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President Ford received heavy criticism for pardoning Nixon.  Ford watched helpless as [[South Vietnam]] fell to a Communist invasion, after all American forces had been removed.  He promoted [[détente]] with the [[Soviet Union]], incurring the wrath of the conservatives, led by [[Ronald Reagan]]. He narrowly defeated Reagan for renomination in 1976 by the [[Republican party]], then lost narrowly to Democrat [[Jimmy Carter]].   

President Ford received heavy criticism for pardoning Nixon.  Ford watched helpless as [[South Vietnam]] fell to a Communist invasion, after all American forces had been removed.  He promoted [[détente]] with the [[Soviet Union]], incurring the wrath of the conservatives, led by [[Ronald Reagan]]. He narrowly defeated Reagan for renomination in 1976 by the [[Republican party]], then lost narrowly to Democrat [[Jimmy Carter]].   

Ford was basically a conservative, pro-business, local activist who was a decent person and good family man; in his three years in office, he did much to heal the deep national wounds he had inherited from Nixon. The nation liked him personally but rejected his foreign  and economic policies.

Ford was basically a conservative, pro-business, local activist who was a decent person and good family man; in his three years in office, he did much to heal the deep national wounds he had inherited from Nixon.

 

==Early Life==

==Early Life==

Ford was born on July 14, 1913, in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]], and was named Leslie King after his father, a wool trader. When Ford was two years old his parents were divorced because of abuse. His mother, Dorothy Gardner King, moved to [[Grand Rapids]], Michigan. There she met and married Gerald R. Ford, owner of a small paint factory. Ford adopted her son, and the boy's name was changed to Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Gerald Ford, Sr., described by biographers as a dominant athletic man and strong believer in self-discipline, later fathered three sons. He never told young Gerald that he was adopted until years later.

Ford was born on July 14, 1913, in [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]], and was named Leslie King after his father, a wool trader. When Ford was two years old his parents were divorced because of abuse. His mother, Dorothy Gardner King, moved to [[Grand Rapids]], Michigan. There she met and married Gerald R. Ford, owner of a small paint factory. Ford adopted her son, and the boy's name was changed to Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Gerald Ford, Sr., described by biographers as a dominant athletic man and strong believer in self-discipline, later fathered three sons. He never told young Gerald that he was adopted until years later.