Transcript The Ford Presidency 1974-1977

The Ford Presidency
1974-1977
 Ford was an
affable man
 First
unelected
president
 A former
football player
at the
University of
Michigan
 Former
member of the
House
The Nixon Pardon
September 8, 1974
 I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United
States, pursuant to the pardon power
conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of
the Constitution, have granted and by these
presents do grant a full, free, and absolute
pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses
against the United States which he, Richard
Nixon, has committed or may have committed
or taken part in during the period from July
(January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
The Ford Presidency
1975
 Final U.S.
evacuation of
South Vietnam
 Saturday Night
Live debuts with
parodies of
President Ford
The Ford Presidency
1975-1976
 Congress investigated the CIA (The Church
Committee)

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In the 1950’s it administered the drug LSD on
unsuspecting Americans to test its effects
Assassination plots against Fidel Castro and
other foreign leaders
Introduction of African swine fever virus to
Cuba in 1971
The Ford Presidency
1975-1976
 Congress investigated the FBI
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
Illegal surveillance of several hundred
thousand American citizens
Tapped Martin Luther King’s private phone
conversations, sent him fake letters and
threatened him
The Ford Presidency
1974-1977
 U.S. economy
experiencing high
levels of inflation
 Energy crisis
 Whip Inflation Now
(WIN)
The Bicentennial
July 4, 1976
The Bicentennial
July 4, 1976
The Election of 1976
 Ford held off conservative Ronald Reagan for
the Republican nomination
 The Democrats selected an “outsider”, James
Earl Carter; “Call me Jimmy”
 Carter was a born-again Christian who vowed
that he would never lie to the American
people
The Election of 1976
The Election of 1976
The Carter Presidency
1977-1981
 Stagflation
 Energy Crisis
 Three-Mile Island
 The Panama Canal
 The Iranian Hostage Crisis
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
444 days
November 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981