Fact Check: Gerald Ford Predicted U.S. Would Have 1st Female President After Her Predecessor — a Man — Dies

Claim:

Former U.S. President Gerald Ford once said he believed the U.S. would have its first female president after her predecessor — a male president — dies and she moves into the position via the vice presidency.

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In July 2024, as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris began campaigning for the presidency, an alleged quote by former President Gerald Ford with his prediction for the country's first female president spread across social media platforms. For instance, on July 23, 2024, a TikTok user shared a video of Ford making the statement:

That clip widely spread across platforms like Facebook , X and Reddit . It showed Ford saying:

Well, I hope we do have a young lady become president of the United States. I can tell you how I think it will happen, because it won't happen in the normal course of events. Either the Republican or Democrat political party will nominate a man for president and a woman for vice president, and the woman and man will win. So we'll end up with a president, a male, and a vice president, a female. And in that term of office of the president, the president will die, and the woman will become president.

The clip was genuine; It was real footage of Ford, who died in 2006, saying he believed the U.S. would have its first female president after her predecessor — a male president — dies and she moves into the position via the vice presidency. He made the comment in a 1989 speech in front of about 100 schoolchildren in Iowa, at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. PBS covered the event:

As the PBS footage shows (about 52 seconds in), Ford made the statement in response to a young girl's question, "Mr. Ford, what advice would you give a young lady wanting to become president of the United States?"

Snopes first confirmed the quote's legitimacy in 2022 . It circulated again, roughly two years later, after U.S. Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris, the first female vice president in U.S. history, as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. Harris announced the start of her presidential campaign shortly after:

Sources:

Iowa PBS. 1989 Ford Interview on a Female President | IPTV 50th Anniversary . 2019. YouTube , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epWYJ_SY8uU. Log in or Sign up to View . https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=gerald%20ford%20female%20president. Accessed 23 July 2024. Palma, Bethania. "Did Gerald Ford Say This About the First Woman President?" Snopes , 8 Sept. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/gerald-ford-first-woman-president/. TikTok - Make Your Day . https://www.tiktok.com/@viralnewswatch/video/7394169289982348586?_r=1&_t=8oE88euVmrD. Accessed 23 July 2024.