This informative and highly readable biography presents a scholarly account of Gerald R. Ford's life and political career - one which culminated in being the nation's only nonelected president. Elaborated upon: are his start in politics as a municipal reformer; thirteen terms in Congress; role as GOP Minority Leader; tenure as vice president; significant events of his 835-day presidency; and the highlights of his post-presidential years.

With 30 historiographical essays by established and rising scholars, this Companion is a comprehensive picture of the presidencies and legacies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Examines important national and international events during the 1970s, as well as presidential initiatives, crises, and legislation Discusses the biography of each man before entering the White House, his legacy and work after leaving office, and the lives of Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, and their families Covers key themes and issues, including Watergate and the pardon of Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, neoconservatism and the rise of the New Right, and the Iran hostage crisis Incorporates presidential, diplomatic, military, economic, social, and cultural history Uses the most recent research and newly released documents from the two Presidential Libraries and the State Department

"Riveting from start to finish". -- Herbert S. Parmet, author of Richard Nixon and His America.

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, then Vice President Gerald Ford became the first person to succeed a president who had resigned from office. Although Ford’s presidency lasted only three years, he worked diligently to heal a country from war, inflation, and controversy. Ford began a career serving his country in World War II, eventually becoming a lieutenant commander in the Navy. In 1948 he was elected to the United States Congress, where he served with distinction for the next 25 years. During the Watergate investigations in 1973, the vice president resigned and Ford stepped into that office. When President Richard Nixon resigned a short time later, Ford became the first president that was not officially elected by the country. Ford is largely credited with restoring the country’s faith in office after a tumultuous decade.

"In the author's reassessment of this underrated president, Ford emerges as a skilled executive, an effective diplomat, and a leader with a clear vision for America's future. Working to heal a divided nation, Ford unified the GOP and laid the groundwork for the Republican resurgence in subsequent decades."--BOOK JACKET.

GERALD R. FORD (1913-2006), the thirty-eighth president of the United States, grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and by all accounts modeled exemplary behavior. In this biography Hendrik Booraem carefully examines that image and the reputation that Ford earned during his early years, telling about Ford's life up until his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1935. Booraem uses in-depth research of numerous written sources — plus interviews with some twenty people who personally knew Ford — to show how Jerry Ford excelled at academics and athletics, forging his way through challenges, family difficulties, economic setbacks, and more on his way to a remarkable political career. Booraem's historical portrait offers fascinating insight into the early years of this president who sought to heal the nation at a very low point in its history.

Within eight turbulent months in 1974 Gerald Ford went from the United States House of Representatives, where he was the minority leader, to the White House as the country's first and only unelected president. His unprecedented rise to power, after Richard Nixon's equally unprecedented fall, has garnered the lion's share of scholarly attention devoted to America's thirty-eighth president. But Gerald Ford's (1913–2006) life and career in and out of Washington spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party captures for the first time the full scope of Ford's long and remarkable political life. The man who emerges from these pages is keenly ambitious, determined to climb the political ladder in Washington, and loyal to his party but not a political ideologue. Drawing on interviews with family and congressional and administrative officials, presidential historian Scott Kaufman traces Ford's path from a Depression-era childhood through service in World War II to entry into Congress shortly after the Cold War began. He delves deeply into the workings of Congress and legislative–executive relations, offering insight into Ford's role as the House minority leader in a time of conservative insurgency in the Republican Party. Kaufman's account of the Ford presidency provides a new perspective on how human rights figured in the making of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War era, and how environmental issues figured in the making of domestic policy. It also presents a close look at the 1976 presidential election—emphasizing the significance of image in that contest—and extensive coverage of Ford's post-presidency. In sum, Ambition, Pragmatism, and Party is the most comprehensive political biography of Gerald Ford and will become the definitive resource on the thirty-eighth president of the United States.