page_title: Presidency of Gerald Ford
section_title: Foreign affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Presidency of Gerald Ford / Foreign affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: This photograph depicts President Ford making remarks at a Reciprocal Dinner in honor of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Official Party that he and First Lady Betty Ford hosted in the Peking Room of the Great Hall of the People.
context_page_description: The presidency of Gerald Ford began on August 9, 1974, when Gerald Ford became President of the United States upon the resignation of Richard Nixon from office, and ended on January 20, 1977, a period of 895 days. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had served as Vice President of the United States since December 6, 1973, following Spiro Agnew's resignation from that office. The 38th United States president, Ford has the distinction of being the first, and to date the only person to serve as president without being elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. His presidency ended following his defeat in the 1976 presidential election by Democrat Jimmy Carter.
  Ford took office in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and in the final stages of the Vietnam War, both of which engendered a new disillusion in American political institutions. Ford's first major act upon taking office was to grant a presidential pardon to Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, prompting a major backlash to Ford's presidency. He also created a conditional clemency program for Vietnam War draft dodgers.
caption: Ford makes remarks at a Reciprocal Dinner in Beijing on December 4, 1975.
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