Problem: Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents lived with his paternal grandparents. His mother was Dorothy Ayer Gardner and his father was Leslie Lynch King Sr., a wool trader and a son of prominent banker Charles Henry King and Martha Alicia King (nee Porter). Gardner separated from King just sixteen days after her son's birth. She took her son with her to the Oak Park, Illinois, home of her sister Tannisse and brother-in-law, Clarence Haskins James.

To become House Speaker, Ford worked to help Republicans across the country get a majority in the chamber, often traveling on the rubber chicken circuit. After a decade of failing to do so, he promised his wife that he would try again in 1974 then retire in 1976. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part of a negotiated resolution to a scheme in which he accepted $29,500 in bribes while governor of Maryland. According to The New York Times, Nixon "sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement." The advice was unanimous. "We gave Nixon no choice but Ford," House Speaker Carl Albert recalled later. Ford agreed to the nomination, telling his wife that the Vice Presidency would be "a nice conclusion" to his career.  Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on October 12, the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented. The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27. Only three Senators, all Democrats, voted against Ford's confirmation: Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, Thomas Eagleton of Missouri and William Hathaway of Maine. On December 6, 1973, the House confirmed Ford by a vote of 387 to 35. One hour after the confirmation vote in the House, Ford took the oath of office as Vice President of the United States.  Ford became Vice President as the Watergate scandal was unfolding. On Thursday, August 1, 1974, Chief of Staff Alexander Haig contacted Ford to tell him that "smoking gun" evidence had been found. The evidence left little doubt that President Nixon had been a part of the Watergate cover-up. At the time, Ford and his wife, Betty, were living in suburban Virginia, waiting for their expected move into the newly designated vice president's residence in Washington, D.C. However, "Al Haig asked to come over and see me," Ford later said, "to tell me that there would be a new tape released on a Monday, and he said the evidence in there was devastating and there would probably be either an impeachment or a resignation. And he said, 'I'm just warning you that you've got to be prepared, that things might change dramatically and you could become President.' And I said, 'Betty, I don't think we're ever going to live in the vice president's house.'"

What did this lead him to

Answer with quotes: After a decade of failing to do so, he promised his wife that he would try again in 1974 then retire in 1976.


Problem: Fonda was born in New York City, the only son of actor Henry Fonda (1905-1982) and his wife Frances Ford Seymour (1908-1950); he is the younger brother of actress Jane Fonda. He and Jane had a maternal half-sister, Frances de Villers Brokaw (1931-2008), from their mother's first marriage. Their mother committed suicide in a mental hospital when Peter, her youngest, was ten, although he did not discover the circumstances or location of her death until he was 55 years old. On his eleventh birthday, he accidentally shot himself in the stomach and nearly died.

In 1968, Fonda produced, co-wrote and starred in Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper, which was Fonda's breakthrough role, and a critical and commercial success. Easy Rider is about two long-haired bikers traveling through the southwest and southern United States where they encounter intolerance and violence. Fonda played "Captain America," a charismatic, laconic man whose motorcycle jacket bore a large American flag across the back. Dennis Hopper played the garrulous "Billy". Jack Nicholson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as George Hanson, an alcoholic civil rights lawyer who rides along with them. Fonda co-wrote the screenplay with Terry Southern and Hopper.  Hopper filmed the cross-country road trip depicted almost entirely on location. Fonda had secured funding in the neighborhood of $360,000 - (largely based on the fact he knew that was the budget Roger Corman needed to make The Wild Angels).  The film was released in 1969 to international success. The guitarist and composer Robbie Robertson, of The Band, was so moved by an advance screening that he approached Fonda and tried to convince him to let him write a complete score, even though the film was nearly due for wide release. Fonda declined the offer, instead using Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild", Bob Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" sung by the Byrds' Roger McGuinn, and Robertson's own composition "The Weight" performed by The Band, among many other tracks. Fonda, Hopper and Southern were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film grossed over $40 million.

What is Easy Rider?

Answer with quotes:
Fonda produced, co-wrote and starred in Easy Rider,