1913 - 2006
Gerald Ford
We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart. Remarks in Helsinki
Overview
Gerald R. Ford became President of the United States on August 9, 1974, under extraordinary circumstances. Owing to the Watergate scandal, Ford's predecessor, Richard Nixon, had resigned under the threat of congressional impeachment. Ford assumed leadership of a nation whose domestic economy and international prestige—both seemingly sound in the decades after World War II—had deteriorated considerably. Just as important, Watergate, as well as the debacle of the Vietnam War, had profoundly shaken the American public's confidence in its leaders. Gerald Ford stepped into the breach opened up by these converging dynamics and achieved mixed results in addressing the twin problems of economic and geopolitical decline.
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1974-10-08
“Whip Inflation Now” Speech
President Ford addresses Congress on his proposal to improve the economy and the tax increase at the center of that proposal. The speech became famous for the "Whip Inflation Now" or "WIN" program that Ford unveiled that evening.