By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who was swept into office after the Watergate scandal and later pardoned Richard Nixon, has died at age 93 at his home in California.
Ford took office as the 38th U.S. president vowing, “Our long national nightmare is over.” He served for 2 1/2 years with a style often mocked as bumbling until he lost the 1976 U.S. presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
The oldest living U.S. president, Ford had been ailing and largely out of the public eye for several years. He died at 6:45 p.m. (0245 GMT) on Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, his office said. No cause of death was given.