Gerald Ford judicial appointment controversies Gerald Ford judicial appointment controversies During President Gerald Ford's presidency, he nominated two people for two different federal appellate judgeships who were not processed by the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee before Ford's presidency ended. Neither of the two nominees was renominated by Ford's successor, President Jimmy Carter. Both nominees were nominated after July 1, 1976, the traditional start date of the unofficial Thurmond Rule during a presidential election year. Both seats eventually were filled by appointees of President Jimmy Carter. The two nominees were blocked in committee; no committee hearings ever were held for either one. According to an October
Gerald Ford a member of the Ford administration, wrote that the separation and divorce of Ford's parents were sparked when, a few days after Ford's birth, Leslie King took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife, his infant son, and Ford's nursemaid. Ford later told confidants that his father had first hit his mother when she smiled at another man during their honeymoon. After living with her parents for two-and-a-half years, Gardner married Gerald Rudolff Ford on February 1, 1916. Gerald was a salesman in a family-owned paint and varnish company. They now called her son Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr.