EDUCATORS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Gerald R . Ford Presidential Library and Museum
Childhood photograph of Gerald R . Ford , Jr . ( then Leslie Lynch King , Jr .), 1916 .
Photograph of 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha , Nebraska , birthplace of Gerald R . Ford , Jr .
National Archives and Records Administration aging parents . In Grand Rapids , she met Gerald R . Ford , a young paint salesman , at a church social . The two were married in 1916 . Ford raised Dorothy ’ s child as his own and was by all accounts a model father . He even gave him his name , Gerald R . Ford , Jr . The Fords were a workingclass family who suffered several financial setbacks . During the post-WWI recession , Ford , Sr . lost his job and the family home . He started the Ford Varnish and Paint Company in 1929 just before the stock market crashed . Although the business survived , the Great Depression put a severe crimp in the Ford family ’ s finances .
Young Gerald Ford , Jr ., the grandson of a wealthy western entrepreneur , endured his family ’ s financial problems and grew up valuing hard work . As a teenager , Ford worked the lunch hour at Bill Skougis ’ s Dairy Shoppe across from his high school . He first met his biological father at Bill ’ s when King unexpectedly walked through the door and told Ford , “ I ’ m Leslie King , your father .” King , his wife and daughter were driving back to Wyoming from
Detroit in their newly purchased Lincoln automobile . 6 King took Ford out to lunch , where they engaged in superficial conversation . At the end of the meal , King gave Ford $ 25 and told him to buy something he “ couldn ’ t afford otherwise .” Although Ford had known since he was 12 years old that Gerald Ford , Sr . was not his biological father , he did not know anything about Leslie King , and the incident at Bill ’ s disturbed him . He would not see his biological father again for several years .
After high school , Ford attended the University of Michigan , where he played center for the Wolverine football team . Full-ride football scholarships and lucrative NIL contracts did not exist in the 1930s . Instead , Ford worked two part-time jobs and relied on support from friends and family to pay his college expenses . During his senior year , Ford was hired as the house manager and elected treasurer of his fraternity , DΚΕ . The Great Depression and the irresponsibility of past fraternity leaders had left DΚΕ properties in disrepair and the fraternity ’ s finances in shambles . To his great credit , Ford spearheaded repairs to the facilities and returned the fraternity ’ s finances to sound footing .
Ford graduated from the University of Michigan in 1935 . The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions both offered Ford $ 200 per game to play professional football , but Ford had already decided to pursue a law degree at Yale University , where he would also work as an assistant football coach and head boxing coach . At first , the law school would not allow him into the program because of his demanding work schedule . Ford eventually persuaded them to let him try some classes while working , and when he successfully completed those classes , they accepted him into the law school . Ford received his law degree in 1941 .
After his first year at Yale , Ford got a job as a summer park ranger at Yellowstone National Park . While he was in Wyoming , Ford visited the King ranch in Riverton , where he met his stepbrothers and sister . According to Ford biographer Richard Norton Smith , “ What he saw there — a comfortable home , extensive irrigated ranch
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