Was Gerald Ford A Success Or A Failure

Andrew Gibson John Mackey Term Paper 4 March 2024.

Gerald Ford became President of the United States in a non-traditional way. He assumed office following Richard Nixon's resignation due to the Watergate scandal. Thus, his presidency was similar to the Nixon Administration. Like the presidencies before and after Ford, his administration’s approach to foreign affairs was entirely based on the Cold War. During his shorter-than-average term, the Ford Administration’s foreign policy included policies such as detente, shuttle diplomacy, and ending conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Vietnam War. Gerald Ford’s foreign policy was characterized by global treaties, ineffective policies, and delayed responses to world conflicts, netting him a B grade. Gerald Ford’s
involvement was high. Considering the declining state of South Vietnam, the Ford Administration could have conducted an evacuation immediately and stopped all affairs in Vietnam. Instead, his Administration continued requesting large amounts of funding, only to get a fraction of it approved by Congress. The United States continued to give aid and slowly evacuate troops until the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975. The Ford Administration ended the Vietnam War with a slow burn, and not with the abruptness that should have occurred. It was a failure that did nothing to benefit the United States. It did nothing to ease tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and ended with defeat from a U.S. perspective. The Ford Administration did what was warranted to free the U.S. from a worsening situation, albeit slower than what was needed. The Ford Administration also dealt with the Arab-Israeli conflict. This references the continuing conflict between states in the Middle East. From this conflict, Egypt and Israel had been at war over land surrounding the Suez Canal on the Sinai peninsula. During the Nixon Administration, Soviet-backed Egypt and the Soviets