What Was Gerald Ford’s Career before He Entered Politics?

Gerald Ford is perhaps best known as the man who became the 38th President of the United States when Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office in 1974. Less known is the fact that after graduating from the University of Michigan and Yale Law School, the blonde, blue-eyed former football star earned extra money as a model. Together with his first serious girlfriend, a well-known model named Phyllis Brown, Gerald Ford appeared in a 1940 photo spread in Look magazine, and on the cover of a 1942 issue of Cosmopolitan, right before he joined the U.S. Navy.

An eventful presidential life:

• Ford had two names growing up, both juniors. He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., but his parents separated just two weeks after his birth. His mother later married a paint salesman, and he was renamed Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.
• Ford played center and linebacker for the Michigan Wolverines football team, helping the team post undefeated seasons in 1932 and 1933. The team went on to claim national titles in both of those years.
• Gerald R. Ford died in December 2006. He lived longer than any other U.S. president -- 93 years and 165 days. Conversely, his 895-day presidency was the shortest of any president who did not die in office.