President Ford traveled a rough during his term. He vetoed more than 50 bills in order to deal with a hostile congress. Ford relied upon this presidential power in dealing with a Democratic Congress that was trying to push its own economic agenda.
Responding to increased Democratic control of Congress after the 1974 midterms (fueled, in part, by public outrage over the Watergate scandals), Gerald Ford, hoping to win a full term in the White House, decided to make frequent use of his veto power.
He vetoed more bills during the 94th Congress than any other president during any other two-year period we have seen during the past half century.
See a summary of the problems faced by Ford and Carter and the policies created to combat those problems here.