Gerald Ford is the only President since Herbert Hoover not to be named "TIME" Person of the Year.

Famous Figures

T hough the outcome of any given presidential election is always in doubt, one thing is not: Whoever wins will almost certainly be named TIME magazine's Person of the Year. The tradition dates back to 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first President to be so honored. The title itself was established in 1927, with TIME naming aviator Charles Lindbergh its first Man of the Year (the name was changed to Person of the Year in 1999). President Calvin Coolidge, who was in office in 1927, was passed over by the magazine, as was Herbert Hoover, Coolidge's successor. Since then, Gerald Ford is the only U.S. President who has not been named Person of the Year.

In a way, that's fitting, as Ford is also the only commander in chief to never actually be elected Vice President or President. He was appointed to the former office after Richard Nixon's original VP, Spiro Agnew, resigned in disgrace, and he became President after Nixon avoided a likely impeachment over the Watergate scandal by likewise resigning. Ford's controversial decision to immediately pardon his predecessor is widely considered a black mark on his record that doomed his reelection chances. Jimmy Carter, who defeated Ford in the 1976 election, was named TIME's Person of the Year shortly after his victory.

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By the Numbers

Years Ford served in the House of Representatives

Assassination attempts Ford survived

Did you know?

Gerald Ford wasn't his birth name.

The future President was actually named Leslie Lynch King Jr., after his biological father. He had a good reason for abandoning the moniker: Ford's father was abusive toward Ford's mother, Dorothy Ayer Gardner, and according to biographer James M. Cannon, he even threatened to murder her and the baby just days after Ford was born. Gardner separated from him within days, fleeing first to her sister's home in Oak Park, Illinois, and then to her parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She married Gerald Rudolff Ford a few months before the fourth birthday of her son, who didn't know that Gerald wasn't his biological father until he was 13. Though he was never technically adopted by his father figure, Ford formally changed his name to Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr. on December 3, 1935.

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