Gerald Ford's Son Michael Ford: Who He Is and What He Built

Michael “Mike” Gerald Ford is the eldest son of the 38th U.S. President, Gerald R. Ford, and First Lady Betty Ford. He holds a BA from Wake Forest University and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Mike Ford spent 36 years building student life programs at Wake Forest before retiring in 2017, and has served as a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation continuously since 1982.

He didn’t run for office. He didn’t write a memoir. He went back to his college and stayed for four decades.

That choice, returning to Wake Forest as a student affairs administrator after campaigning for his father’s 1976 presidential bid, tells you more about who Mike Ford is than any bullet-point biography could.

Who Is Michael “Mike” Ford, Son of Gerald Ford?

Michael Gerald Ford was born the eldest of Gerald and Betty Ford’s four children. According to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation’s trustee profile, Mike holds a BA from Wake Forest University (class of 1972) and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, a rigorous academic theology credential, not an honorary one. He spent the core of his adult life in higher education, retiring from Wake Forest in 2017 after 36 years in student affairs leadership.

He’s also been a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation since March 24, 1982, a span of over 44 years at time of publication. He served as Chairman from 2018 to 2022.

Mike Ford, son of Gerald Ford, is the eldest of four children born to President Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford. He pursued a career in Christian campus ministry and higher education rather than politics, spending 36 years at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He currently serves as a long-standing Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

According to the Foundation’s oral history archive, Mike Ford sat for a formal recorded interview with presidential historian Richard Norton Smith on May 2, 2011. That interview, available through the Foundation’s website, covers Ford family life and early years in Mike’s own words. It’s a primary source that almost no mainstream coverage of the Ford family cites. Most readers searching for information about him have no idea it exists.

What does Mike Ford do today? According to the Foundation’s 2024 trustee page, he remains active as a Foundation Trustee, serves as a lay leader at First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and volunteers with Samaritan Ministries. He and his wife Gayle have three daughters, three sons-in-law, and grandchildren.

Growing Up Ford: Before Anyone Called His Father Mr. President

Here’s what almost every biographical sketch of Mike Ford skips entirely: Gerald Ford was a congressman for 25 years before he ever became president.

Gerald R. Ford represented Michigan’s 5th congressional district from 1949 to 1973. Mike Ford’s childhood wasn’t shaped by the White House, it was shaped by the rhythms of congressional life in Grand Rapids. A father frequently in Washington. School years in suburban Michigan. An ordinary, middle-class household that Gerald Ford reportedly insisted on maintaining even as his political stature grew.

The presidency came late. And it came without a single vote.

Gerald Ford is the only person in American history to serve as both Vice President and President without being elected to either office. He was appointed VP in 1973 under the 25th Amendment after Spiro Agnew’s resignation, then became president in August 1974 when Nixon resigned. By that point, Mike Ford was already a Wake Forest alumnus, two years out, building his own life.

This is the context competitors miss. The “president’s son” framing that dominates search results implies the White House was the central fact of Mike Ford’s upbringing. It wasn’t. It was a 895-day chapter, from August 9, 1974, to January 20, 1977, in a life that had already been shaped by something quieter and more durable.

From Sigma Chi to Seminary: Mike Ford’s Career Path

After graduating from Wake Forest in 1972, Mike Ford worked as a leadership consultant for the national office of Sigma Chi fraternity, traveling across the country. Then came the 1976 presidential campaign, where he worked alongside his father’s team.

In the middle of all that, he earned a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

After the campaign, he served as a campus minister at the University of Pittsburgh. According to Wake Forest University’s 2018 Founders Day citation, the formal record issued when the university awarded him its Medallion of Merit, that Pittsburgh experience was where he clarified his calling: not parish ministry, but ministry on a college campus.

In 1981, he returned to Wake Forest.

What followed was 36 years of institution-building that almost no one outside Winston-Salem knows about. He lobbied for and helped establish Benson University Center, the social hub of Wake Forest’s campus. He built student leadership programs, LEAD, later renamed CHARGE. He created Project Pumpkin and pre-orientation programs like Wake World, SPARC, and Deacon Camp. He ran the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund Drive’s signature events, including Hit the Bricks and Wake ‘N Shake.

Or maybe I should say it this way: he didn’t inherit a program. He built several from nothing, across four decades, at the same school where he’d once been a Sigma Chi pledge.

Wake Forest gave him its Medallion of Merit in February 2018, the university’s highest honor, for what President Nathan O. Hatch described as transforming campus culture and enriching the lives of generations of students.

How to Access Mike Ford’s Oral History Interview

For researchers, journalists, and history enthusiasts who want Mike Ford’s account of growing up in the Ford family, the primary source is available and free.

To find and listen to Mike Ford’s oral history, follow these steps:

Go to geraldrfordfoundation.org and navigate to Oral Histories under the Ford Legacy menu.
Search or scroll to Mike Ford, the interview is dated May 2, 2011, conducted by historian Richard Norton Smith.
Click Read Full Transcript to access the complete written record via Google Drive, or stream the audio directly on the page.

The transcript covers Ford family and early years in Mike Ford’s own voice. No paywalls. No registration. It’s one of the most substantive primary sources on the Ford family that most people researching this topic never find.

Mike Ford’s Role at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation

Mike Ford has served as a Foundation Trustee since March 24, 1982. His Vice-Chairman tenures spanned four separate terms (1983–1985, 1991–1993, 1999–2001, and 2003–2005) before he became Chairman in 2018, a role he held through 2022.

The Foundation, headquartered at 303 Pearl St. NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan, works in partnership with the Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor and the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids to preserve and communicate Gerald Ford’s legacy through education, leadership programming, and archival research.

Quick Comparison: Gerald Ford’s Four Children

Child	Career Path	Notable Public Role	Current Profile
Michael “Mike” Ford (eldest)	Higher education / ministry	Trustee & former Chairman, Ford Presidential Foundation	Low, deliberately private
John “Jack” Ford	Journalism, environmental advocacy	Worked briefly in Carter administration	Low-moderate
Steven Ford	Acting, ranching	Film and TV roles; advocacy work	Moderate
Susan Ford Bales	Photography, health advocacy	Breast cancer awareness; mammography access campaigns	Moderate-high

I’ve seen some sources group all four Ford children together as if their post-White House lives were similar. They weren’t. Susan Ford Bales became a visible health advocate. Steve Ford pursued acting. Mike Ford quietly went back to a university. Those are different answers to the same unusual question: what do you do after your father is the most powerful person in the world for less than three years?

What Mike Ford’s Life Tells Us About Gerald Ford as a Father

Some argue that presidential children who avoid public life are simply managing media exposure. That’s a fair read in certain cases.

Mike Ford’s trajectory suggests something else.

He pursued a theology degree. He went into campus ministry. He spent 36 years working with undergraduate students at a liberal arts university whose motto, Pro Humanitate, “for humanity”, he took seriously enough to build his professional life around. That’s not avoidance. It’s a considered set of values, held consistently, over decades.

Look, if you’re trying to understand Gerald Ford the man, not Gerald Ford the president, Mike Ford’s biography is one of the better entry points available. Gerald Ford was widely described, even by political opponents, as a man of unusual personal integrity in a moment when Washington had almost none. His eldest son became a campus minister and student development professional for 36 years. That alignment isn’t a coincidence.

What most biographical coverage skips is the texture of Ford family values during the congressional years, the 25 years before the White House made everything suddenly visible. Mike Ford’s 2011 oral history with Richard Norton Smith is where those years get addressed in his own words. That record exists. It’s free. Almost nobody writing about this family cites it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Michael Ford

Who is Michael Ford, the son of Gerald Ford?

Michael “Mike” Gerald Ford is the eldest son of President Gerald R. Ford and Betty Ford. He built a 36-year career in student affairs at Wake Forest University and has served as a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation since March 1982.

What did Mike Ford do for a career?

Mike Ford worked in higher education at Wake Forest University for 36 years, holding roles including Director of Student Activities, Associate Dean of Students, and Associate Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute. He retired in 2017.

Where did Gerald Ford’s son Michael go to college?

Mike Ford earned a BA from Wake Forest University in 1972. He later earned a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Wake Forest awarded him its Medallion of Merit, its highest honor, in February 2018.

Is Mike Ford still involved with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation?

Yes, As of 2024, Mike Ford remains a Trustee of the Foundation. He served as Chairman from 2018 to 2022 and has held a trustee seat continuously since March 1982, over four decades of involvement.

How many children did Gerald Ford have, and who is the eldest?

Gerald and Betty Ford had four children: Michael (Mike), John (Jack), Steven (Steve), and Susan. Mike is the eldest. All four have maintained some involvement in preserving their father’s legacy, though in very different ways.