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Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Gerald Ford. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

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Historical Ranking

There is no statement on Ford's general ranking among historians at the end of the intro, as there is for virtually every other president. This should be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.254.1.7 (talk) 04:59, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

George H.W. Bush Longevity

This statement is worded in an extremely awkward and misleading way.

It is phrased in such a way to imply that Bush died in 2017 rather than 2018, even if it actually means he simply surpassed Ford's age in 2017. This factoid should be re-phrased or simply removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.254.1.7 (talk) 05:02, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

See above.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:23, 17 February 2019 (UTC)

Election defeat = sacrifice?

We're told "His subsequent loss to Carter in 1976 has come to be seen as an honorable sacrifice he made for the nation". How can something you don't choose (electoral defeat) be - or come to be seen as - something you do choose (self-sacrifice)? I daresay there are people who have literally said this, but I can't for the life of me see what they meant by it - or are they suggesting he deliberately lost the election?84.243.236.9 (talk) 15:09, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Well, it's not in the source, so I've removed it. Thanks.--Jack Upland (talk) 19:51, 26 February 2019 (UTC)
In the same vein: "Nonetheless, many grant in hindsight that he had respectably discharged with considerable dignity a great responsibility that he had not sought". This is a close quotation of the source, but I don't think it makes sense. A Vice President is by the nature of the office a "heartbeat away" from the Presidency. It is normal for VPs to become Presidents when the President dies or leaves office some other way: for example, Truman and Johnson. Surely Ford knew by accepting the position that there was a chance that he would become President. And then he contested the election against Carter. How can you not seek the Presidency when you're running in a presidential election? This is a throwaway line that is very misleading and hagiographical of Ford.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:19, 2 March 2019 (UTC)

Number of stepsiblings

In 'Early Life' it says "He was raised in Grand Rapids with his three half-brothers from his mother's second marriage: Thomas Gardner "Tom" Ford (1918–1995), William Francis Ford (1922-), Richard Addison "Dick" Ford (1924–2015), and James Francis "Jim" Ford (1927–2001).[7]" I don't know jacksquat about Gerald Ford so I'm not going to change anything. But I do know that Tom + William + Dick + Jim = 4. Niccast (talk) 04:51, 6 March 2019 (UTC)niccast

Good point. The source doesn't mention William, and I can't find a reliable source that mentions him. I've removed him.--Jack Upland (talk) 18:11, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Mouse-over articles on the 'four children section are incorrect

The mouse-over articles on the 'four children' section that appear by reference [28] are incorrect for Michael Gerald and John Gardner.

⁓⁓⁓⁓ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.205.76.202 (talk) 17:36, 6 September 2019 (UTC)

They are not incorrect; they just redirect back to his article.--Jack Upland (talk) 19:16, 27 October 2019 (UTC)

RE:Edit revert

Note: I moved the following comment here from my talk page. Drdpw (talk) 20:06, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

The line describing GHW Bush as the longest lived President will no longer be relevant as of 3/22/19 presuming J. Carter lives that long. The edit I made [1] functions as a factual and relevant placeholder for this event which is just several weeks from occurring. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Timnmnangers (talk • contribs) 17:49, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Actually, the sentence describes GHWB as surpassing Ford's longevity record on November 25, 2017, a statement that will remain accurate and relevant to the article no matter who surpasses either man's longevity record in the future. Your added mention of Carter surpassing Bush-41 on 3/22/2019 if living isn't pertinent to the central point being made – Ford was the longest-lived POTUS until Bush-41 lived longer. That is the basic fact that needs to be stated in the article lead; additional information should be included (if at all) later in the article. The most appropriate place in the Gerald Ford article to mention Carter surpassing Bush-41 would be the "longevity" section (noteworthy there because of the Ford-Carter connection). I've prepared a sentence, hidden for the time being, that can be added (if deemed appropriate) to the article on March 22 if Carter is living as of then. Cheers. Drdpw (talk) 20:06, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
I think this whole issue is of dubious notability. Given increasing longevity in the general population, successive presidents are likely to outlive each other.--Jack Upland (talk) 19:29, 30 January 2019 (UTC)
I've removed the references to Bush. We should note Ford's longevity, but we don't need a running commentary on who has lived longer. This is trivial and is a magnet for arguments. The result is not useful for anyone.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:27, 17 February 2019 (UTC)
I've removed the section. This is becoming more and more trivial. When Carter dies, it will be changed again, and then it will be changed again, and there's no point. This is supposed to be an encyclopedic article, not a baseball card.--Jack Upland (talk) 20:55, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
I concur with your removing the Longevity subsection; I have, however, restored one detail that is of encyclopedic value. Drdpw (talk) 23:43, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
Fair enough. Thanks.--Jack Upland (talk) 10:03, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

Ford-Carter friendship

I find this reversal regrettable because the close friendship that developed between the 2 former rivals, who each had short presidencies, is remarkable, inspiring and far from "tangential" as a defining example of the characters of both men. Anyone agree? --SergeWoodzing (talk) 17:39, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps this would be apropos: after the final-paragraph sentence His moderate views on various social issues increasingly put him at odds with conservative members of the party in the 1990s and early 2000s. add something like: In retirement, Ford set aside the enmity he had felt towards Carter following the 1976 election, and the two former presidents developed a close friendship. Drdpw (talk) 20:11, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
Great! I hope we'll be able to do that. --SergeWoodzing (talk) 14:50, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 March 2020

Change "Sarah Jane Moore" to "Sara Jane Moore" Toddhat (talk) 05:04, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, I have fixed the misspelling.--Jack Upland (talk) 06:40, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Not FA Quality

Not wishing to disparage anyone who has worked hard on this article, but I think this is a prime candidate for FAR and probably should be delisted as a Featured Article. It makes virtually no use of the biographical or historical literature on Ford and instead relies heavily on free web sources. When biographical studies and academic articles have on occasion been cited, they often lack any specific page numbers. The odd sentence here and there is also unreferenced. Obviously, this article was made an FA back in 2006, when the FAC process had very different standards. If this were brought to GAN today, it quite possibly wouldn't even pass as a Good Article; it certainly does not represent Wikipedia's best, which is what Featured Articles are supposed to do. Is there any firm opposition to this being pushed along to FAR? Midnightblueowl (talk) 17:08, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Agreed, the U.S. Naval Reserve and Post-presidency (1977–2006) sections need a lot more sources. I also think that this article has too many images, at least in the beginning. The last time this article went under a FA review was in 2009. --Wow (talk) 08:11, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 June 2020

Change: Gardner married Gerald Rudolff Ford on February 1, 1916 to: Gardner married Gerald Rudolff Ford on February 1, 1917 112.141.72.235 (talk) 15:53, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Green tickY DONE: Thanks for catching that error. Drdpw (talk) 16:21, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 June 2020

Please remove the Category Category:Members of the Cabinet of the United States, as he's already in the sub category Category:Vice Presidents of the United States. 2601:241:301:4360:7023:7923:CA9:6604 (talk) 18:11, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

 Done TheImaCow (talk) 19:26, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

Foreign policy towards Latin America, reputation

There is no mention regarding US intervention in politics in Latin America, in the years where military dictatorships took over most countries there. Due to Communist propaganda, or to fact, over there it is widely assumed that this was purposeful US policy (see Galeano et al.) While this process is generally blamed on Kissinger more than on Ford himself, not a word in this article. In this sense the foreign policy section is almost exclusively US POV, despite mentioning a couple foreign leaders. How this affected later history for the region and the region's relationship with the US government might deserve some comment. YamaPlos talk 05:44, 14 July 2020 (UTC)

Profile in Courage Award infobox consistency

Should Ford's 2001 Profile in Courage Award be added to his infobox to maintain consistency with other Presidents' pages, such as Barack Obama's? 2601:88:8101:E300:FD0B:E63D:F68D:E203 (talk) 03:32, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

Confusing clarification of Wendell Willkie

In the section on "College and law school," the second paragraph ends with the words

...campaign of Wendell Willkie (who was an interventionist vice an isolationist)

I am sure that this can be clarified by someone who knows more than I. 76.8.187.175 (talk) 00:43, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

I think they mean "interventionalist versus an isolationist", but I think that is an aside that is unnecessary here.--Jack Upland (talk) 00:59, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

Other unelected presidents

Is it worth mentioning who else has served as president without being elected? Maybe a category? 192.176.203.10 (talk) 10:14, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

UM Law alum as well?

He graduated from Yale Law but did 1L at UM. Should that be noted in his educational section as attended? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.145.176.164 (talk) 20:24, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

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