7 famous political figures you didn’t know were adopted

4. Gerald Ford

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Leslie Lynch King, Jr. entered the world on July 14, 1913. His parents, Dorothy Ayer Gardner and Leslie Lynch King, separated exactly 16 days after he was born apparently due to domestic violence. Later that year, they divorced, and Dorothy and her son moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Two years later, she married Gerald R. Ford who adopted the boy.

At age 17, Ford’s biological father showed up unexpectedly and introduced himself. Up to that point, the young man didn’t know he was adopted and the two didn’t keep in regular contact thereafter. In 1935, he made the name change official and became Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.

He would later become vice president and president of the United States — both without ever being voted into office.