Agencies to close Tuesday in honor of President Ford

Federal agencies will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 2, for a national day of mourning honoring President Gerald R. Ford, the Office of Personnel Management announced Thursday.

Under an executive order issued by President Bush, all Cabinet departments, independent organizations and other agencies will be closed in honor of the 38th president, who died Dec. 26 at the age of 93 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The order excludes "those offices and installations, or parts thereof, in the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or other departments, independent organizations, and governmental agencies whose agency head determines should remain open for reasons of national security or defense, or other essential public business."

Ford's career in public service began in 1942, when he volunteered for service in the Navy during World War II. In 1948, he was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives from Grand Rapids, Mich. He would serve 12 more terms, and be elected House minority leader in 1965.

In 1973, after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was under investigation for accepting bribes and tax evasion, President Richard Nixon nominated Ford to serve as vice president. He was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate. A year later, Nixon himself resigned in the midst of the Watergate scandal, and Ford assumed the presidency.

He immediately made the most controversial decision -- to issue a full pardon to Nixon for any crimes he may have committed during Watergate. Still, Ford was credited with leading the nation through the post-Watergate healing process.

"He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil," President Bush said in a statement issued after Ford's death. "For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most."

Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as White House chief of staff under Ford, said he "embodied the best values of a great generation: decency, integrity, and devotion to duty." When Ford left office after his loss to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election, Cheney said, "he had restored public trust in the presidency, and the nation once again looked to the future with confidence and faith."

A state funeral for Ford is scheduled for Saturday evening in the Capitol Rotunda. It will be followed by services Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington and Wednesday in Grand Rapids.