Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King) (1913 – 2006) was the 38th President of the United States. A star football player in college, he turned down contract offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. He became president upon Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. Under Ford, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Three future Republican "superstars" served in the Ford administration: Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense), Dick Cheney (Chief of Staff), and George H.W. Bush (Director of the CIA). One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. Ford faced two assassination attempts during his presidency. Following an incident in 1975 when he tripped while exiting the presidential jet in Austria, Ford acquired a reputation for clumsiness, and was famously and repetitively parodied by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live.
