Inside the Chaotic Early Days of Gerald Ford’s Presidency

The American Vice President | Article

The country's 38th president couldn't even move into the White House

September 10, 2024

A two-story brick house with white shutters and a large bed of ivy in front. — The Fords moved into this 7-room house in Alexandria in 1955. Photo courtesy Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

For 10 unprecedented days in 1974, the “White House” was an unassuming colonial home in Alexandria, Virginia. Everything about presidential life that year had been unprecedented, however. On August 9, 1974, Gerald Ford—who had only been vice president for eight months—was sworn in as the country’s 38th president, following Nixon’s resignation in the wake of Watergate.

Four adults walk down a red carpet on the White House lawn. Ford and Nixon flank their wives. Both men are wearing suits, Betty Ford is in a blue skirt suit and Pat Nixon is in a pink skirt suit. The women are arm in arm. — President Ford and First Lady Betty Ford walk Richard and Pat Nixon to their departure via helicopter from the White House. Photo courtesy Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

Nixon’s ouster had come about so quickly that he and his wife hadn’t even had time to move their things out of the White House. The newly installed President Ford and First Lady Betty found themselves unable to move in to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; so in the interim, they kept living in the modest suburban house at 514 Crown View Drive where they’d raised their four children.

Two adults, three young children, and one infant sit at a small circular round table in a modest, wood-paneled room. Mrs. Ford helps the toddler in a highchair next to her drink from a glass. — Then-congressman Gerald Ford and his wife Betty sit in the dining room of the Ford residence at 514 Crown View Drive, Alexandria, VA in 1958. Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

The morning after Ford was sworn in, Betty recorded this in her memoir: “August 10. At 7 a.m., the President of the United States, in baby blue short pajamas, appears on his doorstep looking for the morning paper, then goes back inside to fix his orange juice and English muffin.

Six adults in casual clothing stand in a loose semi-circle around President Ford in a suit and Betty Ford in a dress on the patio outside their brick home. Everyone is smiling. — The Fords talk with neighbors outside their Alexandria Home, August 1974. Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

Making the Fords’ house safe enough to live in, however, took a lot of work. The Secret Service installed a command post in the garage of the house. Bulletproof glass was installed in the master bedroom; the driveway was reinforced with steel rods for the president's motorcade cars to park. “Our poor neighbors went through hell,” Ford recalled.

A man opens the back door of a 1970s-era limousine, a man in a suit (President Ford) is getting out of the car holding a folio. — Ford arrives at the White House via presidential limousine in 1974. Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

A man in a suit stands with a group of 10 policemen in uniform in front of a brick home. Everyone is smiling. — Ford poses with a security detail on moving day in August 1974. Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

A man works at a large wooden desk in a formal office with white walls, absently petting a golden retriever laid out at his feet. — Ford at work in the Oval Office with the family golden retriever, Liberty, at his feet, November 7, 1974. Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

Finally, on August 19th, 1974, the Fords moved into the actual White House. Betty said later: For me, leaving the White House wasn't nearly so much of a wrench as leaving our house in Alexandria. After we decided we weren't going to move back and put the house up for sale, I never went over there again. I didn't want to. We had built the place, the children had grown up there, all of our neighbors were friends…I knew if I saw it again it would upset me. I wanted to think of my new life, to look forward. For his part, the president wrote to the new owners of the house upon the sale, saying, “Betty, the children, and I had many wonderful years in that home.”