Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. [File Photo: chinanews.com.cn]

Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford has died at 93, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, has passed away at 93 years of age," said his widow, Bette Ford, in a statement.

"His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country," the statement added.

The statement was released at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, where Ford has been hospitalized.

Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the Associated Press reported.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93.

Ford was only unelected president in America's history.

In 1973 he was appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew, then vice president, resigned to avoid prosecution on corruption charges.

On Aug. 9, 1974, Ford took office as the 38th U.S. president minutes after Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment over the so-called "Watergate" scandal and served in the White House for 895 days.

Ford had been a congressman from Michigan for 26 years before he ascended to the top office of the United States.