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154-570: Widespread allegations that local Democratic Party politicians used employees of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the congressional elections of 1938 provided the immediate impetus for the passage of the Hatch Act. Criticism centered on swing states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In Pennsylvania, Republicans and dissident Democrats publicized evidence that Democratic politicians were consulted on

308-510: A deficit every year Ford was president. Despite his reservations about how the program ultimately would be funded in an era of tight public budgeting , Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which established special education throughout the United States. Ford expressed "strong support for full educational opportunities for our handicapped children" according to

462-633: A Grand Rapids law practice with a friend, Philip W. Buchen . Following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor , Ford enlisted in the Navy. He received a commission as ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve on April 13, 1942. On April 20, he reported for active duty to the V-5 instructor school at Annapolis, Maryland . After one month of training, he went to Navy Preflight School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina , where he

616-408: A coalition of farmers, city-dwelling laborers and Irish Catholics. Both parties worked hard to build grassroots organizations and maximize the turnout of voters, which often reached 80 percent or 90 percent of eligible voters. Both parties used patronage extensively to finance their operations, which included emerging big city political machines as well as national networks of newspapers. Behind

770-454: A contentious issue the extension of slavery to the territories . On the other hand, many Democrats feared industrialization the Whigs welcomed....For many Democrats, the answer to the nation's social ills was to continue to follow Thomas Jefferson's vision of establishing agriculture in the new territories in order to counterbalance industrialization. In 1848 a major innovation was the creation of

924-577: A half years, on February 1, 1917, Gardner married Gerald Rudolff Ford , a salesman in a family-owned paint and varnish company. Though never formally adopted, her young son was referred to as Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr. from then on; the name change , including the anglicized spelling "Rudolph", was formalized on December 3, 1935. He was raised in what is now East Grand Rapids with his three half-brothers from his mother's second marriage: Thomas Gardner "Tom" Ford (1918–1995), Richard Addison "Dick" Ford (1924–2015), and James Francis "Jim" Ford (1927–2001). Ford

1078-454: A history of hitting his mother. In a biography of Ford, James M. Cannon wrote that the separation and divorce of Ford's parents was sparked when, a few days after Ford's birth, Leslie King took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife, infant son, and Ford's nursemaid. Ford later told confidants that his father had first hit his mother when she had smiled at another man during their honeymoon. After living with her parents for two and

1232-501: A movement. Reformers eager to turn their programs into legislation called for a more active government. But Democrats tended to oppose programs like educational reform and the establishment of a public school system....Nor did Jackson share reformers' humanitarian concerns. He had no sympathy for American Indians , initiating the removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears . The party

1386-759: A necessary source of government revenue. They supported the Independent Treasury (the Jacksonian alternative to the Second Bank of the United States) not as a scheme to quash the special privilege of the Whiggish monied elite, but as a device to spread prosperity to all Americans . Sectional confrontations escalated during the 1850s, the Democratic Party split between North and South grew deeper. The conflict

1540-600: A negotiator and a reconciler, and the record shows it: he did not write a single piece of major legislation in his entire career." Appointed to the House Appropriations Committee two years after being elected, he was a prominent member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee . Ford described his philosophy as "a moderate in domestic affairs, an internationalist in foreign affairs, and a conservative in fiscal policy." He voted in favor of

1694-519: A new minority leader. Three members approached Ford to see if he would be willing to serve; after consulting with his family, he agreed. After a closely contested election, Ford was chosen to replace Charles Halleck of Indiana as minority leader. The members of the Republican caucus that encouraged and eventually endorsed Ford to run as the House minority leader were later known as the " Young Turks ". One of

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1848-620: A portion of the text of Burdick v. United States , a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt, and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt. In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Ford for his pardon of Nixon. In presenting the award to Ford, Senator Edward Kennedy said that he had initially been opposed to

2002-511: A pro-slavery constitution on Kansas; acquire Cuba (where slavery already existed); accepting the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court; and adopting a federal slave code to protect slavery in the territories. President Buchanan went along with these demands, but Douglas refused and proved a much better politician than Buchanan, though the bitter battle lasted for years and permanently alienated

2156-837: A provision meant to prohibit membership in organizations on the far left and far right, such as the Communist Party USA and the German-American Bund . An amendment on July 19, 1940, extended the Act to certain employees of state and local governments whose positions are primarily paid for by federal funds. It has been interpreted to bar political activity on the part of employees of state agencies administering federal unemployment insurance programs and appointed local law enforcement agency officials with oversight of federal grant funds. The Hatch Act bars state and local government employees from running for public office if any federal funds support

2310-473: A reduced role for the government in the economy, and a liberal policy for the sale of public lands to encourage settlement; they opposed high tariffs to encourage industry. The Jackson policies were kept, such as Indian removal and the Trail of Tears . Van Buren personally disliked slavery but he kept the slaveholder's rights intact. Nevertheless, he was distrusted across the South. The 1840 Democratic convention

2464-515: A resignation. And he said, 'I'm just warning you that you've got to be prepared, that things might change dramatically and you could become President.' And I said, 'Betty, I don't think we're ever going to live in the vice president's house. ' " When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Ford automatically assumed the presidency, taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House. This made him

2618-484: A scoreless tie in the first half. After the game, assistant coach Bennie Oosterbaan said, "When I walked into the dressing room at halftime, I had tears in my eyes I was so proud of them. Ford and [Cedric] Sweet played their hearts out. They were everywhere on defense." Ford later recalled, "During 25 years in the rough-and-tumble world of politics, I often thought of the experiences before, during, and after that game in 1934. Remembering them has helped me many times to face

2772-427: A tough situation, take action, and make every effort possible despite adverse odds." His teammates later voted Ford their most valuable player, with one assistant coach noting, "They felt Jerry was one guy who would stay and fight in a losing cause." During Ford's senior year, a controversy developed when Georgia Tech said that it would not play a scheduled game with Michigan if a Black player named Willis Ward took

2926-480: A young (35 years old) upstart, Congressman William Jennings Bryan made the magnificent "cross of gold" speech, which brought the crowd at the convention to its feet and got him the nomination. He would lose the election, but remained the Democratic hero and was renominated and lost again in 1900 and a third time in 1908. Grover Cleveland led the party faction of conservative, pro-business Bourbon Democrats , but as

3080-535: Is no concern of government what an employee does in his or her spare time, whether religion, recreation, social work or politics is his hobby, unless what he or she does impairs efficiency or other facets of the merits of his job." In 1975, the House passed legislation allowing federal employees to participate in partisan elections and run for office, but the Senate took no action. In 1976, Democrats who controlled Congress had sought to win support by adding protections against

3234-581: The 1866 elections , the Radical Republicans won two-thirds majorities in Congress and took control of national affairs. The large Republican majorities made Congressional Democrats helpless, though they unanimously opposed the Radicals' Reconstruction policies . The Senate passed the 14th Amendment by a vote of 33 to 11 with every Democratic senator opposed. Realizing that the old issues were holding it back,

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3388-604: The 1976 Republican presidential primary , he defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter . Ford remains the only person to serve as president without winning an election for president or vice president. Following his years as president, Ford remained active in the Republican Party, but his moderate views on various social issues increasingly put him at odds with conservative members of

3542-506: The 1976 presidential election , an observation with which Ford agreed. In an editorial at the time, The New York Times stated that the Nixon pardon was a "profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence". On October 17, 1974, Ford testified before Congress on the pardon. He was the first sitting president since Abraham Lincoln to testify before

3696-663: The American Civil War , the party generally supported slavery or insisted it be left to the states. After the war until the 1940s, the party opposed civil rights reforms in order to retain the support of Southern white voters. The Republican Party was organized in the mid-1850s from the ruins of the Whig Party and Free Soil Democrats. It was dominant in presidential politics from 1860 to 1928. The Democrats elected only two Presidents during this period: Grover Cleveland (in 1884 and 1892) and Woodrow Wilson (in 1912 and 1916). Over

3850-613: The Carter administration . When Ford assumed office, he inherited Nixon's Cabinet . During his brief administration, he replaced all members except Secretary of State Kissinger and Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon . Political commentators have referred to Ford's dramatic reorganization of his Cabinet in the fall of 1975 as the " Halloween Massacre ". One of Ford's appointees, William Coleman —the Secretary of Transportation —was

4004-643: The Civil Rights Acts of 1957 , 1960 , 1964 , and 1968 , as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Ford was known to his colleagues in the House as a "Congressman's Congressman". In the early 1950s, Ford declined offers to run for either the Senate or the Michigan governorship. Rather, his ambition was to become Speaker of the House , which he called "the ultimate achievement. To sit up there and be

4158-491: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) to coordinate state activities in the presidential contest. Senator Lewis Cass , who held many offices over the years, lost to General Zachary Taylor of the Whigs. A major cause of the defeat was that the new Free Soil Party , which opposed slavery expansion, split the Democratic vote. The Free Soil Party attracted Democrats and some Whigs and had considerable support in

4312-567: The Democratic-Republican Party , founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1793, and had largely collapsed by 1824 . It was built by Martin Van Buren who assembled many state organizations to form a new party as a vehicle to elect Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. The pattern and speed of formation differed from state to state. By the mid-1830s almost all the state Democratic parties were uniform. The spirit of Jacksonian democracy animated

4466-829: The Gilbert Islands , Bismarck Archipelago , Marshall Islands, Asiatic and Pacific carrier raids, Hollandia , Marianas, Western Carolines, Western New Guinea, and the Leyte Operation), the Philippine Liberation Medal with two 3 ⁄ 16 " bronze stars (for Leyte and Mindoro), and the World War II Victory Medal . He was honorably discharged in February 1946. After Ford returned to Grand Rapids in 1946, he became active in local Republican politics, and supporters urged him to challenge Bartel J. Jonkman ,

4620-450: The House elections , taking 49 seats from the Republican Party, increasing their majority to 291 of the 435 seats. This was one more than the number needed (290) for a two-thirds majority, the number necessary to override a presidential veto or to propose a constitutional amendment. Perhaps due in part to this fact, the 94th Congress overrode the highest percentage of vetoes since Andrew Johnson

4774-541: The House of Representatives . In the months following the pardon, Ford often declined to mention President Nixon by name, referring to him in public as "my predecessor" or "the former president." When Ford was pressed on the matter on a 1974 trip to California, White House correspondent Fred Barnes recalled that he replied "I just can't bring myself to do it." After Ford left the White House in January 1977, he privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet

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4928-660: The Marianas , Western Carolines , and northern New Guinea, as well as in the Battle of the Philippine Sea . After an overhaul, from September to November 1944, aircraft from the Monterey launched strikes against Wake Island , participated in strikes in the Philippines and Ryukyus , and supported the landings at Leyte and Mindoro . Although the ship was not damaged by Japanese forces,

5082-422: The Monterey was one of several ships damaged by Typhoon Cobra that hit Admiral William Halsey's Third Fleet on December 18–19, 1944. The Third Fleet lost three destroyers and over 800 men during the typhoon. The Monterey was damaged by a fire, which was started by several of the ship's aircraft tearing loose from their cables and colliding on the hangar deck . Ford was serving as General Quarters Officer of

5236-592: The National Environmental Policy Act and the Tax Reform Act of 1969 . Another high-profile victory for the Republican minority was the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act. Passed in 1972, the act established a revenue sharing program for state and local governments. Ford's leadership was instrumental in shepherding revenue sharing through Congress, and resulted in a bipartisan coalition that supported

5390-604: The Office of Personnel Management : History of the Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties of the United States political system and the oldest active political party in the country , as well as in the world. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828. It is also the oldest active voter-based political party in the world. The party has changed significantly during its nearly two centuries of existence. Once known as

5544-578: The United States Coast Guard . Members of the U.S. Armed Forces are subject to Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 (DoDD 1344.10), Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces, and the spirit and intent of that directive is effectively the same as that of the Hatch Act for Federal civil servants. By agreement between the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security , DoDD 1344.10 also applies to uniformed personnel of

5698-892: The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are subject to specific Health and Human Service regulations found in Title 44, Code of Federal Regulations Part 73 Subpart F. Hatch Act guidelines for NOAA Corps Officers are provided by United States Department of Commerce, Office of the General Counsel, Ethics Law and Program Division. Career members of the Senior Executive Service, administrative law judges, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps officers are all subject to Hatch Act restrictions and have additional limitations on their off-duty political activities. Employees of

5852-534: The University of Michigan , where he played center and linebacker for the school's football team and helped the Wolverines to two undefeated seasons and national titles in 1932 and 1933 . In his senior year of 1934 , the team suffered a steep decline and won only one game, but Ford was still the team's star player. In one of those games, Michigan held heavily favored Minnesota —the eventual national champion—to

6006-484: The University of Michigan , where he played for the school's football team , before eventually attending Yale Law School . Afterward, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946. Ford began his political career in 1949 as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district , serving in this capacity for nearly 25 years, the final nine of them as the House minority leader . In December 1973, two months after Spiro Agnew 's resignation, Ford became

6160-610: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression , the party employed social liberal policies and programs with the New Deal coalition to combat financial crises and emergency bank closings, with policies continuing into World War II . The party kept the White House after Roosevelt's death in April 1945, electing Harry S. Truman in 1948 to a full term. During this period,

6314-608: The War Democrats , who supported the military policies of Republican President Lincoln; and the Copperheads , who strongly opposed them. In the South party politics ended in the Confederacy . The political leadership, mindful of the fierce divisions in antebellum American politics and with a pressing need for unity, rejected organized political parties as inimical to good governance and as being especially unwise in wartime. Consequently,

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6468-623: The Watergate scandal . Foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the president. Ford signed the Helsinki Accords , which marked a move toward détente in the Cold War . With the collapse of South Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War essentially ended. In

6622-589: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy . Ford was assigned to prepare a biography of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald . He and Earl Warren also interviewed Jack Ruby , Oswald's killer. According to a 1963 FBI memo that was released to the public in 2008, Ford was in contact with the FBI throughout his time on the Warren Commission and relayed information to the deputy director, Cartha DeLoach , about

6776-809: The depression of 1893 deepened his enemies multiplied. At the 1896 convention , the silverite-agrarian faction repudiated the President and nominated the crusading orator William Jennings Bryan on a platform of free coinage of silver . The idea was that minting silver coins would flood the economy with cash and end the depression. Cleveland supporters formed the National Democratic Party (Gold Democrats), which attracted politicians and intellectuals (including Woodrow Wilson and Frederick Jackson Turner ) who refused to vote Republican. Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr. ; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006)

6930-826: The gold standard and opposed Bimetallism . They strongly supported reform movements such as Civil Service Reform and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the Tweed Ring . The leading Bourbons included Samuel J. Tilden , David Bennett Hill and William C. Whitney of New York, Arthur Pue Gorman of Maryland, Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, Henry M. Mathews and William L. Wilson of West Virginia, John Griffin Carlisle of Kentucky, William F. Vilas of Wisconsin, J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska, John M. Palmer of Illinois, Horace Boies of Iowa, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar of Mississippi and railroad builder James J. Hill of Minnesota. A prominent intellectual

7084-544: The popular vote in 2000 and 2016 but lost the Electoral College in both elections (with candidates Al Gore and Hillary Clinton , respectively). These were two of the four presidential elections in which Democrats won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College , the others being the presidential elections in 1876 and 1888 . The modern Democratic Party emerged in the late 1820s from former factions of

7238-468: The progressive movement in the United States (1890s–1920s) and opposed imperialistic expansion abroad while sponsoring liberal reforms at home despite supporting racism and discrimination against African Americans in government offices and elsewhere. Starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt , the party dominated during the Fifth Party System , which lasted from 1932 until about the 1970s. In response to

7392-628: The 1830s, the Locofocos in New York City were radically democratic, anti-monopoly and were proponents of hard money and free trade . Their chief spokesman was William Leggett . At this time, labor unions were few and some were loosely affiliated with the party. The Presidency of Martin Van Buren was hobbled by a long economic depression called the Panic of 1837 . The presidency promoted hard money based on gold and silver, an independent federal treasury,

7546-458: The 1939 Neutrality Act . The petition was circulated nationally and was the inspiration for the America First Committee , a group determined to keep the U.S. out of World War II . His introduction into politics was in the summer of 1940 when he worked for the Republican presidential campaign of Wendell Willkie . Ford graduated in the top third of his class in 1941, and was admitted to the Michigan bar shortly thereafter. In May 1941, he opened

7700-447: The Coast Guard at all times, whether it is operating as a service in the Department of Homeland Security or as part of the Navy under the Department of Defense. As a directive, DoDD 1344.10 is considered to be in the same category as an order or regulation, and military personnel violating its provisions can be considered in violation of Article 92 (Failure to obey order or regulation) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice . Members of

7854-520: The Constitution: that all efforts of the abolitionists or others, made to induce congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions. The Panic of 1837 led to Van Buren and

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8008-443: The Deck and was ordered to go below to assess the raging fire. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship's commanding officer, Captain Stuart H. Ingersoll . The ship's crew was able to contain the fire, and the ship got underway again. After the fire, the Monterey was declared unfit for service. Ford was detached from the ship and sent to the Navy Pre-Flight School at Saint Mary's College of California , where he

8162-443: The Democratic Party came in the late 1850s as Democrats increasingly rejected national policies demanded by the Southern Democrats. The demands were to support slavery outside the South. Southerners insisted that full equality for their region required the government to acknowledge the legitimacy of slavery outside the South. The Southern demands included a fugitive slave law to recapture runaway slaves; opening Kansas to slavery; forcing

8316-424: The Democratic Party halted all operations during the life of the Confederacy (1861–1865). Partisanship flourished in the North and strengthened the Lincoln Administration as Republicans automatically rallied behind it. After the attack on Fort Sumter , Douglas rallied Northern Democrats behind the Union, but when Douglas died the party lacked an outstanding figure in the North and by 1862 an anti-war peace element

8470-443: The Democratic Party left it powerless. Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States. Douglas campaigned across the country calling for unity and came in second in the popular vote, but carried only Missouri and New Jersey. Breckinridge carried 11 slave states , coming in second in the Electoral vote, but third in the popular vote. During the Civil War , Northern Democrats divided into two factions:

8624-460: The Democratic Party was the party of the "common man". It opposed the abolition of slavery. From 1828 to 1848, banking and tariffs were the central domestic policy issues. Democrats strongly favored—and Whigs opposed—expansion to new farm lands, as typified by their expulsion of eastern American Indians and acquisition of vast amounts of new land in the West after 1846. The party favored the war with Mexico and opposed anti-immigrant nativism . In

8778-409: The Democrats control of every Southern state (by the Compromise of 1877 ), but the disenfranchisement of blacks took place (1880–1900). From 1880 to 1960, the " Solid South " voted Democratic in presidential elections (except 1928). After 1900, a victory in a Democratic primary was " tantamount to election " because the Republican Party was so weak in the South. After being out of office since 1861,

8932-444: The Democrats tried a " New Departure " that downplayed the War and stressed such issues as stopping corruption and white supremacy , which it wholeheartedly supported. President Johnson , elected on the fusion Union Party ticket, did not rejoin the Democratic Party, but Democrats in Congress supported him and voted against his impeachment in 1868. After his term ended in 1869 he rejoined the Democrats. War hero Ulysses S. Grant led

9086-412: The Democrats won the popular vote in three consecutive elections, and the electoral vote (and thus the White House) in 1884 and 1892. Although Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive (especially in the mid-Atlantic and lower Midwest ) and controlled the House of Representatives for most of that period. In the election of 1884 , Grover Cleveland ,

9240-429: The Democrats' drop in popularity. The Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison as their candidate for the 1840 presidential race. Harrison won as the first president of the Whigs. However, he died in office a month later and was succeeded by his Vice President John Tyler . Tyler had recently left the Democrats for the Whigs and thus his beliefs did not align much with the Whig Party. During his presidency, he vetoed most of

9394-405: The First Amendment rights of individual employees". President Carter proposed similar legislation in 1977. A proposed amendment to permit federal workers to participate in political campaigns passed the House on a 305 to 112 vote in 1987. In 1990, a similar bill passed the House on a vote of 334 to 87 and the Senate on a vote of 67 to 30. President George H. W. Bush vetoed the legislation, which

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9548-399: The House and Senate. Some, including Barry Goldwater , voted against him. On September 8, 1974, Ford issued Proclamation 4311 , which gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while president. In a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford explained that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country, and that

9702-552: The House voted to override 327 to 93 and the Senate sustained on a vote of 65 to 35, with 55 Democrats and 10 Republicans voting to override and 35 Republicans supporting the president's veto. In 1993 the advocates for removing or modifying restrictions on the political activities of federal employees succeeded in enacting the Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993 (107 Stat. 1001) that removed the prohibition on participation in "political management or political campaigns". Federal employees are still forbidden to use their authority to affect

9856-455: The Nixon family's situation "is a tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must." Ford's decision to pardon Nixon was highly controversial. Critics derided the move and said a " corrupt bargain " had been struck between the two men, in which Ford's pardon was granted in exchange for Nixon's resignation, elevating Ford to

10010-449: The Northeast. Former Democratic President Van Buren ran as the Free Soil nominee in 1848 and finished second ahead of Cass in the anti-slavery states of Vermont and Massachusetts and in his home state of New York. Had Cass won New York as Polk had 4 years prior, he would have won the election. Free Soils warned that rich slave owners would move into new territories such as Nebraska and buy up the best lands and work them with slaves. To protect

10164-418: The Northern and Southern wings. When the new Republican Party formed in 1854 on the basis of refusing to tolerate the expansion of slavery into the territories, many northern Democrats (especially Free Soilers from 1848) joined it. The formation of the new short-lived Know-Nothing Party allowed the Democrats to win the presidential election of 1856. Buchanan, a Northern " Doughface " (his base of support

10318-509: The Republican Party only elected one president ( Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956) and was the minority in Congress all but twice (the exceptions being 1947–49 and 1953–55). Powerful committee chairmanships were awarded automatically on the basis of seniority, which gave power especially to long-serving Southerners. Important Democratic leaders during this time included Presidents Truman (1945–1953), John F. Kennedy (1961–1963), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969). Republican Richard Nixon won

10472-406: The Republicans to landslides in 1868 and 1872 . When a major economic depression hit the United States with the Panic of 1873 , the Democratic Party made major gains across the country, took full control of the South, and took control of Congress. The Democrats lost consecutive presidential elections from 1860 through 1880, nevertheless Democrats have won the popular vote in 1876 . Although

10626-437: The Republicans won their biggest landslide ever, taking full control of the House. The Democrats lost nearly all their seats in the Northeast. The third party Populists also were ruined. However, Cleveland's silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic Party in state after state, including full control in Illinois and Michigan and made major gains in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and other states. Wisconsin and Massachusetts were two of

10780-461: The Texas issue. John Mack Faragher 's analysis of the political polarization between the parties is: Most Democrats were wholehearted supporters of expansion, whereas many Whigs (especially in the North ) were opposed. Whigs welcomed most of the changes wrought by industrialization but advocated strong government policies that would guide growth and development within the country's existing boundaries; they feared (correctly) that expansion raised

10934-462: The United States and serve two years working in a public service job or a total of two years service for those who had served less than two years of honorable service in the military. The program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters established a Clemency Board to review the records and make recommendations for receiving a presidential pardon and a change in military discharge status. Full pardon for draft dodgers came in

11088-499: The Whig Party, which finally collapsed in 1852, fatally weakened by division on slavery and nativism . The fragmented opposition could not stop the election of Democrats Franklin Pierce in 1852 and James Buchanan in 1856 . The eight years during which Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan held the presidency were disasters; historians agree that they rank as among the worst presidents. The Party increasingly split along regional lines on

11242-627: The White House in 1968 and 1972, leading to the end of the New Deal era; however, the party became extremely successful in the House, holding it with a majority for 42 years (from 1953 until the Republican Revolution in 1995). Democrats have won five out of the last twelve presidential elections, winning in the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996 (with Bill Clinton , 1993–2001), 2008 and 2012 (with Barack Obama , 2009–2017), and 2020 (with Joe Biden , 2021–2025). Democrats have also won

11396-505: The agrarian and strict constructionist orthodoxies of the past and embraced commerce, technology, regulation, reform and internationalism. The movement attracted a circle of outstanding writers, including William Cullen Bryant , George Bancroft , Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne . They sought independence from European standards of high culture and wanted to demonstrate the excellence and exceptionalism of America's own literary tradition . In economic policy, Young America saw

11550-413: The agrarian party elements representing poor farmers in the South and West. After the Republican landslide in the 1894 House elections , the agrarian element, marching behind the slogan of free silver (i.e. in favor of inflation), captured the party. They nominated William Jennings Bryan in the 1896, 1900, and 1908 presidential elections, although he lost every time. Both Bryan and Wilson were leaders of

11704-552: The applicability to the District of Columbia of provisions that cover state and local governments; limited the prohibition on state and local employees running for elective office to employees whose salary is paid completely by federal loans or grants. The Hatch Act does not apply to military members of the uniformed services of the United States , although it does apply to Department of Defense civil servants, as well as Department of Homeland Security civil servants in direct support of

11858-551: The appointment of WPA administrators and case workers and that they used WPA jobs to gain unfair political advantage. In 1938, a series of newspaper articles exposed WPA patronage, and political contributions in return for employment, prompting an investigation by the Senate Campaign Expenditures Committee, headed by Sen. Morris Sheppard , a Texas Democrat. Despite that investigation's inconclusive findings, many in both parties determined to take action against

12012-416: The artisan and the ordinary farmer – by ending federal support of banks and corporations and restricting the use of paper currency , which they distrusted. Their definition of the proper role of government tended to be negative, and Jackson's political power was largely expressed in negative acts. He exercised the veto more than all previous presidents combined. Jackson and his supporters also opposed reform as

12166-568: The assertion that "clean politics" required the act's restrictions: "it would hardly seem to be imperative to muzzle millions of citizens because some of them, if left to their constitutional freedoms, might corrupt the political process." In 1973, in a case brought by the National Association of Letter Carriers, a 6 to 3 decision found the act neither too broad nor unclear. The court's three most liberal justices, Douglas, William J. Brennan , and Thurgood Marshall , dissented. Douglas wrote: "It

12320-524: The bill into law in 1854. The Act opened Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory to a decision by the residents on whether slavery would be legal or not. Previously it had been illegal there. Thus the new law implicitly repealed the prohibition on slavery in territory north of 36° 30′ latitude that had been part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Supporters and enemies of slavery poured into Kansas to vote slavery up or down. The armed conflict

12474-539: The bill with 223 votes in favor (compared with 185 against). During the eight years (1965–1973) that Ford served as minority leader, he received many friends in the House because of his fair leadership and inoffensive personality. For the past decade, Ford had been unsuccessfully working to help Republicans across the country get a majority in the chamber so that he could become House Speaker . He promised his wife that he would try again in 1974 then retire in 1976. However, on October 10, 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned from

12628-548: The blame. The party polarized between the pro-gold pro-business Cleveland faction and the anti-business silverites in the West and South. A fierce struggle inside the party ensued, with catastrophic losses for both the Bourbon and agrarian factions in 1894, leading to the showdown in 1896. Just before the 1894 election, President Cleveland was warned by an advisor: Aided by the deep nationwide economic depression that lasted from 1893 to 1897,

12782-543: The blessing of the Ford family, it was placed back into circulation in 2012 as part of the Michigan Football Legends program and issued to sophomore linebacker Desmond Morgan before a home game against Illinois on October 13. Throughout life, Ford remained interested in his school and football; he occasionally attended games. Ford also visited with players and coaches during practices; at one point, he asked to join

12936-451: The boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach at Yale University and applied to its law school. Ford hoped to attend Yale Law School beginning in 1935. Yale officials at first denied his admission to the law school because of his full-time coaching responsibilities. He spent the summer of 1937 as a student at the University of Michigan Law School and was eventually admitted in the spring of 1938 to Yale Law School . That year he

13090-608: The carrier participated in many actions in the Pacific Theater with the Third and Fifth Fleets in late 1943 and 1944. In 1943, the carrier helped secure Makin Island in the Gilberts, and participated in carrier strikes against Kavieng , Papua New Guinea in 1943. During the spring of 1944, the Monterey supported landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok and participated in carrier strikes in

13244-444: The coercion of employees by their superiors and federal employee unions had supported the legislation. It passed the House on a vote of 241 to 164 and the Senate on a vote of 54 to 36. President Ford vetoed the legislation on April 12. He noted that coercion could be too subtle for the law to eliminate and that the Supreme Court had said in 1973 that the Hatch Act had achieved "a delicate balance between fair and effective government and

13398-527: The convention, including those on slavery, taxes, and the possibility of a central bank. Regarding slavery, the Convention adopted the following resolution: Resolved, That congress has no power under the Constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states, and that such states are the sole and proper judges of every thing appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by

13552-400: The enemy of individual liberty. The 1824 " corrupt bargain " had strengthened their suspicion of Washington politics. ... Jacksonians feared the concentration of economic and political power. They believed that government intervention in the economy benefited special-interest groups and created corporate monopolies that favored the rich. They sought to restore the independence of the individual –

13706-501: The factories where they worked. Ford also visited local farms where, in one instance, a wager resulted in Ford spending two weeks milking cows following his election victory. Ford was a member of the House of Representatives for 25 years, holding Michigan's 5th congressional district seat from 1949 to 1973. It was a tenure largely notable for its modesty. As an editorial in The New York Times described him, Ford "saw himself as

13860-469: The few states that remained under the control of Cleveland's allies. The opposition Democrats were close to controlling two-thirds of the vote at the 1896 national convention , which they needed to nominate their own candidate. However, they were not united and had no national leader, as Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld had been born in Germany and was ineligible to be nominated for president. However,

14014-404: The field. Students, players and alumni protested, but university officials capitulated and kept Ward out of the game. Ford was Ward's best friend on the team, and they roomed together while on road trips. Ford reportedly threatened to quit the team in response to the university's decision, but he eventually agreed to play against Georgia Tech when Ward personally asked him to play. In 1934, Ford

14168-541: The first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment . After the subsequent resignation of Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression , with growing inflation and a recession . In one of his most controversial acts, he granted a presidential pardon to Nixon for his role in

14322-639: The first session of the Eighty-ninth Congress alone, the Johnson Administration submitted 87 bills to Congress, and Johnson signed 84, or 96%, arguably the most successful legislative agenda in Congressional history. In 1966, criticism over the Johnson Administration's handling of the Vietnam War began to grow, with Ford and Congressional Republicans expressing concern that the United States

14476-496: The first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented. The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27. On December 6, the House confirmed Ford by a vote of 387 to 35. After the confirmation vote in the House, Ford took the oath of office as vice president. Ford became vice president as the Watergate scandal was unfolding. On August 1, 1974, Chief of Staff Alexander Haig contacted Ford to tell him to prepare for

14630-457: The floor of the House and questioned whether the White House had a clear plan to bring the war to a successful conclusion. The speech angered President Johnson, who accused Ford of having played "too much football without a helmet". As minority leader in the House, Ford appeared in a popular series of televised press conferences with Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen , in which they proposed Republican alternatives to Johnson's policies. Many in

14784-416: The following agencies (or agency components), or in the following categories, are subject to more extensive restrictions on their political activities than employees in other departments and agencies. Additionally, one of the early consequences of the act, were disparate court rulings in union busting cases which forbade the use of voter information from initiative and recall petitions for any purposes outside

14938-507: The growing power of the WPA and its chief administrator, Harry Hopkins , an intimate of President Franklin Roosevelt . The Act was sponsored by Senator Carl Hatch , a Democrat from New Mexico. At the time, Roosevelt was struggling to purge the Democratic Party of its more conservative members, who were increasingly aligned with the administration's Republican opponents. The president considered vetoing

15092-464: The head honcho of 434 other people and have the responsibility, aside from the achievement, of trying to run the greatest legislative body in the history of mankind ... I think I got that ambition within a year or two after I was in the House of Representatives". On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Ford to the Warren Commission , a special task force set up to investigate

15246-425: The incumbent Republican congressman. Military service had changed his view of the world. "I came back a converted internationalist ", Ford wrote, "and of course our congressman at that time was an avowed, dedicated isolationist . And I thought he ought to be replaced. Nobody thought I could win. I ended up winning two to one." During his first campaign in 1948, Ford visited voters at their doorsteps and as they left

15400-529: The infant Ford with her to Oak Park, Illinois , where her sister Tannisse and brother-in-law, Clarence Haskins James lived. From there, she moved to the home of her parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan . Gardner and King divorced in December 1913, and she gained full custody of her son. Ford's paternal grandfather paid child support until shortly before his death in 1930. Ford later said that his biological father had

15554-543: The intended elections. Federal employees are allowed to be candidates in non-partisan elections, meaning where no candidates are identified by political party. This type of election is used by most municipalities and school boards in the United States. They are also allowed to be independent candidates in partisan elections for offices of certain localities in the Washington metropolitan area and certain other localities where most voters are federal employees, as designated by

15708-555: The issue of slavery in the territories. When the new Republican Party formed in 1854, many anti-slavery ("Free Soil") Democrats in the North switched over and joined it. In 1860 two Democrats ran for president and the United States was moving rapidly toward civil war. The 1840s and 1850s were the heyday of a new faction of young Democrats called " Young America ". It was led by Stephen A. Douglas , James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce and New York financier August Belmont . This new faction broke with

15862-521: The key Whig bills. The Whigs disowned him. This allowed for the Democrats to retake power in 1845. Foreign policy was a major issue in the 1840s as war threatened with Mexico over Texas and with Britain over Oregon. Democrats strongly supported Manifest Destiny and most Whigs strongly opposed it. The 1844 election was a showdown, with the Democrat James K. Polk narrowly defeating Whig Henry Clay on

16016-714: The lead of the Fire-Eaters by walking out of the Democratic National Convention at Charleston 's Institute Hall in April 1860. They were later joined by those who, once again led by the Fire-Eaters, left the Baltimore Convention the following June when the convention rejected a resolution supporting extending slavery into territories whose voters did not want it. The Southern Democrats, also referred to as Seceders, nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky,

16170-765: The legislation or allowing it to become law without his signature, but instead signed it on the last day he could do so. His signing message welcomed the legislation as if he had called for it, and emphasized the protection his administration would provide for political expression on the part of public employees. The 1939 Act forbids the intimidation or bribery of voters and restricts political campaign activities by federal employees. It prohibits using any public funds designated for relief or public works for electoral purposes. It forbids officials paid with federal funds from using promises of jobs, promotion, financial assistance, contracts, or any other benefit to coerce campaign contributions or political support. It provides that persons below

16324-478: The members of the Young Turks was congressman Donald H. Rumsfeld from Illinois's 13th congressional district , who later on would serve in Ford's administration as the chief of staff and secretary of defense . With a Democratic majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Johnson Administration proposed and passed a series of programs that was called by Johnson the " Great Society ". During

16478-598: The necessity of a modern infrastructure with railroads, canals, telegraphs, turnpikes and harbors. They endorsed the " market revolution " and promoted capitalism . They called for Congressional land grants to the states, which allowed Democrats to claim that internal improvements were locally rather than federally sponsored. Young America claimed that modernization would perpetuate the agrarian vision of Jeffersonian democracy by allowing yeomen farmers to sell their products and therefore to prosper. They tied internal improvements to free trade , while accepting moderate tariffs as

16632-521: The official White House press release for the bill signing. The economic focus began to change as the country sank into the worst recession since the Great Depression four decades earlier. The focus of the Ford administration turned to stopping the rise in unemployment, which reached nine percent in May 1975. In January 1975, Ford proposed a 1-year tax reduction of $ 16 billion to stimulate economic growth, along with spending cuts to avoid inflation. Ford

16786-420: The only person to become the nation's chief executive without being elected to the presidency or the vice presidency. Immediately afterward, he spoke to the assembled audience in a speech that was broadcast live to the nation, noting the peculiarity of his position. He later declared that "our long national nightmare is over". On August 20, Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill

16940-541: The overwhelming northern opposition to equal rights for black men. When Whig Vice President Millard Fillmore replaced Taylor, Democrats in Congress led by Stephen Douglas passed the Compromise of 1850 designed to avoid civil war by putting the slavery issue to rest while resolving issues involving territories gained following the War with Mexico. However, in state after state the Democrats gained small but permanent advantages over

17094-435: The panel's activities. In the preface to his book, A Presidential Legacy and The Warren Commission , Ford defended the work of the commission and reiterated his support of its conclusions. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson led a landslide victory for his party, secured another term as president and took 36 seats from Republicans in the House of Representatives. Following the election, members of the Republican caucus looked to select

17248-416: The pardon, but later decided that history had proven Ford to have made the correct decision. On September 16 (shortly after he pardoned Nixon), Ford issued Presidential Proclamation 4313, which introduced a conditional amnesty program for military deserters and Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries such as Canada. The conditions of the amnesty required that those reaffirm their allegiance to

17402-622: The party from the early 1830s to the 1850s, shaping the Second Party System , with the Whig Party as the main opposition. After the disappearance of the Federalists after 1815 and the Era of Good Feelings (1816–1824), there was a hiatus of weakly organized personal factions until about 1828–1832, when the modern Democratic Party emerged along with its rival, the Whigs. The new Democratic Party became

17556-519: The party in the 1990s and early 2000s. He also set aside the enmity he had felt towards Carter following the 1976 election and the two former presidents developed a close friendship. After experiencing a series of health problems, he died in Rancho Mirage, California in 2006. Surveys of historians and political scientists have ranked Ford as a below-average president, though retrospective public polls on his time in office were more positive. Ford

17710-409: The party of the "common man", the early Democratic Party stood for individual rights and state sovereignty, and opposed banks and high tariffs. In the first decades of its existence, from 1832 to the mid-1850s (known as the Second Party System ), under Presidents Andrew Jackson , Martin Van Buren , and James K. Polk , the Democrats usually bested the opposition Whig Party by narrow margins. Before

17864-460: The party platforms, acceptance speeches of candidates, editorials, pamphlets and stump speeches , there was a widespread consensus of political values among Democrats. As a textbook coauthored by Mary Beth Norton explains: The Democrats represented a wide range of views but shared a fundamental commitment to the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society . They viewed the central government as

18018-685: The players in the huddle. Before state events, Ford often had the Navy band play the University of Michigan fight song, " The Victors ," instead of " Hail to the Chief ." Ford graduated from Michigan in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics . He turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . Instead, he took a job in September 1935 as

18172-439: The policy-making level in the executive branch of the federal government must not only refrain from political practices that would be illegal for any citizen, but must abstain from "any active part" in political campaigns, using this language to specify those who are exempt: The act also precludes federal employees from membership in "any political organization which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government",

18326-574: The position, even if the position is funded almost entirely with local funds. The Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) are responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act. The Supreme Court has several times declined to hear challenges to the act and has twice upheld its constitutionality. In a 1947 case brought by the CIO , a divided court found that Congress had properly exercised its authority as long as it had not affected voting rights. Justice William O. Douglas objected to

18480-484: The presidency. At the time, Ford and his wife, Betty, were living in suburban Virginia, waiting for their expected move into the newly designated vice president's residence in Washington, D.C. However, "Al Haig asked to come over and see me", Ford later said, "to tell me that there would be a new tape released on a Monday, and he said the evidence in there was devastating and there would probably be either an impeachment or

18634-409: The presidency. Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald terHorst resigned his post in protest after the pardon. According to Bob Woodward , Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig proposed a pardon deal to Ford. He later decided to pardon Nixon for other reasons, primarily the friendship he and Nixon shared. Regardless, historians believe the controversy was one of the major reasons Ford lost

18788-522: The press jokingly called this "The Ev and Jerry Show." Johnson said at the time, "Jerry Ford is so dumb he can't fart and chew gum at the same time." The press, used to sanitizing Johnson's salty language, reported this as "Gerald Ford can't walk and chew gum at the same time." After Richard Nixon was elected president in November 1968, Ford's role shifted to being an advocate for the White House agenda. Congress passed several of Nixon's proposals, including

18942-580: The pro-slavery incumbent vice president, for president and General Joseph Lane , former governor of Oregon, for vice president. The Northern Democrats proceeded to nominate Douglas of Illinois for president and former governor of Georgia Herschel Vespasian Johnson for vice president, while some southern Democrats joined the Constitutional Union Party , backing former Senator John Bell of Tennessee for president and politician Edward Everett of Massachusetts for vice president. This fracturing of

19096-428: The races after 1872 were very close they did not win the presidency until 1884 . The party was weakened by its record of opposition to the war, but nevertheless benefited from White Southerners ' resentment of Reconstruction and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. The nationwide depression of 1873 allowed the Democrats to retake control of the House in the 1874 Democratic landslide . The Redeemers gave

19250-515: The reforming Democratic Governor of New York, won the Presidency, a feat he repeated in 1892 , having lost in the election of 1888 . Cleveland was the leader of the Bourbon Democrats . They represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted laissez-faire capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. overseas expansion, opposed the annexation of Hawaii , fought for

19404-514: The results of an election. They are also forbidden to run for office in a partisan election, to solicit or receive political contributions, and to engage in political activities while on duty or on federal property. President Barack Obama signed the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012 on December 28, 2012. It modified penalties under the Hatch Act to allow for disciplinary actions in addition to removal for federal employees; clarified

19558-676: The same period, the Democrats proved more competitive with the Republicans in Congressional politics , enjoying House of Representatives majorities (as in the 65th Congress ) in 15 of the 36 Congresses elected owing largely to their dominance of the Solid South , although only in five of these they formed the majority in the Senate . Furthermore, the Democratic Party was split between the Bourbon Democrats , representing Eastern business interests, and

19712-631: The second Black man to serve in a presidential cabinet (after Robert C. Weaver ) and the first appointed in a Republican administration. Ford selected George H. W. Bush as Chief of the US Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China in 1974, and then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in late 1975. Ford's transition chairman and first Chief of Staff was former congressman and ambassador Donald Rumsfeld . In 1975, Rumsfeld

19866-416: The vice presidency he had vacated. Rockefeller's top competitor had been George H. W. Bush . Rockefeller underwent extended hearings before Congress, which caused embarrassment when it was revealed he made large gifts to senior aides, such as Henry Kissinger . Although conservative Republicans were not pleased that Rockefeller was picked, most of them voted for his confirmation, and his nomination passed both

20020-417: The vice presidency. According to The New York Times , Nixon "sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement." The advice was unanimous. House Speaker Carl Albert recalled later, "We gave Nixon no choice but Ford." Ford agreed to the nomination, telling his wife that the vice presidency would be "a nice conclusion" to his career. Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on October 12,

20174-480: The white farmer it was essential therefore to keep the soil "free"—that is without slavery. In 1852, with a less well known nominee than Van Buren, the free soil movement was much smaller, consisting primarily of former members of the Liberty Party and some abolitionists. It hedged on the question of full equality, as the majority wanted some form of racial separation to allow space for black activism without alienating

20328-486: Was Bleeding Kansas and it shook the nation. A major realignment took place among voters and politicians. The Whig Party fell apart and the new Republican Party was founded in opposition to the expansion of slavery and to the Kansas–Nebraska Act . The new party had little support in the South, but it soon became a majority in the North by pulling together former Whigs and former Free Soil Democrats. The crisis for

20482-516: Was Woodrow Wilson . Republican Benjamin Harrison won a narrow victory in 1888. The party pushed through a large agenda, and raised the McKinley Tariff and federal spending so high it was used against them as Democrats scored a landslide in the 1890 elections. Harrison was easily defeated for reelection in 1892 by Cleveland. The Bourbons were in power when the Panic of 1893 hit and they took

20636-401: Was President of the United States (1865–1869). Even Ford's former, reliably Republican House seat was won by a Democrat, Richard Vander Veen , who defeated Robert VanderLaan . In the Senate elections , the Democratic majority became 61 in the 100-seat body. The economy was a great concern during the Ford administration. One of the first acts the new president took to deal with the economy

20790-480: Was a belief that controlling inflation would help reduce unemployment. To rein in inflation, it was necessary to control the public's spending. To try to mesh service and sacrifice, "WIN" called for Americans to reduce their spending and consumption. On October 4, 1974, Ford gave a speech in front of a joint session of Congress; as a part of this speech he kicked off the "WIN" campaign. Over the next nine days, 101,240 Americans mailed in "WIN" pledges. In hindsight, this

20944-514: Was also promoted to the position of junior varsity head football coach at Yale. While at Yale, Ford began working as a model. He initially worked with the John Robert Powers agency before investing in the Harry Conover agency, with whom he modelled until 1941. While attending Yale Law School, Ford joined a group of students led by R. Douglas Stuart Jr. , and signed a petition to enforce

21098-690: Was assigned to the Athletic Department until April 1945. From the end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois , at the rank of lieutenant commander . Ford received the following military awards: the American Campaign Medal , the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine 3 ⁄ 16 " bronze stars (for operations in

21252-538: Was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska , where his parents lived with his paternal grandparents. He was the only child of Dorothy Ayer Gardner and Leslie Lynch King Sr. , a wool trader. His paternal grandfather was banker and businessman Charles Henry King , and his maternal grandfather was Illinois politician and businessman Levi Addison Gardner . Ford's parents separated just sixteen days after his birth and his mother took

21406-467: Was criticized for abruptly switching from advocating a tax increase to a tax reduction. In Congress, the proposed amount of the tax reduction increased to $ 22.8 billion in tax cuts and lacked spending cuts. In March 1975, Congress passed, and Ford signed into law, these income tax rebates as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 . This resulted in a federal deficit of around $ 53 billion for

21560-522: Was gaining strength. The most intense anti-war elements were the Copperheads. The Democratic Party did well in the 1862 congressional elections , but in 1864 it nominated General George McClellan (a War Democrat) on a peace platform and lost badly because many War Democrats bolted to National Union candidate Abraham Lincoln. Many former Douglas Democrats became Republicans, especially soldiers such as generals Ulysses S. Grant and John A. Logan . In

21714-526: Was in the pro-slavery South), split the party on the issue of slavery in Kansas when he attempted to pass a federal slave code as demanded by the South. Most Democrats in the North rallied to Senator Douglas, who preached " Popular Sovereignty " and believed that a Federal slave code would be undemocratic. In 1860 , the Democrats split over the choice of a successor to President Buchanan along Northern and Southern lines. Some Southern Democratic delegates followed

21868-604: Was involved in the Boy Scouts of America , and earned that program's highest rank, Eagle Scout . He is the only Eagle Scout to have ascended to the U.S. presidency. Ford attended Grand Rapids South High School, where he was a star athlete and captain of the football team. In 1930, he was selected to the All-City team of the Grand Rapids City League . He also attracted the attention of college recruiters. Ford attended

22022-439: Was known for its populism. Historian Frank Towers has specified an important ideological divide: Democrats stood for the 'sovereignty of the people' as expressed in popular demonstrations, constitutional conventions, and majority rule as a general principle of governing, whereas Whigs advocated the rule of law, written and unchanging constitutions, and protections for minority interests against majority tyranny. At its inception,

22176-514: Was named by Ford as the youngest-ever Secretary of Defense . Ford chose a young Wyoming politician, Richard Cheney , to replace Rumsfeld as his new Chief of Staff; Cheney became the campaign manager for Ford's 1976 presidential campaign . The 1974 Congressional midterm elections took place in the wake of the Watergate scandal and less than three months after Ford assumed office. The Democratic Party turned voter dissatisfaction into large gains in

22330-444: Was not doing what was necessary to win the war. Public sentiment also began to move against Johnson, and the 1966 midterm elections produced a 47-seat swing in favor of the Republicans. This was not enough to give Republicans a majority in the House, but the victory gave Ford the opportunity to prevent the passage of further Great Society programs. Ford's private criticism of the Vietnam War became public knowledge after he spoke from

22484-510: Was one of 83 instructors and taught elementary navigation skills, ordnance, gunnery, first aid, and military drill. In addition, he coached all nine sports that were offered, but mostly swimming, boxing, and football. During the year he was at the Preflight School, he was promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade , on June 2, 1942, and to lieutenant, in March 1943. After Ford applied for sea duty, he

22638-488: Was papered over at the 1852 and 1856 conventions by selecting men who had little involvement in sectionalism, but they made matters worse. Historian Roy F. Nichols explains why Franklin Pierce was not up to the challenges a Democratic president had to face: In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois—a key Democratic leader in the Senate—pushed the Kansas–Nebraska Act through Congress. President Franklin Pierce signed

22792-694: Was selected for the Eastern Team in the Shriners' East–West Shrine Game at San Francisco (a benefit for physically disabled children), played on January 1, 1935. As part of the 1935 Collegiate All-Star football team, Ford played against the Chicago Bears in the Chicago College All-Star Game at Soldier Field . In honor of his athletic accomplishments and his later political career, the University of Michigan retired Ford's No. 48 jersey in 1994. With

22946-401: Was sent in May 1943 to the pre-commissioning detachment for the new aircraft carrier USS  Monterey  (CVL-26) , at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey . From the ship's commissioning on June 17, 1943, until the end of December 1944, Ford served as the assistant navigator, Athletic Officer, and antiaircraft battery officer on board the Monterey . While he was on board,

23100-494: Was the 38th president of the United States , serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party , Ford assumed the presidency after President Richard Nixon resigned, under whom he had served as the 40th vice president from 1973 to 1974. Prior to that, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973. Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan . He attended

23254-446: Was the first at which the party adopted a platform. Delegates reaffirmed their belief that the Constitution was the primary guide for each state's political affairs. To them, this meant that all roles of the federal government not specifically defined fell to each respective state government, including such responsibilities as debt created by local projects. Decentralized power and states' rights pervaded each and every resolution adopted at

23408-519: Was to create, by Executive Order on September 30, 1974, the Economic Policy Board. In October 1974, in response to rising inflation, Ford went before the American public and asked them to " W hip I nflation N ow". As part of this program, he urged people to wear " WIN " buttons. At the time, inflation was believed to be the primary threat to the economy, more so than growing unemployment; there

23562-437: Was viewed as simply a public relations gimmick which had no way of solving the underlying problems. The main point of that speech was to introduce to Congress a one-year, five-percent income tax increase on corporations and wealthy individuals. This plan would also take $ 4.4 billion out of the budget, bringing federal spending below $ 300 billion. At the time, inflation was over twelve percent. The federal budget ran

23716-633: Was weakest in New England , but strong everywhere else and won most national elections thanks to strength in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia (by far the most populous states at the time) and the American frontier . Democrats opposed elites and aristocrats, the Bank of the United States and the whiggish modernizing programs that would build up industry at the expense of the yeoman or independent small farmer. The party

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