FORD, GERALD R. controlled Congress summarily ceased all aid to the South Vietnamese regime of NGUYEN VAN THIEU, and it fell to communist aggression. In May 1975, when Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces seized the American cargo ship Mayaguez in international waters, he ordered U.S. military forces into action. This cost the Americans 41 dead and a like number wounded but the ship and crew were retrieved and Ford’s popularity recovered. He undertook this in defiance of the newly passed War Powers Act, which imposed legislative oversight on all military actions. Ford, and all presidents since, have regarded such measures as unconstitutional and ignored them. The president enjoyed greater diplomatic success in European affairs, and in 1975 he conferred with Soviet premier LEONID BREZHNEV over a new arms reduction treaty (SALT II) and the Helsinki Accords. Ford enjoyed less success moderating the effects of a prolonged recession and high inflation. Part of this lay with his inability to pass legislation through a hostile, Democrat controlled Congress, which advanced its own agenda. Ford countered through extensive use of his
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presidential veto and effectively killed 48 out of 60 bills put before him. But such political posturing did little to ameliorate the hardships of a balky economy. In 1976 Ford initially hinted that he would decline to seek reelection but changed his mind and received the Republican nomination in August. He accomplished this only after defeating a serious challenge from California governor RONALD REAGAN. Ford then campaigned against JIMMY CARTER, the Democratic nominee, who enjoyed a large lead in the polls. Despite a series of lackluster missteps Ford dramatically closed the margin by election day, losing by only 48 percent to 50 percent. This concluded his political career and he retired into private life, becoming much in demand as a speaker. Ford remains unapologetic about his pardon of Nixon, although historians regard it as the single greatest cause for his defeat. Ford avoided the public eye until the fall of 1998, when President Bill Clinton was weathering a controversy of his own. The Republican-controlled Congress began debating articles of impeachment against him for perjury and conspiracy in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Ford, however, entreated them to tread lightly. He felt the nation would be better served if Clinton were only rebuked instead of impeached, a position shared by former president Carter. “Let it be dignified, honest, and above all, cleansing,” Ford said. “The result, I believe, would be the first moment of majesty in an otherwise squalid year.” Ford continues on as a respected elder statesman. In August 2000 he was briefly hospitalized for a minor stroke but has since resumed his private affairs. Ford’s tenure in office may have been brief and wrought with controversy, yet he served an important purpose by restoring a sense of normalcy to his strifetorn nation. Further Reading Deen, Rebecca E., and Laura W. Arnold. “Veto Threats as a Policy Tool: When to Threaten? Presidential Studies Quarterly 32, no. 1 (2002): 30–45. Firestone, Bernard J., and Alexej Ugrinsky, eds. Gerald R. Ford and the Politics of Post Watergate America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993. Ford, Gerald R. A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford. Norwalk, Conn.: Eastern Press, 1987. Greene, John R. The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1995.