Gerald Ford Birthplace

Gerald Ford was born in the house that sat on this site on July 14, 1913. Sixteen days later, his mother fled Omaha with the newborn to find a new life in Michigan.

 FROM THE POSTCARD COLLECTION OF BOB MARKS

Fall colors in Omaha

On March 19, 1971, a fire severely damaged a three-story Victorian apartment house catty-corner from Omaha’s Hanscom Park, with the loss of one life. The house was subsequently demolished.

No one dreamed that, three years later, it would turn out to have been the birthplace of a president of the United States. If so, the house might have been salvaged and become a national treasure. But we really can’t fault those wrecking ball operators, because Gerald Ford had such an unprecedented journey to the presidency.

It began on July 14, 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Ave., where Leslie Lynch King and his wife, Dorothy, were living in the basement of his parents’ home. That day, Dorothy gave birth to a son, Leslie Lynch King Jr. His father was an Omaha merchant who dealt mainly in wool. We suspect that Mr. King felt somewhat woolly on many a morning, for he was reputedly a heavy drinker and his marriage troubles had been mounting.

Only 16 days after little Leslie’s birth, Dorothy was unhappy enough to pack up the baby and flee to her sister’s home in Oak Park, Illinois. In December, after giving testimony in Omaha that Mr. King had threatened her and the baby with a knife just days after his birth, Dorothy was granted a divorce. Not long after that she moved with her child to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to live with her parents.

I have done my best to sort out the story of that child’s early life, but it is quite a jumble. In Grand Rapids, Dorothy King met and, presumably, fell in love with Gerald Rudolff Ford. Most sources say they were married in February 1917. Around that time they started calling young Leslie “Gerald.” That’s why he is listed in the 1920 U.S. Census as “Ford, Gerald, Jr.”

Shocker alert! His stepfather never legally adopted the future president, but always treated him as his own son. Jerry met his biological father for the first time when he was 17, working in a store in Grand Rapids. On a chance trip to Michigan, Leslie King Sr. sought Jerry out and shocked him profoundly when he entered the store unannounced and introduced himself as his long-absent father. Most sources say they were never reconciled.

At the University of Michigan, Jerry starred as a center, linebacker and long snapper on the undefeated 1933 and 1934 football teams. But not until his senior year, on Dec. 3, 1935, did Jerry change his legal name to Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., using the Anglicized spelling for his middle name. He had applied to Yale Law School, and I suspect that he wanted to use a legal name during his legal education. He graduated from Yale Law School and took up practice before serving in the Navy during World War II.

He decided on a career in politics when he ran for U.S. representative in 1948, but worried that his marriage, during the campaign, to Betty Bloomer Warren, a divorcée, would hurt his chances in the election. Not so — he won and represented Michigan in the House for the next 25 years.

The culmination of his path to the presidency began in October 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon appointed House Minority Leader Ford to the vice presidency vacated by the disgraced Spiro T. Agnew. According to The World-Herald of Oct. 14, 1973, it was only then that Omahans were discovering that 3202 Woolworth Ave. was Ford’s birthplace.

Less than a year later, on Aug. 9, 1974, in accordance with the Constitution, Gerald Ford became the 38th president upon the resignation of Nixon. (It strikes me that if Jerry had not changed his name, he would have become President King.) He was defeated in his 1976 reelection bid by Jimmy Carter and, thus, Ford’s 895-day tenure was the shortest of any president who didn’t die in office.

I was privileged to meet President Ford in a later year when he visited Mutual of Omaha’s home office at 33rd and Dodge Streets. Jerry Ford couldn’t realistically call Omaha his hometown, but Chairman V.J. Skutt was proud that he was a Mutual of Omaha policyholder and had carried Mutual’s health and accident insurance when he played football at Michigan.

President Ford died on the day after Christmas 2006. After surviving threats from Mr. King as a baby, and two assassination attempts in 1975, he lived to be 93.

Today, thanks to the late James Paxson of Omaha, the public can visit the Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens, which opened in 1976. There, you can see displays of Ford biographical notes and memorabilia, as well as the Betty Ford Rose Garden, which was dedicated when the Fords visited Omaha on July 12, 1980. Perhaps, when we recover from the present COVID-19 disruptions, some much-needed attention can be given to this unique piece of Omaha real estate.

Next week: Seeking the

“Kissing Columns”

Omaha History Detective

Bob Marks, Omaha History Detective

Bob Marks lives in Omaha, where he sleuths for local history and delights in busting myths and setting the record straight. He writes weekly for The World-Herald. Reach the Omaha History Detective through his editor, chris.christen@owh.com; 402-444-1094.

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Originally published on omaha.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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