Gerald R. Ford Boyhood Home - Grand Rapids, MI
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S5280ft
N 42° 57.040 W 085° 39.249
16T E 609786 N 4756215
The boyhood home of the only U.S. Presdent that was not voted into the Presidency or Vice-Presidency. Located on the west side of the one-way/northbound Union Avenue, between Pleasant and Thomas Streets. Streetside parking available.
Waymark Code: WM22V1
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 08/25/2007
Views: 94
From the Michigan Historical Marker on-site:
GERALD R. FORD BOYHOOD HOME
Gerald R. Ford, the thirty-eighth president of the U.S., lived here from age 8 to 17 (1921-1930). Of all his boyhood homes, Ford remembered this one most vividly. In his autobiography, Ford recalled that he and his friends used the garage behind the house as a social club. "We learned to play penny-ante poker . . . it was a great hideaway because my parents wouldn't climb the ladder to get to the second floor--or so I thought." Ford served Grand Rapids in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1949-1973.
PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD
In 1973 President Richard M. Nixon nominated Congressman Gerald R. Ford vice president. He was confirmed by a vote of the House and Senate. Upon Nixon's resignation in 1974 because of Watergate, Ford ascended to the presidency. At his inauguration Ford said, "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." Ford ran for reelection in 1976, and was narrowly defeated by Jimmy Carter.
President Name: Gerald R. Ford
Birth Place?: no
Term Of Office: 8/9/1974 - 1/20/1977
Date of Birth: 7/14/1913 in Omaha, Nebraska
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