Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford, an accidental president of the United States, died on December 26th, aged 93
THERE were many times in his long life when Gerald Ford felt he had reached the top of the tree. The moment when, puffing out his teenage chest, he was made an Eagle Scout after earning 21 badges (Cooking, Camping, Civics, Lifesaving, Bird Study, First Aid). The afternoon when, his big bland face still running with sweat under his leather cap, he was named most valuable player for Michigan against Minnesota in the 1934 football season. The day in 1948 when he beat Bartel Jonkman, darling of the powerful Dutch Calvinist community, to win the Republican primary for the Grand Rapids congressional seat by nearly 10,000 votes; and the morning when, wearing one black shoe and one brown one, he walked down the aisle with Betty Warren, the prettiest single woman in the city.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Gerald Ford”
Obituary January 6th 2007
From the January 6th 2007 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Celeste Caeiro’s small gesture named a revolution
The Portuguese restaurant worker and single mother died on November 15th, aged 91
Frank Auerbach aimed only at one memorable image
Britain’s most obsessive figurative painter died on November 11th, aged 93
Baltazar Ushca climbed Chimborazo twice a week
The last Ecuadorean ice-harvester died on October 11th, aged 80
Quincy Jones ruled popular music for half a century
The producer, arranger and film-score writer died on November 3rd, aged 91
Lily Ebert lived to share her story of Auschwitz
The Holocaust survivor and memoirist died on October 9th, aged 100
Fethullah Gulen tried to transform Turkey in the subtlest ways
The scholar, teacher and activist died on Ocrober 20th, aged 83