Post-presidency of Gerald Ford lasting negative impact of Ford's participation with business boards: "He sold what they were buying, which was the prestige of the presidency. As a result, it has less and less." Post-presidency of Gerald Ford Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. After his tenure's end, Ford was active in the public sphere, traveling, writing a memoir, and voicing his opinion about contemporary issues within the United States and abroad. The Nixon pardon controversy eventually subsided. Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, opened his 1977 inaugural address by praising the outgoing President, saying, "For myself
Inauguration of Gerald Ford presidency was established in 1789, it was the first to take place because the incumbent had resigned from office. Ford had become Vice President on December 6, 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Thus, when he succeeded Nixon, Ford became the first (and to date only) person to have held both the office of Vice President and President without having been elected to either. In a televised Oval Office speech on August 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon, who was facing impeachment proceedings