Gerald R. Ford

Best known as the 38th president of the United States, he came to the office in August 1974 after serving as vice president and after Richard Nixon resigned. That unusual path made him the only person to become both vice president and president without being elected to either office, and it shaped the practical, no-drama reputation he carried throughout his career.

Before the presidency, he had been a University of Michigan football player, a Navy officer during World War II, and a longtime congressman from Michigan. After leaving office, he remained active in public life and added to his body of writing with memoirs and reflections, including A Time to Heal, which helped fix his own account of one of the most turbulent periods in modern American history.

Readers drawn to his work will usually find the same qualities people saw in his politics: straightforward language, a focus on institutions and public duty, and an effort to explain difficult national moments without flourish. His life stretched from July 14, 1913, to December 26, 2006, covering much of the American twentieth century at very close range.