Robert MacDonald Ford, Jr. (May 2, 1911 – June 9, 2004)[1] was an American insurance agent who served as a Democratic[2] state representative for the Bremerton area of the State of Washington from 1941 to 1943 and from 1945 to 1953. Ford was Democratic Floor Leader of the House of Representatives; Chairman of the House Highways Committee; and instrumental in the creation of the Agate Pass Bridge between Bainbridge Island and the Olympic Peninsula.[3]
Ford was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1911; graduated from high school in Glendale, California and earned degrees in economics and political science from the University of Washington in Seattle.[1]He served in the United States Navy during World War II on minesweepers in Iceland and at the landing at Salerno.[1]
Ford served as King County, Washington County Commissioner during the Seattle World's Fair and was instrumental in King County's acquisition of MaryMoor Farm/Park and later served as the manager of Seattle's Boeing Field.[1]
He married Nancy Elizabeth McFate of South Colby, Washington; they had a daughter and a son. He died June 9, 2004, on Bainbridge Island at the age of 93, and was survived by his children Robert MacDonald Ford, III and Linda J. Ford (Cauthers).[1]
He is known to history as a fellow sailor and close friend of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Ford said that when Hubbard asked for a letter of introduction, he gave Hubbard a blank sheet of letterhead which he later didn't know if he had signed, and told Hubbard "You're the writer, you write it."[4]