Gerald R. Ford ~ July 14, 1913 - December 26, 2006

38th President 1974 - 1977

Gerald R. Ford sites visited:
The house no longer stands but Ford's birth site was made into a beautiful park.
3202 Woolworth Ave, Omaha Nebraska

630 Rosewood, Grand Rapids MI
Ford lived here from 1922-1923 but the historic sign at his next boyhood home ignores this site.

649 Union, Grand Rapids MI (sign says 1921-1930)

330 Washington, Grand Rapids MI
Ford lived here with his wife, Betty, from 1948-1950.

Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., Ford was called Gerald R. Ford Jr. after his mother's re-marriage to Gerald R. Ford, Sr in 1917. Ford was never formally adopted by his step-father and he didn't legally change his name until 1935.
Ford is the only Eagle Scout to have become President.
He is also the only president to date to have his library and museum in two different places. Ann Arbor, Michigan, has his library with a small first floor exhibit open to the public.
Some historical correspondence and photos are displayed beneath the glass topped office table.
We found a waving Ford mural on a hotel building in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
This historic marker is located by the old railroad depot in Battle Creek, Michigan, indicates that both Presidents Taft and Ford visited here.
Ford's portrait in the State Capitol building, Lansing, Michigan.
Rapid City, South Dakota, City of Presidents statue:
The Ford Museum in Grand Rapids recently underwent an extensive renovation so some items included in this post are no longer on display and other new exhibits have been added, along with an 8000 square foot addition. Here are some exterior photos of the building, both before and after the addition.
View from the museum.
Here is a smattering of items from the museum. Every Presidential Museum gets a piece of the Berlin Wall, it seems 😊
The Eagle Scout
Yes, I did that 😊
This is the building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, today, where Ford opened his first law office. There is no historic marker but the building was placed on the Register of National Historic Places in 1983.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Ford enlisted and served on the U.S.S. Monterey.
Ford first ran for office in 1948.
Ford co-authored this book while serving on the Warren Commission.
In 2023, the Ford Museum featured an exhibit on the Vice Presidents and these artifacts on Ford were included. 
Watergate and Nixon's resignation put Ford in the White House.
Mayaguez incident of 1975
White House artifact
Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975
Evacuation of Viet Nam
Two assassination attempts
Cabinet Room
Oval office
Outside of the Ford Museum
Ford was the only sitting president to stay in the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. He first visited in 1929 as a member of the inaugural Fort Mackinac Scout Honor Guard and returned as President in 1975. (He is one of five presidents who stayed at the Grand Hotel: Kennedy and Clinton stopped by before their presidencies, and Truman and George H.W. Bush visited after they had left office.)
Ford visited Buffalo, New York, in October 1976 during his campaign and had breakfast with supporters in the Statler Hotel (photo on the front of the Statler Hotel).
Jerry Ford lost the 1976 campaign to Jimmy Carter, most blaming the loss on his earlier pardon of Nixon.
Grand Rapids Public Museum has some Ford memorabilia.
Ford's gravesite is adjacent to his Museum in Grand Rapids.
Betty joined her husband in 2011.
Jerry Ford was an honorable and decent man who also had a remarkable wife. A statue was installed outside the museum in Betty's honor in 2018.
Visit the Gerald R. Ford Museum and experience a significant piece of American history.
A miniature version of this statue stands at 746 Lakeside Drive, EAst Grand Rapids, by the same sculptor, J. Brett Grill.
Veterans Day 2021 at Ford's grave.
"Truth is the glue that holds government together."

 

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