Former President Gerald Ford has died at age 93.
Ford became president when Nixon resigned in August 1974. It was less than a year after Ford had assumed the vice presidency in the wake of Spiro Agnew's resignation, making him the first president who was never elected to either the vice presidency or the presidency. A month later, Ford offered an unconditional pardon to Nixon, which paved the road to the White House for Jimmy Carter.
I was born in May 1974, so Ford was my second president, but I have no memory of him. My first awareness of Ford is Chevy Chase's impersonation of him falling down the stairs of Airforce One—which I saw in re-runs.
Pam's got a nice obit you should check out, which illustrates more than anything how much the Republican Party has changed in the last 30 years.
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