User:Chiacomo/Prepared articles

In an effort to create some prepared articles and keep them from the main page, I've started this page! I'll not create seperate pages for each article -- only a seperate section.

Gerald Ford Obit
Former United States President Gerald Ford died Thursday afternoon at his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- he was 92. Ford is only one of two presidents ever to be appointed rather than elected. He was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States following the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. Ford mounted a unsuccesful re-election bid for the presidency in 1976.

Gerald Ford had been a prominent politican from Grand Rapids, Michigan before his appointment to the vice-presidency -- he served in the United States House of Representatives for 24 years and acted as minority leader. He was appointed Vice President of the United States following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.

Ford's presidency was largely marked by his pardon of former President Nixon -- many feel this pardon cost him the 1976 election. Ford also attempted to tackle inflation (at the time, only a modest 7%) with a public relations campaign centered on "WIN" (whip inflation now) button. Ford's presidency also saw the final United States evacuation of Vietnam.

Once one of the most active former Presidents, in recent years Ford was perceived as becoming increasingly frail. He did not attend, for the first time since becoming active in national politics, the Republican National Convention in 2004. He also did not attend the inaguration of the President George Bush in 2005 -- former President Bill Clinton indicated in an interview with Larry King that Ford was increasingly uncomfortable flying.

Sources:
 * Wikipedia: Gerald Ford