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
USS Gerald R. Ford named the USS "Gerald Ford"." The final version signed by President George W. Bush on 17 October 2006 declared only that it "is the sense of Congress that ... CVN-78 should be named the U.S.S. "Gerald R. Ford"." Since such "sense of" language is typically non-binding and does not carry the force of law, the Navy was not required to name the ship after Ford. On 3 January 2007, former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that the aircraft carrier would be named after Ford during a eulogy for President Ford at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand