Inauguration of Gerald Ford

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The inauguration of Gerald Ford as the 38th president of the United States was held on Friday, August 9, 1974, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., after President Richard Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal. The inauguration – the most recent non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration and the last of this kind to take place in the 20th century – marked the commencement of the only term (a partial term of 2 years, 164 days) of Ford as president. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger administered the oath of office. The Bible upon which Ford recited the oath was held by his wife, Betty Ford, open to Proverbs 3:5–6. Ford was the ninth vice president to succeed to the presidency intra-term, and he remains the most recent to do so, as of 2026. Although this was the ninth, non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to take place since the presidency was established in 1789, it was the first to take place due to a resignation of a president; the previous eight had been occasioned...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Robert L. Knudsen, White House Press Office., Public domain