Quote: "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over", unquote, US President Gerald Ford, on Watergate.
I
Gerald Ford attended the Delta Kappa Epsilon campus.
Despite offers to play pro football, he studied at Michigan Law School, then Yale Law School during the late 1930's, at the height of WWII.
Ford worked for Republican Wendell Lewis Willkie, (/ˈwɛndəl ˈluːɨs ˈwɪlki/;[1] February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944); Willkie lost to Roosevelt. Despite his failure to seve his country, it was up to Ford to pave his own future...but after everyone got rid of the SS in Europe.
***
II
By 1941, Ford and his law partner Philip William Buchen, (February 27, 1916 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin – May 21, 2001 in Washington, D.C.), had their own law office in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
As the war progressed, Ford served the US Military until the end.
Ford was a US Naval Reserve Ensign. He first entered the War on April 13, 1942, aged 27. He served from June 17, 1943-December, 1944...Four months before the end of WWII. Ford had victories in Makin Island, and in the Philippines in Asia.
And further battles by the Third and Fourth Fleets in the Marianas; Western Carolines; as well as the Northern New Guinea regions, were successful, US military campaigns.
Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., GBE (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959), (who Ford served under), fought the Japanese.
But, during a typhoon, the Monterey suffered severe damage. And, because of the fire, he told Captain Stuart Ingersoll, and they headed to the Ulithi Atoll; by December 24, 1944, (Christmas Eve), it was repaired in Bremerton, Washington, DC.
Ford then attended The Navy Pre-Flight School, (Saint Mary's College of California); Ford then was transferred to The Athletic Department where he coached football, (April, 1945), at the height of WWII; Ford worked there a short time, (April 1945-January, 1946); Ford was a staff member at the Naval Reserve Training Command, (Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois); by October 3, 1945, Ford got a promotion to Lieutenant-Commander of the US Navy.
By January, 1946, Ford's career ended.
He was told of the decision when he arrived at The Separation Center, (Great Lakes). By February 23, 1946, Ford was honourably discharged; by June 28, 1946, (four months later), Ford officially left when the US Secretary to the Navy, let him go.
Ford received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; the Philippine Liberation Medal, (that had two bronze stars for courage); and the American Campaign; and World War II Victory Medals, for services in the War all over the World, (and at home in America).
***
III
On October 15, 1948, Ford married Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren "Betty" Ford, (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011); Ford, who was a famous dancer, and previously engaged, was famous for her strong views on gun control; abortion; and drug and alcohol dependence. She founded The Betty Ford Center.
IV
Shortly after his marriage, Ford entered the 1948 US Election with a sense of purpose. He was up against the unpopular Grand Rapids, Michigan, Republican Congressman Bartel John Jonkman (April 28, 1884 – June 13, 1955); Jonkman who was a prosecutor, (Kent County), (1915-20), and a senior Prosecuting Attorney, (1929-36), before heading into politics.
YOU ARE READING
The Gerald Ford Files (Book V)
Non-FictionAfter the death of President LBJ, President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew take over The White House by the late 1960's to mid 1970's. But, with controversy over Nixon's hatred of the Kennedy's still burning, he resorted to criminal behavior t...
