Gerald R. Ford (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription on this trailside historical marker:

Gerald R. Ford
Thirty-Eighth President of the United States
— Alexandria Resident 1951-1974 —

Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford and his family lived in Alexandria for 23 years before he became President. The Fords moved to Park Fairfax in 1951, when he was in his second term in Congress (R-Michigan). The family moved into a new house at 514 Crown View Drive in the Clover-College Park Drive neighborhood in 1955. They remained there through Mr. Ford's twelfth term in Congress and his subsequent Vice Presidential appointment by President Richard Nixon as Vice President on December 6, 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. Nine months later, on August 9, 1974, Mr. Ford became President of the United States following the resignation of Richard Nixon. The Fords lived on Crown View Drive for the first ten days of his Presidency.

President Ford died on December 26, 2006, at the age of 93. In honor of his years in Alexandria, the funeral motorcade passed through the City en route to the U.S. Capitol while hundreds of Alexandrians lined Washington Street to say farewell to one of their most famous residents.

"I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only for our government, but civilization itself."
—Remarks by Gerald R. Ford on being sworn in as President of the United States, August 9, 1974

Erected by City of Alexandria.

EDITOR'S NOTE: At President Gerald R. Ford Park, the marker is on the reverse of the park sign.