Gerald R. Ford
Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.was an American politician who served as the 38th President of the United States from 1974 to 1977. Prior to this he was the 40th Vice President of the United States, serving from 1973 until President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew on October 10, 1973. Becoming president upon Richard Nixon's departure on...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionUS President
Date of Birth14 July 1913
CountryUnited States of America
Gerald R. Ford quotes about
Our constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws, not of men.
Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try.
In a political sense, there is one problem that currently underlies all of the others. That problem is making Government sufficiently responsive to the people. If we don't make government responsive to the people, we don't make it believable. And we must make government believable if we are to have a functioning democracy.
Truth is the glue that holds government together.
I am committed to furthering the self-determination of Indian communities but without terminating the special relationship between the Federal Government and the Indian people. I am strongly opposed to termination. Self-determination means that you can decide the nature of your tribe's relationship with the Federal Government within the framework of the Self-Determination Act, which I signed in January of 1975.
The Declaration [of Independence] was not a protest against government, but against the excess of government. It prescribed the proper role of government, to secure the rights of individuals and to effect their safety and happiness. In modern society, no individual can do this alone. So government is not a necessary evil but a necessary good.
I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.
We must introduce a new balance in the relationship between the individual and the government--a balance that favors greater individual freedom and self-reliance.
In a democracy, the public has a right to know not only what the government decides, but why and by what process.
Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.
I believe in friendly compromise. I said over in the Senate hearings that truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.
Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life.
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government, but civilization itself.
I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.