Leslie Lynch King Sr. (July 25, 1884 – February 18, 1941) was the biological father of U.S. President Gerald Ford. Because of his alcoholism and abusive behavior, his wife, Dorothy Gardner, left him sixteen days after Ford's birth.

King was born in Chadron, Nebraska, the son of businessman Charles Henry King and Martha Alicia (née Porter) King. King attended military academy in Missouri.^[2] His father founded several small trading posts in Nebraska and Wyoming along railroad routes. He also was a banker and was very successful financially. In 1905, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents commissioned the construction of a large Victorian mansion.

In May 1908, King, his father, Dana C. Bradford and H. C. Brome incorporated the Omaha Wool and Storage company,^[3] a business King would later take over.^[2] King was prone to violence,^[4] and in November 1908 he and his father were indicted for beating one of their employees.^[5][6] King's father later took a primary house in Los Angeles and since the company's business interests were largely in Wyoming, the younger King became the primary manager. King later took a residence in Los Angeles as well.^[2]

Gerald Ford's mother and stepfather did not tell him of his biological father until shortly before he turned fifteen, in 1928. Ford described his biological father as "a carefree, well-to-do man who didn't really give a damn about the hopes and dreams of his firstborn son".^[13][14] Ford's paternal grandfather, Charles Henry King, took care of his first grandson and paid Ford's mother child support until shortly before his death in 1930. After Charles' death, Leslie inherited $50,000 ($687,000 in 2016 dollars), and Dorothy got a judgment from Nebraska courts to force him to pay support. King was living in Wyoming, outside of Nebraska's legal jurisdiction, and refused.^[15]

King met his firstborn son for the first time when Ford was a sophomore in high school. King came to Michigan to pick up a new car and visited Ford where the future president was working at a restaurant in Grand Rapids.^[8] They had a superficial conversation. King, who had never paid child support, handed Ford $25. It is believed that the two had no further contact,^[16][17][18] although it is also reported that Ford visited King Sr. one summer at King's spacious home in Wyoming when Ford was working at Yellowstone,^[8] and that King once visited his son at Yale when Ford was assistant football coach there.^[15]

In 1939, King moved from his home in Riverton, Wyoming, to Lincoln, Nebraska. In Nebraska, he was arrested for failing to pay alimony, particularly what was due after the death of King's father in 1930.^[19]

King died on February 18, 1941, in Tucson, Arizona.^[2][8] He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, California, near his parents.^[15] In 1949, his widow Margaret King married Roy Mather.^{[citation needed]}