ourpresidents: Gerald R. Ford was Born on this Day – July 14, 1913 Gerald Rudolph Ford, the 38
ourpresidents: Gerald R. Ford was Born on this Day – July 14, 1913 Gerald Rudolph Ford, the 38th President of the United States, was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., the son of Leslie Lynch King and Dorothy Ayer Gardner King, on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents separated two weeks after his birth and divorced later that year. He and his mother eventually settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan where her parents lived. On February 1, 1916, Dorothy King married Gerald R. Ford, a Grand Rapids paint salesman. The Fords began calling her son Gerald R. Ford, Jr., although his name was not legally changed until December 3, 1935. He had known since he was thirteen years old that Gerald Ford, Sr., was not his biological father, but it was not until 1930 when Leslie King made an unexpected stop in Grand Rapids that he had a chance meeting with this biological father. The future president grew up in a close-knit family which included three younger half-brothers, Thomas, Richard, and James. Read More from the Ford LibraryImages: Gerald R. Ford as a young boy. 1916. Gerald Ford’s mother, Dorothy Ayer Gardner. 1912. Portrait of Gerald R. Ford, named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. until 1916, around ten months old. ca. June 1914. -- source link