To The Point: 50 years since Gerald R. Ford became president

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — 2024 marks 50 years since Gerald R. Ford became president of the United States.

Two days after Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president on Oct. 10, 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated Ford as vice president — the first named under the 25th Amendment. When the Senate voted 92-3 on Nov. 27, 1973 and the House voted 387-35 on Dec. 6, 1973, they weren’t just voting for the next vice president. They were voting for the man who would replace Nixon when he stepped down the following year.

“…(Congress) understood that Nixon was in a nosedive … Let’s remember we’re talking about October to December of 1973. And by the following August 8th, Nixon went on TV, we all remember that date, it’s one of those dates that live in infamy for us and our memories when Nixon gets on TV and says, ‘Tomorrow, I am resigning,'” Gleaves Whitney, the executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, said.

We look back and ahead at the 50 anniversary of Gerald R. Ford’s accession to the presidency on this “To The Point” for the weekend of Dec. 30, 2023.

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