The permanent exhibition galleries at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, allow visitors to explore key moments in President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford's lives and careers. Visitors learn about the impact of democratic citizenship through visually captivating displays and models, archival photography, sculptures, clothing, and other exhibits. Visitors can also visit a temporary exhibit gallery, which features a changing array of temporary and traveling exhibits on a wide range of subjects.
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, features a permanent timeline exhibit on the lives of Gerald and Betty Ford, along with several small temporary exhibits each year.
Growing Up Grand: The Early Years of Gerald R. Ford and Early 20th Century Grand Rapids
Library - Ann Arbor
Online
On the evening of Monday, November 1, 1976, Air Force One, dubbed The Spirit of ’76 in this the nation’s Bicentennial year, touched down at Kent County Airport.Following a hard day of campaigning in Ohio and Detroit, the President of the United States and the First Lady had returned home to cast their votes the next day in an election that would decide whether he would continue serving as President for the next four years. As recently as three years before, it was an election neither had contemplated.
Virtual Tour of Permanent Exhibit Galleries
Museum - Grand Rapids
Online
Virtual tour of Permanent Exhibit Galleries
Taking the Seas: The Rise of the American Aircraft Carrier
Museum - Grand Rapids
Online
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) will be the largest, most powerful warship the world has ever seen - ten times larger than the USS Langley (CV 1), America's first aircraft carrier. The Ford will define a new class of these capital ships, more dynamic, more capable than any that has sailed before her. Yet the legacy of her predecessors dating back nearly a century can be seen in her lines and courses through her steel.
The Watergate Files
Library - Ann Arbor
Online
When Judge John Sirica gaveled the trial of the Watergate seven to order on January 8, 1973, federal investigators had already discovered a covert slush fund used to underwrite nefarious activities against Democrats. The money and the men on trial could be linked to the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) at whose head sat the former Attorney General of the United States, and President Nixon’s former law partner, John Mitchell. At the trial, E. Howard Hunt, who had planned the break-in, and four of the burglars pleaded guilty. G. Gordon Liddy, who helped in the planning, and James McCord, the other burglar, refused to cooperate, were convicted of various charges, and sentenced to prison.
Online Exhibits
Taking the Seas
The Rise of the American Aircraft Carrier
Growing Up Grand:
The Early Years of Gerald R. Ford and Early 20th Century Grand Rapids
The Watergate Files
1976 Presidential Election
An Online Exhibit
