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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.

Ford was a conservative, pro-business, local activist, and was known as 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.