Gerald R. Ford and U.S. Foreign Policy

The death of former President Gerald R. Ford brings to mind a handful of foreign policy images from his term in office.

The desperate scene as the final Americans evacuated from Saigon in April of 1975 happened on Ford's watch. He also stirred attention overseas during his presidential debate with challenger Jimmy Carter. Ford's famous gaffe that eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination occurred on October 18, 1976.

In May of 1975 Ford had to deal with the seizure of an American merchant ship by Khmer Rouge forces in Cambodia. Ford ordered a strong military response. The ship was recovered and the crew released. Forty-one U.S. servicemen were killed and fifty wounded.

As president, Ford continued the Cold War policy of "detente" with the Soviet Union. The most prominent display of detente occurred in 1975 when the United States and the Soviet Union linked highly competitive space efforts for the joint Apollo-Soyuz manned space flight.