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xxxxxRutherford Reagan Rand Stonegate II (Ford, for short, to distinguish himself from his father) was born in Wyoming to a family with old money and a long history of political connections. While some of his extended family have had the opportunity to be representatives in Congress, the Senate, in judgeships and so-on, Rutherford Stonegate Sr. seemed to lack both the confidence and charisma to realize his political ambitions, though he certainly did not lack the drive. He married to Henrietta Rathbone, a habitually disengaged woman who was also well-connected by family to political and entrepreneurial forces, and found value in a political partnership with Rutherford Sr. (and more value still found in the Stonegate fortune).
Even after his son's birth, Rutherford Sr. would continue to claw desperately at the career he thought he so deserved. Mayorship race? Governor primary? Congressman primary? It was always campaign season in the Stonegates' family home, smiling face of a woefully unremarkable man plastered across a rotating series of slogans and posters. He once almost even stooped to try running in a Democrat primary (Rutherford Sr.'s father, Edwin Stonegate, would quickly quash such an idea as the patriarch of the Stonegate family, before any papers could get signed. A Democrat in the family? Unthinkable).
And so it was that little Ford would vie for his parents' attention, who he saw through the rosy lenses of childhood, in any way that he could. They were only so busy while they made the world a better place, or at least, that's what the political literature that kept him company would tell him. He had a nanny to look after him at home, who assured that he was fed, cleaned and otherwise well taken care of. He kept up excellent grades, got involved in all manners of athletics, debate club and choir. He was part of the band at his Christian youth group, associated with the Evangelical church his family belonged to.
As he grew more politically aware, he tried to help his father with his various political projects, wanting to see his father achieve the success Ford knew he deserved. During the 2022 Senatorial primary, this will manifested itself when Ford started to sense something from various objects. He had difficulty describing it; some kind of field? A weight? A magnetism? But when he started to tug at the whatever it was, he could feel it yielding before him. He could manipulate the campaign material, the images of his father, the sound of his father, with this kind of weight that made people more attentive.
He confessed this to Rutherford Sr., who was climbing rapidly in the polls. It couldn't be a coincidence, and when he asked Ford to demonstrate further, Ford conclusively convinced his father that he had developed a power. Henrietta, upon finding this out, suggested keeping things quiet and seeing how this would all play out. If Ford could nudge the results of this political campaign, why not?
Nudge he did. His father took the primary and then finally became a senator, realizing the political ambitions that he had been trying to achieve. After news of Prometheus broke, Henrietta and Rutherford Sr. had a serious conversation about the safety of their son (or the embarrassment of a mutant being discovered in their family, especially if that mutant could have given an unfair advantage in the political arena). They took a look at private schools with a reputation for being mutant friendly and quietly found one that would give Ford the rich educational opportunities that he deserved, in a rich cultural center like NYC. It was only a coincidence that they chose the one absolutely furthest from home that they could have.
The Stonegates paid full tuition for Ford to attend, and even donated to enhance the library. Ford has now been at Xavier's for over a year, insisting on becoming the founder of the Young Republicans club, and has been at work padding his own resume through participation in extra-curriculars and advanced classes. He is, after all, going to be the future President of the United States.
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