was in vain
- On May 1st, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army overtook Saigon, which they renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Without the crutches of American aid, the South Vietnamese quickly collapsed
The remaining Americans had to be evacuated by helicopter, the last evacuated on April 29, 1975
140,000 South Vietnamese were also rescued and admitted by Ford into the US
America did not lose the war, the country that they were supporting did
The US withdrew its troops in 1973, leaving the South Vietnamese to fight their own war with US supplies
The war cost the US $118 billion
There were 56,000 deaths and 300,000 wounded
- Americans realized that their power and pride were deeply wounded in Vietnam