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| Ex-US President Gerald Ford dies | Ex-US President Gerald Ford dies |
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| Former US President Gerald Ford has died aged 93, his wife, former First Lady Betty Ford has said. | Former US President Gerald Ford has died aged 93, his wife, former First Lady Betty Ford has said. |
| Last month Gerald Ford had become the longest-living US president when he passed 93 years and 121 days, the record held by Ronald Reagan. | Last month Gerald Ford had become the longest-living US president when he passed 93 years and 121 days, the record held by Ronald Reagan. |
| Mr Ford, born in Omaha, Nebraska, was the only unelected US president - taking office after Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate in 1974. | Mr Ford, born in Omaha, Nebraska, was the only unelected US president - taking office after Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate in 1974. |
| Mr Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. | Mr Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. |
| His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country Betty Ford href="/1/hi/world/americas/863634.stm" class="">Gerald Ford: Obituary | |
| Gerald Ford lived with Betty, 88, at Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles (210km) east of Los Angeles in southern California. | |
| The former president suffered ill health this year and was taken to hospital four times for tests and angioplasty. He suffered a stroke in 2000. | The former president suffered ill health this year and was taken to hospital four times for tests and angioplasty. He suffered a stroke in 2000. |
| A statement from Betty Ford said: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, has passed away at 93 years of age." | |
| Vietnam War | |
| Gerald Ford had risen from obscurity to become Richard Nixon's vice-president in 1973, when Spiro Agnew resigned amid corruption charges. | |
| Mr Ford then succeeded to the top office when Nixon became embroiled in Watergate. | |
| Mr Ford declared the "national nightmare" of the Nixon scandal over but soon after he granted his former boss a pardon for any crimes committed as president. | |
| Analysts believe in the short term it may have cost him the 1976 election, but in the long term the decision was more praised. | |
| Mr Ford was in office as the US accepted its defeat in the Vietnam War, with the fall of Saigon in April 1975. | |
| He said it was time to "bind up the nation's wounds". | |
| If you have any comments on the legacy of Gerald Ford, please use the form below | |