History UsefulNotes / GeraldFord

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office, with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. Between the major neutering of the President's powers that came in response to Watergate (Which would not be restored to what they once were until UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's presidency), Congress falling into the hands of opposition politicians (again in response to Watergate) and the circumstances by which he became president causing him to not be taken seriously by Congress or the media -both whom saw him as nothing more than a temporary caretaker - so he was effectively powerless. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office, with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. Though, to be fair, between the major neutering of the President's powers that came in response to Watergate (Which would not be restored to what they once were until UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's presidency), Congress falling into the hands of opposition politicians (again in response to Watergate) and the circumstances by which he became president causing him to not be taken seriously by Congress or the media -both whom saw him as nothing more than a temporary caretaker - he was effectively powerless. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office, with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. Though, to be fair, between the major neutering of the President's powers that came in response to Watergate (Which would not be restored to what they once were until GeorgeWBush's presidency), Congress falling into the hands of opposition politicians (again in response to Watergate) and the circumstances by which he became president causing him to not be taken seriously by Congress or the media -both whom saw him as nothing more than a temporary caretaker - he was effectively powerless. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

AKA "Mr. NiceGuy", "The Accidental President" or just plain "Gerry Ford".

----
!Gerald Ford provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: His biological father once threatened to kill him and his mom with a butcher knife. Luckily, this was the catalyst for Ford's mom getting the hell out of [[JustForPun Dodge.]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Ford had a very good sense of humor and never missed an opportunity to poke fun at himself, a nice contrast to the uptight and paranoid Nixon.
--> "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln."
* AlmaMaterSong: During his presidency, Ford would often request that the University of Michigan fight song be played instead of "Hail to the Chief" during state events. Fittingly, the fight song was also played during his funeral procession.
* ArchEnemy: While Ford was not one to hold grudges, he particularly disliked UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, stemming from Reagan challenging him for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.
* CanineCompanion: His golden retriever Liberty.
* ChekhovsGunman: Ford was a no-name who managed to unseat a tenured representative in a surprise upset, and as House minority leader he received some time in the national spotlight from his opposition to the Great Society and his criticism of Vietnam War, and the insults that UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson hurled at him in response. Then Watergate happened.
* ChessMaster: Despite his "nice guy" personality and image, Ford was rather politically savvy and had a machiavellian side to him. A couple of examples:
** As vice president, Ford regularly defended Nixon and proclaimed his innocence of Watergate. However, after Ford's death evidence has surfaced that by early 1974 he knew that Nixon had absolutely no chance of surviving Watergate and that he was essentially just waiting in line to become the next president. He had to toe a very fine line during that period so that he wouldn't destroy his public image: If he was too defensive of Nixon, he would be seen as just a Nixon crony and possibly get sucked into the Watergate controversy; However, if he did anything to undermine Nixon and hasten his demise, he would have been accused of throwing Nixon under the bus in a power play for the presidency, which would have made him a divisive political figure and would thus make his main presidential goal of reuniting the country after Watergate impossible. Ford walked that line perfectly and navigated the Watergate scandal with his honest public image unscathed.
** In 1980, Ford received an offer from Ronald Reagan to be his running mate. Ford had hated Reagan ever since he challenged Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976, which he saw an underhanded move and an insult, and thus wanted to be no part of a Reagan presidency. However, if he flat-out rejected Reagan's offer, he would have been slammed as just being bitter over Reagan's 1976 presidential bid. So he instead gave Reagan a counter offer: he and Reagan would serve an unprecedented co-Presidency, where both he and Reagan would hold equal authority over key administrative decisions, knowing Reagan would want nothing to do with it and was sure to reject it. Reagan did just that, and instead named UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush as his running mate.
* UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball: Ford was a star player for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team and received offers from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers upon his graduation. However, he was more interested in furthering his education and going into law than become a NFL player.
* ConspiracyTheory: A common one, especially during his presidency, is that his pardon of Nixon was actually a quid pro quo agreement between the two: If Nixon stepped down and handed Ford the presidency, Ford would pardon him to protect him from any kind of prosecution or litigation over Watergate.
** Some also latch on to Ford being part of the Warren Commission that investigated the [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy assassination]] and suggested that Ford was somehow rewarded with the Presidency for allegedly helping cover up for the "real" assassin(s).
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Ford presiding over a nationally televised fireworks display in Washington D.C. on the United States Bicentennial on July 4, 1976.
** You could argue that him being the sitting president during the Bicentennial alone could count as this.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Ford would become very close friends with UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter, the Democrat who unseated him in the 1976 election.
** Averted with Ronald Reagan; Ford would hold a strong grudge, and some would say rivalry, towards Reagan well after Ford fought him off to become the Republican party's 1976 presidential nominee.
* FriendlyEnemy: For all that ChevyChase did to erode Ford's public image during his presidency, Ford was actually really friendly towards him, especially after he left office. He even personally invited Chase to the "Humor and the Presidency" conference that he held at his presidential museum in 1986 and the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Ford_55.jpeg two were photographed together there]].
* FriendlyRivalry: It can be argued that his rivalry with Ronald Reagan falls under this, as the two were never personally hostile to each other after the 1976 presidential campaign.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Despite their rivalry and Ford's hatred of him, he endorsed UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan for president in 1980. Reagan offered to make Ford his running mate, which Ford cleverly wiggled out of (see "Chess Master" above).
** When UsefulNotes/RichardNixon came down with a life-threatening illness in October 1974, Ford visited him in the hospital.
** During the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Phillip of Great Britain visited the US and celebrated the event with Ford and his family.
* HazyFeelTurn:
** During his time as a congressman, he promised his wife Betty that he would retire from politics on January 20, 1977, and remained adamant about this through the early part of his presidency. However somewhere along the line he changed his mind and decided to run for relection in 1976. He ended up keeping his promise anyways when he was unseated by Democratic challenger UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter.
** During his time in office, Ford was very publicly opposed to Roe Vs. Wade and was anti-abortion. However, he became pro choice later in life.
*** Of course some would consider this a FaceHeelTurn or HeelFaceTurn. It's really just a change in political belief.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: In 1976, after Ford announced his intention to seek reelection, Ronald Reagan challenged him for the Republican nomination. Ford was furious at him for doing this, as he saw his challenge as an insult and believed that it would divide the party, thus undermining his reelection chances and allowing the Democrats to win the presidency; [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter He was right]]. After a long battle over the nomination, Ford would eventually prevail, though in the process Ford developed a hatred of Reagan and the two would become rivals.
** On the flip side, Ford was pretty well hated by 36th President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, who regularly insulted him to the press in response to Ford's criticism of the Great Society and the Vietnam War. Most famously, Johnson said that, "Jerry Ford is so dumb he can't fart and chew gum at the same time" and that he had "played football too long without a helmet."
* HilariousInHindsight
** Despite the fact that he was a star football player and was one of the most fit and athletic presidents we have ever had, Ford would develop the reputation of being really clumsy due to a couple of incidents when he fell over in public and one where his golf club flew out of his hands and hit a spectator upside the head, all of which were ruthlessly mocked by comedian ChevyChase on SaturdayNightLive.
** Ford seriously considered appointing UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush as his Vice President after taking office in 1974. He eventually passed over Bush in favor of Nelson Rockefeller after deciding that Bush's skill was more in foreign policy and that he didn't have enough experience in handling domestic issues, which were at the forefront of Ford's presidential agenda. Bush would eventually become president in 1989, and his presidency was marked by an amazingly competent and successful foreign policy and a rather inept handling of domestic issues, which would play a key part in him being unseated by UsefulNotes/BillClinton in 1992.
** As noted above, his earlier promise to his wife Betty that he would retire on January 20, 1977 after his 1976 reelection bid failed.
** Ford was considered to be one of the most conservative politicians of his time. However, he looks like a bleeding-heart liberal next to a lot of today's conservative politicians. Especially considering how he became both pro-choice and pro gay rights later in life.
* HeroicRematch: We almost had one in 1980. Ford was uncomfortable with his legacy as "the accidental president" and was seriously considering running for president again during the 1980 election to win a term in his own right. It also would have served as a rematch of 1976, and he could have potentially denied Ronald Reagan the Republican nomination a second time and unseated his 1976 challenger Jimmy Carter. However, he eventually declined to run.
* [[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest President]]: Throughout his time in office as both president and as a congressman, Ford developed an ironclad reputation for honesty, integrity and being an overall nice guy. Whatever their outcome, it is believed that Ford's initiatives while in office were done with the best interests of the country and its people in mind.
** It was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by Congressional leadership during the Watergate scandal. When Nixon was floating candidates to replace the disgraced Spiro Agnew as Vice-President, the Democratic-controlled Congress told Nixon outright that the only Republican they would approve was Ford, due to his reputation as an honest leader in the House of Representatives.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: His decision to pardon Nixon hurt the public's perception of him, but many historians have begun to agree it was the right decision. As Ford put it in his 1979 autobiography ''A Time to Heal'':
-->"America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun."
* ImGoingToHellForThis: Knowing exactly how unpopular the decision would be, he once remarked, "I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."
* NeverLiveItDown:
** Ford being the "accidental president" who was never elected severely hampered his time in office. He was viewed by Congress (which fell into the control of the Democrats during the 1974 midterms) as nothing more than a caretaker and thus was never taken seriously by them.
** His pardon of Nixon caused his popularity to tank and even today historians are still divided about it.
* NiceGuy: The overall summary of Ford's public image.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During his bid for reelection in 1976, he initially started well behind Democratic challenger UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter in the polls, but steadily regained ground throughout his campaign, aided by him being the sitting president during the United States Bicentennial, a couple gaffes by Carter and a strong performance in the first presidential debate. After the said debate, Ford was tied with Carter in the polls and had a genuinely good chance of being reelected. However, during the second presidential debate, Ford famously proclaimed, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." While what Ford said was correct as it was consistent with official US foreign policy since the Soviet Union's formation, it made him look flat-out delusional and allowed Carter to win the presidency. It is now considered one of the worst gaffes in American political history.
** Ford's pardon of Nixon did significant damage to his popularity and is also cited as a factor in his reelection bid failing, an observation in which Ford agreed, once stating "I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Despite having above-average intellect and being political savvy, Ford gained the image among the general public as a bumbling everyman. This is thanks in no small part to how he frequently committed visual gaffes during his presidency:
** Most famously, he fell down the steps of Air Force One
** Once while golfing, his club flew out of his hands and hit a spectator upside the head. He also accidentally hit shots into the crowd on occasion, hitting a few observers with golf balls.
** While playing tennis, he once hit the ball into his opponent's head.
** While sitting on a couch, he crossed his legs and unwittingly put the heel of his shoe into a plate of cheese on the coffee table in front of him.
** He once gave a speech while wearing a pair of shoes that noticeably didn't match the suit he was wearing.
* OddFriendship: While they were not necessarily friends, Ford held a notable admiration for UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton, a prominent Democrat. He even believed she had a serious chance of being the nation's first female president. He had mixed feelings about her husband UsefulNotes/BillClinton, who Ford had visited in the White House and advised multiple times, due to reservations about his personal life and character, especially in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal; Ford believed that Clinton is a sex addict.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Ford is the TropeCodifier for the "President Personable" variant. He arguably fits the "President Buffoon" variant as well.
** He pretty well fits into the "President Focus Group" variant as well, given the curb on Presidential powers that occurred post-Watergate, the Democrats controlling Congress and the Republicans viewing him as no more than a caretaker made it difficult for him to pretty much do anything.
* {{Retirony}}: Played with. He initially decided that he would retire at the end of his term on January 20, 1977 after handing over power to whoever would win the 1976 election, even making a promise to his wife Betty to do so. However, he would change his mind at some point during his term and ran for a term of his own in the 1976 election, which he narrowly lost to JimmyCarter.
* TheRival: UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan
* VindicatedByHistory: While his pardon of Nixon hurt his popularity during his presidency, his public image significantly improved as he came to be seen as a man who respectably discharged with considerable dignity an office which he never actively sought. While many are still divided on his pardon of Nixon, many are coming around and deciding it was the right decision as Nixon's trial would have further divided and weakened the country, especially on the eve of its Bicentennial.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ford's biography is littered with these.
** What if he would have accepted either offer from the Detroit Lions or the Green Bay Packers and became a NFL player instead of studying law?
** What if he would have made UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush his vice president instead of Nelson Rockefeller?
** What if he wouldn't have pardoned Nixon?
** What if he would have won reelection in 1976?
** What if he would have run again in 1980?
** What if Nixon wasn't corrupt and thus Watergate would have never happened?
* WhatTheHellHero: The nation's general response to his pardon on Richard Nixon.
** Or, on the other side of the coin, Ford's reaction to Ronald Reagan challenging him for the Republican nomination in 1976, as he found it insulting and felt it would divide the party and thus allow the Democrats to win the presidency; [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter He was right]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: While Ford was satisfied with Nelson Rockefeller's job as vice president and wanted to keep him as his running mate in the 1976 election, he eventually convinced Rockefeller to stand down and made Bob Dole his running mate to gather the support of right-wing Reagan supporters.

* Chevy Chase's ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' impression of him that neither looked or sounded anything like Ford.

----
!Gerald Ford provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: His biological father once threatened to kill him and his mom with a butcher knife. Luckily, this was the catalyst for Ford's mom getting the hell out of [[JustForPun Dodge.]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Ford had a very good sense of humor and never missed an opportunity to poke fun at himself, a nice contrast to the uptight and paranoid Nixon.
--> "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln."
* AlmaMaterSong: During his presidency, Ford would often request that the University of Michigan fight song be played instead of "Hail to the Chief" during state events. Fittingly, the fight song was also played during his funeral procession.
* ArchEnemy: While Ford was not one to hold grudges, he particularly disliked UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, stemming from Reagan challenging him for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.
* CanineCompanion: His golden retriever Liberty.
* ChekhovsGunman: Ford was a no-name who managed to unseat a tenured representative in a surprise upset, and as House minority leader he received some time in the national spotlight from his opposition to the Great Society and his criticism of Vietnam War, and the insults that UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson hurled at him in response. Then Watergate happened.
* ChessMaster: Despite his "nice guy" personality and image, Ford was rather politically savvy and had a machiavellian side to him. A couple of examples:
** As vice president, Ford regularly defended Nixon and proclaimed his innocence of Watergate. However, after Ford's death evidence has surfaced that by early 1974 he knew that Nixon had absolutely no chance of surviving Watergate and that he was essentially just waiting in line to become the next president. He had to toe a very fine line during that period so that he wouldn't destroy his public image: If he was too defensive of Nixon, he would be seen as just a Nixon crony and possibly get sucked into the Watergate controversy; However, if he did anything to undermine Nixon and hasten his demise, he would have been accused of throwing Nixon under the bus in a power play for the presidency, which would have made him a divisive political figure and would thus make his main presidential goal of reuniting the country after Watergate impossible. Ford walked that line perfectly and navigated the Watergate scandal with his honest public image unscathed.
** In 1980, Ford received an offer from Ronald Reagan to be his running mate. Ford had hated Reagan ever since he challenged Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976, which he saw an underhanded move and an insult, and thus wanted to be no part of a Reagan presidency. However, if he flat-out rejected Reagan's offer, he would have been slammed as just being bitter over Reagan's 1976 presidential bid. So he instead gave Reagan a counter offer: he and Reagan would serve an unprecedented co-Presidency, where both he and Reagan would hold equal authority over key administrative decisions, knowing Reagan would want nothing to do with it and was sure to reject it. Reagan did just that, and instead named UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush as his running mate.
* UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball: Ford was a star player for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team and received offers from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers upon his graduation. However, he was more interested in furthering his education and going into law than become a NFL player.
* ConspiracyTheory: A common one, especially during his presidency, is that his pardon of Nixon was actually a quid pro quo agreement between the two: If Nixon stepped down and handed Ford the presidency, Ford would pardon him to protect him from any kind of prosecution or litigation over Watergate.
** Some also latch on to Ford being part of the Warren Commission that investigated the [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy assassination]] and suggested that Ford was somehow rewarded with the Presidency for allegedly helping cover up for the "real" assassin(s).
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Ford presiding over a nationally televised fireworks display in Washington D.C. on the United States Bicentennial on July 4, 1976.
** You could argue that him being the sitting president during the Bicentennial alone could count as this.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Ford would become very close friends with UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter, the Democrat who unseated him in the 1976 election.
** Averted with Ronald Reagan; Ford would hold a strong grudge, and some would say rivalry, towards Reagan well after Ford fought him off to become the Republican party's 1976 presidential nominee.
* FriendlyEnemy: For all that ChevyChase did to erode Ford's public image during his presidency, Ford was actually really friendly towards him, especially after he left office. He even personally invited Chase to the "Humor and the Presidency" conference that he held at his presidential museum in 1986 and the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Ford_55.jpeg two were photographed together there]].
* FriendlyRivalry: It can be argued that his rivalry with Ronald Reagan falls under this, as the two were never personally hostile to each other after the 1976 presidential campaign.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Despite their rivalry and Ford's hatred of him, he endorsed UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan for president in 1980. Reagan offered to make Ford his running mate, which Ford cleverly wiggled out of (see "Chess Master" above).
** When UsefulNotes/RichardNixon came down with a life-threatening illness in October 1974, Ford visited him in the hospital.
** During the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Phillip of Great Britain visited the US and celebrated the event with Ford and his family.
* HazyFeelTurn:
** During his time as a congressman, he promised his wife Betty that he would retire from politics on January 20, 1977, and remained adamant about this through the early part of his presidency. However somewhere along the line he changed his mind and decided to run for relection in 1976. He ended up keeping his promise anyways when he was unseated by Democratic challenger UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter.
** During his time in office, Ford was very publicly opposed to Roe Vs. Wade and was anti-abortion. However, he became pro choice later in life.
*** Of course some would consider this a FaceHeelTurn or HeelFaceTurn. It's really just a change in political belief.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: In 1976, after Ford announced his intention to seek reelection, Ronald Reagan challenged him for the Republican nomination. Ford was furious at him for doing this, as he saw his challenge as an insult and believed that it would divide the party, thus undermining his reelection chances and allowing the Democrats to win the presidency; [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter He was right]]. After a long battle over the nomination, Ford would eventually prevail, though in the process Ford developed a hatred of Reagan and the two would become rivals.
** On the flip side, Ford was pretty well hated by 36th President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, who regularly insulted him to the press in response to Ford's criticism of the Great Society and the Vietnam War. Most famously, Johnson said that, "Jerry Ford is so dumb he can't fart and chew gum at the same time" and that he had "played football too long without a helmet."
* HilariousInHindsight
** Despite the fact that he was a star football player and was one of the most fit and athletic presidents we have ever had, Ford would develop the reputation of being really clumsy due to a couple of incidents when he fell over in public and one where his golf club flew out of his hands and hit a spectator upside the head, all of which were ruthlessly mocked by comedian ChevyChase on SaturdayNightLive.
** Ford seriously considered appointing UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush as his Vice President after taking office in 1974. He eventually passed over Bush in favor of Nelson Rockefeller after deciding that Bush's skill was more in foreign policy and that he didn't have enough experience in handling domestic issues, which were at the forefront of Ford's presidential agenda. Bush would eventually become president in 1989, and his presidency was marked by an amazingly competent and successful foreign policy and a rather inept handling of domestic issues, which would play a key part in him being unseated by UsefulNotes/BillClinton in 1992.
** As noted above, his earlier promise to his wife Betty that he would retire on January 20, 1977 after his 1976 reelection bid failed.
** Ford was considered to be one of the most conservative politicians of his time. However, he looks like a bleeding-heart liberal next to a lot of today's conservative politicians. Especially considering how he became both pro-choice and pro gay rights later in life.
* HeroicRematch: We almost had one in 1980. Ford was uncomfortable with his legacy as "the accidental president" and was seriously considering running for president again during the 1980 election to win a term in his own right. It also would have served as a rematch of 1976, and he could have potentially denied Ronald Reagan the Republican nomination a second time and unseated his 1976 challenger Jimmy Carter. However, he eventually declined to run.
* [[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest President]]: Throughout his time in office as both president and as a congressman, Ford developed an ironclad reputation for honesty, integrity and being an overall nice guy. Whatever their outcome, it is believed that Ford's initiatives while in office were done with the best interests of the country and its people in mind.
** It was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by Congressional leadership during the Watergate scandal. When Nixon was floating candidates to replace the disgraced Spiro Agnew as Vice-President, the Democratic-controlled Congress told Nixon outright that the only Republican they would approve was Ford, due to his reputation as an honest leader in the House of Representatives.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: His decision to pardon Nixon hurt the public's perception of him, but many historians have begun to agree it was the right decision. As Ford put it in his 1979 autobiography ''A Time to Heal'':
-->"America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun."
* ImGoingToHellForThis: Knowing exactly how unpopular the decision would be, he once remarked, "I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."
* NeverLiveItDown:
** Ford being the "accidental president" who was never elected severely hampered his time in office. He was viewed by Congress (which fell into the control of the Democrats during the 1974 midterms) as nothing more than a caretaker and thus was never taken seriously by them.
** His pardon of Nixon caused his popularity to tank and even today historians are still divided about it.
* NiceGuy: The overall summary of Ford's public image.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During his bid for reelection in 1976, he initially started well behind Democratic challenger UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter in the polls, but steadily regained ground throughout his campaign, aided by him being the sitting president during the United States Bicentennial, a couple gaffes by Carter and a strong performance in the first presidential debate. After the said debate, Ford was tied with Carter in the polls and had a genuinely good chance of being reelected. However, during the second presidential debate, Ford famously proclaimed, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." While what Ford said was correct as it was consistent with official US foreign policy since the Soviet Union's formation, it made him look flat-out delusional and allowed Carter to win the presidency. It is now considered one of the worst gaffes in American political history.
** Ford's pardon of Nixon did significant damage to his popularity and is also cited as a factor in his reelection bid failing, an observation in which Ford agreed, once stating "I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Despite having above-average intellect and being political savvy, Ford gained the image among the general public as a bumbling everyman. This is thanks in no small part to how he frequently committed visual gaffes during his presidency:
** Most famously, he fell down the steps of Air Force One
** Once while golfing, his club flew out of his hands and hit a spectator upside the head. He also accidentally hit shots into the crowd on occasion, hitting a few observers with golf balls.
** While playing tennis, he once hit the ball into his opponent's head.
** While sitting on a couch, he crossed his legs and unwittingly put the heel of his shoe into a plate of cheese on the coffee table in front of him.
** He once gave a speech while wearing a pair of shoes that noticeably didn't match the suit he was wearing.
* OddFriendship: While they were not necessarily friends, Ford held a notable admiration for UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton, a prominent Democrat. He even believed she had a serious chance of being the nation's first female president. He had mixed feelings about her husband UsefulNotes/BillClinton, who Ford had visited in the White House and advised multiple times, due to reservations about his personal life and character, especially in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal; Ford believed that Clinton is a sex addict.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Ford is the TropeCodifier for the "President Personable" variant. He arguably fits the "President Buffoon" variant as well.
** He pretty well fits into the "President Focus Group" variant as well, given the curb on Presidential powers that occurred post-Watergate, the Democrats controlling Congress and the Republicans viewing him as no more than a caretaker made it difficult for him to pretty much do anything.
* {{Retirony}}: Played with. He initially decided that he would retire at the end of his term on January 20, 1977 after handing over power to whoever would win the 1976 election, even making a promise to his wife Betty to do so. However, he would change his mind at some point during his term and ran for a term of his own in the 1976 election, which he narrowly lost to JimmyCarter.
* TheRival: UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan
* VindicatedByHistory: While his pardon of Nixon hurt his popularity during his presidency, his public image significantly improved as he came to be seen as a man who respectably discharged with considerable dignity an office which he never actively sought. While many are still divided on his pardon of Nixon, many are coming around and deciding it was the right decision as Nixon's trial would have further divided and weakened the country, especially on the eve of its Bicentennial.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ford's biography is littered with these.
** What if he would have accepted either offer from the Detroit Lions or the Green Bay Packers and became a NFL player instead of studying law?
** What if he would have made UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush his vice president instead of Nelson Rockefeller?
** What if he wouldn't have pardoned Nixon?
** What if he would have won reelection in 1976?
** What if he would have run again in 1980?
** What if Nixon wasn't corrupt and thus Watergate would have never happened?
* WhatTheHellHero: The nation's general response to his pardon on Richard Nixon.
** Or, on the other side of the coin, Ford's reaction to Ronald Reagan challenging him for the Republican nomination in 1976, as he found it insulting and felt it would divide the party and thus allow the Democrats to win the presidency; [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter He was right]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: While Ford was satisfied with Nelson Rockefeller's job as vice president and wanted to keep him as his running mate in the 1976 election, he eventually convinced Rockefeller to stand down and made Bob Dole his running mate to gather the support of right-wing Reagan supporters.

** Ford being the "incidental president" who was never elected severely hampered his time in office. He was viewed by Congress (which fell into the control of the Democrats during the 1974 midterms) as nothing more than a caretaker and thus was never taken seriously by them.

* Opposing ''Roe v. Wade'', though he became 'pro-choice'[[note]]In US politics, the debate over abortion is defined in terms of 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice'. The former means one is in favour of making abortion illegal, and the latter means one is in favour of legalising it.[[/note]] later in life.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', after UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush moved away, Gerald Ford moved into the house Mr. Bush just left.
** And became a good friend of Homer as they're both simple, amicable salt of the earth types who shared common ground (read: they both tripped on the same piece of sidewalk at the same time and fell flat on their faces).

->"America needed recovery, not revenge. The hate had to be drained and the healing begun."

* VindicatedByHistory: While his pardon of Nixon hurt his popularity during his presidency, his public image significantly improved as he came to be seen as a man who respectably discharged with considerable dignity an office which he never actively sought. While many are still divided on his pardon of Nixon, many are coming around and deciding [[IDidWhatIHadToDo it was the right decision]] as Nixon's trial would have further divided and weakened the country, especially on the eve of its Bicentennial.

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office (only being there for three years, after all), with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

** Ford being our "accidental president" who was never elected made it extremely hard for him to pass legislation, as the Democratic congress never took him seriously. Some fellow Republicans also had a hard time taking Ford seriously, which lead to Ronald Reagan challenging him for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.

* Falling down a lot, due to an inner ear problem. This was lampooned by ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' actor Chevy Chase. He didn't actually fall down as often as ''SNL'' viewers would be led to believe -- although Chase's parody of this became so iconic that this trait was mentioned in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' "Presidents" song. It should be noted Ford was a former football star at the University of Michigan (he played center) and generally extremely fit; while he did indeed fall down the steps of Air Force One (he later said this was because the stairs were slick due to rain) he picked himself up at the bottom of the stairs and was shaking hands with dignitaries before anybody could even ask if he was okay.

* VindicatedByHistory: While his pardon of Nixon hurt his popularity during his presidency, his public image significantly improved as he came to be seen as a man who respectably discharged with considerable dignity an office which he never actively sought. While many are still divided on his pardon of Nixon, many are coming around and deciding it was the right decision as Nixon's trial would have further divided and weakened the country, especially on the eve of its Bicentennial.

'''Gerald Rudolph Ford''' (1913-2006) was the 38th President of the United States ([[TheSeventies 1974-1977]]), following UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and preceding UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter.

** Ford seriously considered appointing UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush as his Vice President after taking office in 1974. He eventually passed over Bush in favor of Nelson Rockefeller after deciding that Bush's skill was more in foreign policy and that he didn't have enough experience in handling domestic issues, which were at the forefront of Ford's presidential agenda. Bush would eventually become president in 1989, and his presidency was marked by an amazingly competent and successful foreign policy and a rather inept handling of domestic issues, which would play a key part in him being unseated by BillClinton in 1992.

* OddFriendship: While they were not necessarily friends, Ford held a notable admiration for HillaryClinton, a prominent Democrat. He even believed she had a serious chance of being the nation's first female president. He had mixed feelings about her husband BillClinton, who Ford had visited in the White House and advised multiple times, due to reservations about his personal life and character, especially in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal; Ford believed that Clinton is a sex addict.

'''Gerald Rudolph Ford''' (1913-2006) was the 38th President of the United States ([[TheSeventies 1974-1977]]), following RichardNixon and preceding JimmyCarter.

Unique in that he was the only president who assumed the office without being elected either president or vice-president. A long-time Republican congressman who dreamed of becoming Speaker of the House, he was appointed to the vice-presidency after RichardNixon's original vice-president, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned amidst a slew of criminal investigations of corruption, tax evasion, and general [[{{Jerkass}} jerkishness]]. Then Nixon resigned eight months later, making Ford the president.

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office (only being there for three years, after all), with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

* Remarking upon RichardNixon's resignation that "the long national nightmare is over", then granting Tricky Dick a pardon for anything he may have done--probably his most unpopular action.

* Accusing JimmyCarter of being "all sizzle and no steak" on the campaign trail, though the two of them became good friends after Carter's term ended.

* Falling down a lot, due to an inner ear problem. This was lampooned by ''SaturdayNightLive'' actor Chevy Chase. He didn't actually fall down as often as ''SNL'' viewers would be led to believe -- although Chase's parody of this became so iconic that this trait was mentioned in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' "Presidents" song. It should be noted Ford was a former football star at the University of Michigan (he played center) and generally extremely fit; while he did indeed fall down the steps of Air Force One (he later said this was because the stairs were slick due to rain) he picked himself up at the bottom of the stairs and was shaking hands with dignitaries before anybody could even ask if he was okay.
* Chevy Chase's ''SaturdayNightLive'' impression of him that neither looked or sounded anything like Ford.

He refused to criticize GeorgeWBush while he was alive, insisting that an interview where he said, "[Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and [Vice President Dick] Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq", not be released until after his death.

* ArchEnemy: While Ford was not one to hold grudges, he particularly disliked RonaldReagan, stemming from Reagan challenging him for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.

** In 1980, Ford received an offer from Ronald Reagan to be his running mate. Ford had hated Reagan ever since he challenged Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976, which he saw an underhanded move and an insult, and thus wanted to be no part of a Reagan presidency. However, if he flat-out rejected Reagan's offer, he would have been slammed as just being bitter over Reagan's 1976 presidential bid. So he instead gave Reagan a counter offer: he and Reagan would serve an unprecedented co-Presidency, where both he and Reagan would hold equal authority over key administrative decisions, knowing Reagan would want nothing to do with it and was sure to reject it. Reagan did just that, and instead named GeorgeHWBush as his running mate.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Ford would become very close friends with JimmyCarter, the Democrat who unseated him in the 1976 election.

* GoKartingWithBowser: Despite their rivalry and Ford's hatred of him, he endorsed RonaldReagan for president in 1980. Reagan offered to make Ford his running mate, which Ford cleverly wiggled out of (see "Chess Master" above).
** When RichardNixon came down with a life-threatening illness in October 1974, Ford visited him in the hospital.

** During his time as a congressman, he promised his wife Betty that he would retire from politics on January 20, 1977, and remained adamant about this through the early part of his presidency. However somewhere along the line he changed his mind and decided to run for relection in 1976. He ended up keeping his promise anyways when he was unseated by Democratic challenger JimmyCarter.

* HeadbuttingHeroes: In 1976, after Ford announced his intention to seek reelection, Ronald Reagan challenged him for the Republican nomination. Ford was furious at him for doing this, as he saw his challenge as an insult and believed that it would divide the party, thus undermining his reelection chances and allowing the Democrats to win the presidency; [[JimmyCarter He was right]]. After a long battle over the nomination, Ford would eventually prevail, though in the process Ford developed a hatred of Reagan and the two would become rivals.

** Ford seriously considered appointing GeorgeHWBush as his Vice President after taking office in 1974. He eventually passed over Bush in favor of Nelson Rockefeller after deciding that Bush's skill was more in foreign policy and that he didn't have enough experience in handling domestic issues, which were at the forefront of Ford's presidential agenda. Bush would eventually become president in 1989, and his presidency was marked by an amazingly competent and successful foreign policy and a rather inept handling of domestic issues, which would play a key part in him being unseated by BillClinton in 1992.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During his bid for reelection in 1976, he initially started well behind Democratic challenger JimmyCarter in the polls, but steadily regained ground throughout his campaign, aided by him being the sitting president during the United States Bicentennial, a couple gaffes by Carter and a strong performance in the first presidential debate. After the said debate, Ford was tied with Carter in the polls and had a genuinely good chance of being reelected. However, during the second presidential debate, Ford famously proclaimed, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." While what Ford said was correct as it was consistent with official US foreign policy since the Soviet Union's formation, it made him look flat-out delusional and allowed Carter to win the presidency. It is now considered one of the worst gaffes in American political history.

* TheRival: RonaldReagan

** What if he would have made GeorgeHWBush his vice president instead of Nelson Rockefeller?

** Or, on the other side of the coin, Ford's reaction to Ronald Reagan challenging him for the Republican nomination in 1976, as he found it insulting and felt it would divide the party and thus allow the Democrats to win the presidency; [[JimmyCarter He was right]].

* In ''TheSimpsons'', after GeorgeHWBush moved away, Gerald Ford moved into the house Mr. Bush just left.

* In ''{{Futurama}}'', after Fry admits that he was going to vote for Clinton but decided voting wasn't cool, Gerald Ford's head says "Frankly, I've never felt voting to be all that essential to the process."
-->'''RichardNixon''': [[SarcasmMode Yeah, no kidding, Ford.]]

* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'': Taking advantage of conspiracy theories, Brain tricked Ford into signing a document and later passed it as something signed back when Ford still was the President.

->''"That Gerald Ford. He can't fart and chew gum at the same time."''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson'''

Ford didn't do a whole lot in office, with the extraordinary circumstances of how he assumed the office being the distinguishing feature of his presidency. He is, to date, the only President to hold office since FranklinDRoosevelt that never made ''Time'' magazine's "Person of the Year". Additionally, a 2005 DiscoveryChannel poll of the 100 greatest Americans included all of the presidents since FDR ''except'' Ford. He's most famous for:

* Remarking upon RichardNixon's resignation that "the long national nightmare is over", then granting Tricky Dick a pardon.

* Falling down a lot, due to an inner ear problem. This was lampooned by ''SaturdayNightLive'' actor Chevy Chase. He didn't actually fall down as often as ''SNL'' viewers would be led to believe -- although Chase's parody of this became so iconic that this trait was mentioned in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' "Presidents" song. It should be noted Ford was a former football star at the University of Michigan and generally extremely fit; while he did indeed fall down the steps of Air Force One (he later said this was because the stairs were slick due to rain) he picked himself up at the bottom of the stairs and was shaking hands with dignitaries before anybody could even ask if he was okay.

* Puns on his name being that of a car (although he's not related to Henry Ford or his descendants). Besides the page quote, other Republican primary challengers distributed buttons reading "Ford is an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsel Edsel]]" and "Trade in your Ford in '76". And then there's the fact that the most famous satirist of him was ''Chevy'' Chase.

* AbusiveParents: His biological father once threatened to kill him and his mom with a butcher knife. Luckily, this was the catalyst for Ford's mom getting the hell out of Dodge.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During his bid for reelection in 1976, he initially started well behind Democratic challenger JimmyCarter in the polls, but steadily regained ground throughout his campaign, aided by him being the sitting president during the United States Bicentennial, a couple gaffes by Carter and a strong performance in the first presidential debate. After the said debate, Ford was tied with Carter in the polls and had a genuinely good chance of being reelected. However, during the second presidential debate, Ford famously proclaimed, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." While what Ford said was correct as it was consistant with official US foreign policy since the Soviet Union's formation, it made him look flat-out delusional and allowed Carter to win the presidency. It is now considered one of the worst gaffes in American political history.

** Once while golfing, his club flew out of his handa and hit a spectator upside the head. He also accidentally hit shots into the crowd on occasion, hitting a few observers with golf balls.