Timeline of the Gerald Ford presidency (1974)

The following is a timeline of the Presidency of Gerald Ford from August 9, 1974, when Ford became 38th president of the United States, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon, to December 31, 1974.

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August
The swearing in of President Gerald Ford by Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger
  • August 9 – Gerald Ford takes the oath of office as president, administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger, in the East Room of the White House. Immediately afterward, he speaks to the assembled audience in a speech broadcast live to the nation.[1] Ford notes the peculiarity of his position, saying "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers."[2] He also declares, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice, but mercy. ... let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and hate."[3] This remains the most recent non-scheduled presidential inauguration in American history.
  • August 9 – Following the swearing-in ceremony, President Ford meets with Congressional leaders, senior White House staff, transition advisers, senior economic advisers, and foreign emissaries.
  • August 9 – Jerald terHorst is appointed to serve as President Ford's White House Press Secretary.
  • August 12 – President Ford addresses a Joint session of the United States Congress. He states, "I do not want a honeymoon with you. I want a good marriage." He also states his first priority is to bring inflation under control, declaring it "public enemy number one."
  • August 15–18 – President Ford hosts King Hussein of Jordan. He is the first foreign head of state to be received by President Ford.[4]
  • August 19 – President Ford delivers a major speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Chicago, supporting earned clemency for Vietnam War draft evaders.
  • August 19 – Rodger Davies, the United States Ambassador to Cyprus, along with Antoinette Varnavas, an embassy secretary, and a Greek Cypriot national are killed by sniper fire during an anti-American demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia,[5] protesting against the failure of the U.S. to stop the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[6] Afterwards, the U.S. government quickly sends his replacement, Ambassador to Yemen William R. Crawford, in order to demonstrate that "it was not blaming Greek-Cypriot authorities for the murder".[7]
  • August 20 – President Ford nominates Nelson Rockefeller, former Governor of New York, to be vice president.
  • August 22 – President Ford signs the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
  • August 28 – President Ford holds his first press conference as President. Many of the questions concern unresolved issues surrounding Watergate.

September
  • September 8 – President Ford issues a proclamation which grants former president Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while President.[8] The surprise announcement stuns the country and Ford's approval rating plummets in the polls. Press Secretary Jerald terHorst resigns in protest after the pardon. Full text 
  • September 16 – President Ford issues a proclamation announcing an amnesty program for Vietnam Era draft evaders and military deserters who return home. The conditions of the amnesty required the individual to reaffirm their allegiance to 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.[9][10] A Clemency Board was established to review personnel records and to make recommendations for receiving a Presidential Pardon and a change in Military discharge status.
  • September 26–28 – First Lady Betty Ford is diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes surgery.
WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button
  • September 27–28 – The White House convenes a "summit conference" on inflation and the economy. President Ford closes the conference with an address to the American people, asking them to send him a list of ten inflation-reducing ideas.[11]

October
President Ford appears at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing regarding his pardon of Richard Nixon

November
  • November 1 – Ford meets with an ailing Richard Nixon in a Long Beach, California hospital.
  • November 5 – Republicans lose 40 seats in the House and 4 in the Senate, widening the Democratic majority in Congress during the 1974 midterm elections.
Gerald Ford with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Vladivostok, U.S.S.R., November 24, 1974.

December

See also
U.S. presidential administration timelines
Preceded by
Nixon presidency (1974)		 Ford presidency (1974) Succeeded by
Ford presidency (1975)

References
  1. "Gerald R. Ford's Remarks Upon Taking the Oath of Office as President". The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. August 9, 1974. Retrieved November 18, 2010. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Remarks By President Gerald Ford On Taking the Oath Of Office As President". Watergate.info. 1974. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
  3. Ford, Gerald R. (August 9, 1974). "Gerald R. Ford's Remarks on Taking the Oath of Office as President". Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  4. "Visits By Foreign Leaders in 1974". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  5. "U.S. ambassador killed on Cyprus". Boca Raton News. Nicosia. 19 August 1974.
  6. Nick Carbone (September 12, 2012). "Before Libya: U.S. Ambassadors Who Have Died in the Line of Duty". Time.
  7. "Cyprus: Looking for Paradise Lost". Time. September 2, 1974.
  8. "Ford Pardons Nixon - Events of 1974 - Year in Review". UPI.com. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  9. Hunter, Marjorie (September 16, 1974). "Ford Offers Amnesty Program Requiring 2 Years Public Work; Defends His Pardon Of Nixon". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  10. "Gerald R. Ford: Proclamation 4313 - Announcing a Program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters". ucsb.edu.
  11. "WIN is losing". Washington Post. Dec 20, 1974. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  12. "Ford Testimony on Nixon Pardon - C-SPAN Video Library". C-spanvideo.org. October 17, 1974. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  13. "Sitting presidents and vice presidents who have testified before congressional committees" (PDF). Senate.gov. 2004. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  14. "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  15. "Arms Control Summits". PSR.org. Physicians for Social Responsibility. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  16. United States. Safe Drinking Water Act. Pub.L. 93–523; 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq. 1974-12-16.
  17. Rippeteau, Jane (December 18, 1974). "President Lights the National Christmas Tree". The Washington Post.
  18. "White House Christmas Cards & Messages of the Presidents of the United States: Christmas Cards & Messages from Gerald Ford (1974-1977)". Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  19. "Gerald R. Ford: Remarks at American Freedom Train Ceremonies in Alexandria, Virginia". The American Presidency Project. December 19, 1974. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
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