Death and state funeral of Gerald Ford
public event
On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States and the 40th vice president, died at his home at 40471 Sand Dune Rd., in Rancho Mirage, California, at 6:45 p.m. local time (02:45, December 27, UTC). At 8:49 p.m. local time, his wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement announcing his death. The causes of death listed on the death certificate were arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.
At the age of 93 years and 165 days, Ford was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record which has since been surpassed by George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
Ford was the second former U.S. president to die during the presidency of George W. Bush and the second to die in the twenty-first century, the first being Ronald Reagan.
Tributes from world leaders
Upon Ford's death, President George W. Bush said in a written statement:
Laura and I are greatly saddened by the passing of former President Gerald R. Ford. President Ford was a great American who gave many years of dedicated service to our country. On August 9, 1974, after a long career in the House of Representatives and service as Vice President, he assumed the Presidency in an hour of national turmoil and division.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3090984. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006 and 1974.
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