what did gerald ford die of?
Cardiovascular disease
contradiction
 While vacationing in Vail , Colorado , Ford was hospitalized for two days in July 2006 for shortness of breath . On August 15 he was admitted to St. Mary 's Hospital of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota , for testing and evaluation . On August 21 , it was reported that he had been fitted with a pacemaker . On August 25 , he underwent an angioplasty procedure at the Mayo Clinic . On August 28 , Ford was released from the hospital and returned with his wife Betty to their California home . On October 13 , he was scheduled to attend the dedication of a building of his namesake , the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan , but due to poor health and on the advice of his doctors he did not attend . The previous day , Ford had entered the Eisenhower Medical Center for undisclosed tests ; he was released on October 16 . By November 2006 , he was confined to a bed in his study . 

contradiction
 In October 1974 , Nixon fell ill with phlebitis , the inflammation of the walls of a vein . Told by his doctors that he could either be operated on or die , a reluctant Nixon chose surgery , and President Ford visited him in the hospital . Nixon was under subpoena for the trial of three of his former aides — Dean , Haldeman , and John Ehrlichman — and The Washington Post , disbelieving his illness , printed a cartoon showing Nixon with a cast on the " wrong foot " . Judge John Sirica excused Nixon 's presence despite the defendants ' objections . Congress instructed Ford to retain Nixon 's presidential papers — beginning a three @-@ decade legal battle over the documents that was eventually won by the former president and his estate . Nixon was in the hospital when the 1974 midterm elections were held , and Watergate and the pardon were contributing factors to the Republican loss of 43 seats in the House and three in the Senate . 

contradiction
 Following his years as President , Ford remained active in the Republican Party . After experiencing health problems , he died in his home on December 26 , 2006 . Ford lived longer than any other U.S. president , 93 years and 165 days , while his 895 @-@ day presidency remains the shortest term of all presidents who did not die in office . As of 2016 , he is also the most recent former president and vice president to die . 

entailment
 Ford died on December 26 , 2006 , at his home in Rancho Mirage , California , of arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis . He had end @-@ stage coronary artery disease and severe aortic stenosis and insufficiency , caused by calcific alteration of one of his heart valves . Ford died on the 34th anniversary of President Harry Truman 's death ; he was the last surviving member of the Warren Commission . 

contradiction
 Later in life , Ford taught politics to the youth of Owensboro from the Owensboro Museum of Science and History , which houses a replica of his Senate office . On July 19 , 2014 , the Messenger @-@ Inquirer reported that Ford had been diagnosed with lung cancer . 
