The Joint Chiefs salute as Armed Forces body bearers carry the casket of former President Gerald R. Ford following his state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Jan. 2, 2007. Ford's remains will be flown to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich., for burial. (U.S. Air Force photo by STAFF SGT. D. Myles Cullen) (Released)

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) served as the 38th President of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He is the only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected to either office. As he was appointed to fill a vacancy and then succeeded to the presidency, Ford also earned the distinction of being the only person in American history to neither begin nor finish either a presidential or vice presidential term on the date of a regularly-scheduled inauguration. Before vice-presidency, Ford served 25 years as Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, the final 9 of them as the House Minority Leader. Ford's reputation for integrity and openness had made him popular during his 25 years in Congress. When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts." As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Vietnam. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. He granted a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. In the GOP presidential primary campaign of 1976, Ford defeated then-former California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. He narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic challenger, then-former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, on November 2. Following his years as President, Ford remained active in the Republican Party. He died on December 26, 2006 and lived longer than any other U.S. president, 93 years and 165 days. "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our constitution works."

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Carved from Indiana limestone, the cathedral's construction began in 1907 and took 83 years to complete in 1990. The structure comprises a 30-story-tall central tower, nine-bay nave, 215 stained glass windows, 112 gargoyles, including one of Darth Vader, an intricately carved wooden choir area, numerous chapels, and a crypt where President Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller are buried. The cathedral's master plan was designed by George Frederick Bodley, a highly regarded British Gothic Revival architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and was influenced by Canterbury. Construction started with a ceremonial address by President Theodore Roosevelt and the laying of the cornerstone. Planners hoped it would play a role similar to Westminster Abbey in the United Kingdom though intended as defined it as non-sectarian and nondenominational. The cathedral's design shows a mix of Gothic architectural styles of the Middle Ages. The cathedral was built with several intentional "flaws" in keeping with an apocryphal medieval custom that sought to illustrate that only God can be perfect. In 2016 two Confederate battle flag images were removed from stained glass windows commemorating the lives of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson installed in 1953. In 2017 stained glass windows honoring Lee and Jackson we removed completely.