38th United States President, 40th United States Vice President, US Congressman. Born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska, his mother divorced his father the following year and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she remarried to Gerald R. Ford. The young boy's name was then changed to Gerald R. Ford, Jr. He graduated from the University of Michigan and Yale Law School, and served in United States Navy during World War II. In 1948 he married Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer, and was elected as a Republican to represent Michigan’s 5th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1949 to 1973. He became House Minority leader in 1965, and was a member of the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Appointed Vice President by President Richard M. Nixon in 1973 after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, he became President of the United States when Nixon resigned in 1974 as a result of the Watergate scandal. He sought election to a full term in 1976 but was defeated by Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in a close election. He passed away at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.