GERALD FORD (R) - 1974-1977
The 38th president wasn't much more than a place-holder in history, someone to oversee the transfer of power when Nixon resigned, but Ford is the only president to ever serve who never elected as president or vice-president. His pardoning of Nixon also wound up being a sticking point that cost him his re-election.
He wasn't an unknown; he'd served as House Minority Leader before Nixon called on him to replace Spiro Agnew. He wasn't trusted by the right-wing of his party and narrowly escaped losing the Republican nomination to Ronald Reagan.
Ford tried to fight inflation but never really passed any successful initiatives. In Vietnam, Nixon had promised South Vietnam that the US would support them if the North invaded again, but when they invaded on Ford's watch, Congress denied him military aid. South Vietnam fell and Ford declared the Vietnam War over "as far as America is concerned."
He barely lost to Jimmy Carter. I think history has shown the Nixon pardon was the right move, but it cut him off at the knees to be able to accomplish anything else
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