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Home , Douglas Brinkley, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Pardon of Richard Nixon, Willis Ward

a “providential” pr esIdent Ger ald r. ford at 100

the story of a n unexpected natIonal leader by jIM Kratsas

Summer 2013 A man’s character is his fate. —Heraclitus

he 1934 University of Wolverines football team en­ dured a dismal season, especially Tdiscouraging on the heels of back-to-back national championships. The team won only a single game in the fall of 1934. However, it was a victory permeated by : A good student and great athlete was benched because of the color of his skin, and a fellow teammate’s high prin­ ciples and character was challenged long before this student-athlete would become President of the .

Michigan and Tech had scheduled a game for the 1934 season. That summer ’s legend­ ary coach, Bobby Dowd, requested that Michigan bench its best player, , for the contest because the Southern team would not share the field with a black man. In trade, Tech offered to bench its premier player. The Michigan athletic director and former coach, Fielding Yost, reached a “gentleman’s agreement” with its foe to make sure the game was played by having Ward sit out the game. This decision did not sit well with the Wolverines. Coach protested, and Willis Ward’s best friend on the team, center , considered not playing in the game, citing the unjust decision based on the color of Ward’s skin. It was a trying time for young Ford, who had waited for three years to start for his school and was now willing to give up a dream to fight a wrong inflicted on his teammate.

President Ford testified before the House Judiciary Committee on October 17, 1974, regarding his of .

Prologue 37 Ford would not have played but for the in­ Rapids. In this prosperous little town, Left: Gerald Ford and teammate Willis Ward in a sistence by Ward that he take the field. Ford Dorothy met Gerald R. Ford, an aspiring football team photograph for 1934. Right: A young Jerry Ford (second from left) heeded Ward’s plea, and he and his teammates businessman, at a church. They fell in love with his half-brothers and stepfather. rose to the occasion. With the team and Ford and married. In time, Junior’s name became playing their best game of the year, Michigan Jerry and then Gerald R. Ford, Jr., a name Much has been written over the years about walked away with the season’s lone win, out­ he wouldn’t legally take until he graduated “good old fashioned Midwestern values,” and pacing Georgia Tech by a score of 9-2. from the University of Michigan. the community in embodied While the football contest was settled, His mother and stepfather were loving those core attributes better than most—the racism in America was not. parents who instilled values in young Jerry ideas of service, honesty, charity, and com­ The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case as well as in his three half brothers, Tom, munity permeate the town’s daily life. of Brown v. Board of Education and a full- Dick, and Jim. Selfless parents, they were “Whenever I can’t sleep, I think of Grand throated civil rights movement were still two also strict disciplinarians. Rapids,” President Ford remarked in later decades away. Yet a college student from the According to Gerald Ford, his parents years. small town of Grand Rapids, Michigan, un­ “had three rules: tell the truth, work hard, It was where he became an Eagle Scout derstood injustice and took a stand based on and come to dinner on time—and woe unto (the only U.S. President who earned that principles he would hold for the rest of his any of us who violated those rules.” achievement), where he excelled at a number life—morals instilled in him by loving par­ Both Dorothy and Gerald Sr. were active of sports (particularly football, with his team ents and the culture of America’s Midwest. members in their communities, taking part winning the 1930 state championship), and in charitable causes and social and service or­ where he learned the value of hard work, be A Mother and Son ganizations, in addition to raising their sons. it at the Ford Paint and Varnish Company or flee to Junior often was upbraided for his hot temper at Bill Skougis’s restaurant, where he flipped His early life seemed far from promising and taught how to control it. His mother gave hamburgers and washed dishes. when he was born in Omaha, , him a copy of Kipling’s poem “If ” and told It was at the restaurant where the young on , 1913, the son of Dorothy her son to take solace in the poem’s message. Ford “received the first major shock of my and Leslie Lynch King. By the end of that life.” While working at the register at the same month, Dorothy, with her son, Leslie A Visit the young ford hamburger joint, the 16-year-old noticed a Lynch King, Jr., fled Omaha to escape the Was not ready for man standing by the counter looking at him. increasingly hostile and abusive King, who Wonderful parents they were—but not He then approached Ford. “Are you Leslie had threatened his wife and infant son with out of the ordinary in Grand Rapids. Ford’s King?” he asked. a butcher knife. biographer, James Cannon, called the Ford replied, “No.” Fleeing to her parents in Illinois, she President’s hometown “a place from which a The elder King said, “I’m your father. soon sued for divorce and moved to Grand man can journey far and never leave.” You’re Leslie King. I’m in town . . . and I

38 Prologue Summer 2013 Lt. Gerald R. Ford on the deck of the USS Monterey in the Pacific Theater during World War II. would like to take you to lunch.” When the teenager went outside, he saw King’s brand-new Lincoln with his wife in the front seat. At lunch, Ford kept his compo- sure but seethed when King, getting ready to leave, gave him 25 dollars and told him to buy something for himself, something he couldn’t otherwise afford. “It was a hell of a shock for a 16-year-old boy,” Ford would later say. That night was one of the most dif- ficult of my life. I don’t recall the words I used to tell my parents what had hap- pened, but I do remember that the con- versation was a loving and consoling one. My stepfather loved me as much as he loved his own three sons. I knew he wanted to help me and how lacking in financial resources he was. Nothing could erase the image I gained of my real father that day: A carefree, well-to- coach and boxing coach. Ford persevered could the United States stand by; rather, the do man who didn’t really give a damn and during the summer of 1937 took law nation needed to assume a leadership role in about the hopes and dreams of his classes at the University of Michigan to world affairs. firstborn son. When I went to bed that prove to Yale that he could handle the aca- In 1948 this national change of attitude night, I broke down and cried. demic workload while maintaining his full- became an issue in the Republican pri- Lacking the financial resources to attend time coaching duties. mary for the congressional seat from West college in the midst of the , Yale relented and admitted Ford to its law Michigan, a position held by the longtime the National Honor Society member and school, where he finished in the top third of incumbent and affirmed isolationist Bartel star football player received generous support a class that included future Supreme Court Jonkman, a man who had seemingly lost from the West Michigan community, enough Justices and as touch with his constituents. to attend the University of Michigan. He ma- well as future Secretary of State In a great upset, Ford, with tireless ef- jored in , joined a fraternity, and and future Kennedy and Johnson adminis- fort and the support of local worked part-time jobs, all the while playing tration official R. . and Michigan’s influential Senator Arthur football and earning high marks. Upon graduation from Yale in 1941, Ford Vandenberg, won the Republican primary returned to Grand Rapids, where he opened and then the general election—the first of Setting his Sights: a law firm with his old friend Phil Buchen 13 consecutive victories as the representative and set about the practice of law. When Japan of the Fifth Congressional District. After his senior season, he was offered pro attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States For 25 years, Ford earned high marks for football contracts from the Lions entered World War II, Ford enlisted in the his hard work, attention to detail (especially and the . But the allure of Navy and served in the Pacific Theater during over budget matters), and his collegiality on pro football shrank in the face of his greater some of the heaviest fighting of the war. both sides of the aisle. He walked the halls aspiration—he wanted to attend law school, It was this war experience that trans- of Congress with a young John Kennedy and he set his sights on Yale. formed the young man from an isolationist and became friends with Richard Nixon. In Yale did not admit Ford to its law school, into an internationalist—much as the rest of late 1963, President Lyndon Johnson asked but it did hire him as an assistant football the nation had been transformed. No longer Ford to serve on the , a

A “Providential” President Prologue 39 elected and appointed gov­ With the Watergate investigation under Grand Rapids tailor was asked if he paid his ernment officials charged with investigating way, Vice President resigned bills on time, and one football player was President Kennedy’s . his position in October 1973, amid bribery asked if Ford was a dirty player since he was Ford was a staunch Republican but called charges for deals struck while he was gover­ once flagged for a tackle after the whistle. No many Democrats his close friends. He took to nor of . stone was left unturned; no lead was too small. task Democratic Presidents and members of Under the provisions of the 25th In the end, a 1,700-page report unearthed Congress over expenditures or over military Amendment (Presidential Disability and only a commodity—an honest . matters. He argued with Republicans who Succession) the President nominates someone After an intense congressional investiga­ proposed what he considered needless spend­ to be Vice President. Nixon asked leaders from tion and hearing, Ford was confirmed as Vice ing. He disagreed without being disagreeable; each party to submit names to be the nominee. President of the United States in December Ford had many adversaries but no enemies. When the submissions were tallied, Gerald R. 1973. Of the 517 members of Congress who In 1965, Republican congressional col­ Ford was the overwhelming choice. Ford en­ voted, 479 cast their votes for him. leagues drafted Ford to run for the House joyed the support of both parties, a necessary It would not be a long vice presidency. Minority Leader post, which he won and ingredient for the nomination to be successful. held for eight years. His ultimate dream was This was a critical time, as the Watergate in­ not the Speaker’s Gavel, to become Speaker of the House, a role he vestigation uncovered more and more evidence but a bigger challenge could never achieve unless Republicans won that the President was at least circumstantially Nine months later, on , 1974, a the majority of seats in the House. involved in a cover-up of the Watergate bur­ somber Ford stood in the of the glary. The new Vice President might have . Nixon had just resigned the A Dramatic change to assume the nation’s highest office if the presidency, Ford had taken the oath of of­ in retirement plans President was implicated and impeached. fice, and now the 38th President sought to Ford and his wife, Betty, decided that he Friends in the Democratic Party endorsed assure a troubled nation: would retire in 1976 after the 1972 election Ford’s nomination. The oath I have taken is the same oath failed to bring the House a Republican majority. , a liberal Democrat from that was taken by Circumstances delayed the planned , said upon Ford’s nomination as and by every President under the retirement. Vice President, “I doubt if there has ever been Constitution. But I assume the Presidency During the 1972 presidential campaign, a time when integrity has so surpassed ideology under extraordinary circumstances never a group of men broke into the Democratic in the judging of a man for so high an office.” before experienced by Americans. This is National Committee headquarters at the Another member of the Michigan congres­ an hour of history that troubles our minds Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., at­ sional delegation, Democrat Martha Griffith, and hurts our hearts. . . . I am acutely tempting to tap or bug the place. The bur­ said, “In all the years I sat in the House, I nev­ aware that you have not elected me as glars were arrested, and a two-year investiga­ er knew Mr. Ford to make a dishonest state­ your President by your ballots, and so I ask tion into the break-in began what became ment or a statement half true or half false.” you to confirm me as your President with famously known as the Watergate — The Federal Bureau of Investigation dis­ your prayers. . . . My fellow Americans, a scandal that led all the way to the Oval patched more than 300 agents across the our long national nightmare is over. Our Office and Richard Nixon. country to investigate the nominee. Ford’s Constitution works; our great Republic

To learn more about • Ford’s life and his presidency, go to www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov. . . . he was the kind • Ford’s receipt of the , go to www. jf kl i b rar y.or g /Even ts -a n d -Awar d s /Pr of il e ­ of President Americans wanted— in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/Gerald­ Ford-2001.aspx • The transition from R ichard Nixon to Ger­ and didn’t know they had. ald Ford, go to www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/ grf/ATimeToHeal.asp

40 Prologue Summer 2013 MacArthur—the same issues that damaged his approval rating while in office. , once an afterthought as a Founding Father, has now been granted his proper place among the most important fig­ ures in the birth of our nation. Each President has left a legacy, even , who died a month after be­ ing sworn into office. As the first chief execu­ tive to die in office, Harrison’s legacy in part rests with Vice President , whose assumption of the presidency confirmed the constitutional transfer of that office. So what about Gerald R. Ford’s legacy? His presidency was the fifth shortest in history, a term that lasted just under 900 Candidate Gerald Ford stumps for votes in his first congressional campaign in 1948. days. He was elected neither Vice President nor President—the only chief executive in is a government of laws and not of men. unto thine own understanding. In all ways ac­ our history with that distinction. He suc­ Here the people rule. knowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” ceeded both a disgraced Vice President and Remembering that dark summer of 1974, Within a week, Ford spoke to a joint ses­ President upon their resignations due to there was plenty wrong in the country and sion of Congress to lay out his agenda for the scandal. in the world: Long gas lines, double-digit work ahead. In his plain-spoken way, he told Watergate was the biggest constitutional , increased unemployment resulting the legislators, “I don’t want a honeymoon crisis since the Civil War. in the worst economic time in the 20th cen­ with you. I want a good marriage”—a work­ A President had run roughshod over the tury since the Great Depression. ing partnership between the two branches of Constitution and the law, staining our na­ The U.S. Government was supporting a government based on compromise, not on tion’s highest office. Americans at home and teetering regime in ; the Cold party lines. He reached out to opponents to abroad were at a low point, maybe the lowest War still raged; and partisan bickering be­ put differences aside for the good of the land. in the 20th century as the combined issues tween two major parties was intense. As if that of Watergate and the end of the Vietnam weren’t enough, the country saw the unprec­ ford’s legacy: taking War left the public disillusioned and other edented resignation of a disgraced President. office in time of crisis nations worried. “Aside from Washington, Lincoln and The great thing about history is that it does Yet in fewer than two years, our coun­ FDR . . . it’s difficult to recall a President change. Perceptions of the past transform as try’s spirit was buoyed as the United States who took office amid less favorable circum­ our opinions evolve, documentary evidence celebrated its Bicentennial in 1976. Red, stances,” historian wrote. is unearthed, new studies are published, and white, and blue was the theme everywhere. And if the country and the presidency were emotions wane over time. lit up the skies, and the past was in dire straits, Ford had the added misfor­ There are no better examples of changes celebrated as more museums opened in that tune of facing a Democratic Congress that to how we view history than the reevalua­ year than any other time. couldn’t wait for the 1976 election to return tions of the 43 men who have served as our One of Ford’s closest friends in Congress a Democrat to the White House. nation’s chief executive. Harry Truman, who was the majority leader, Thomas P. “Tip” With the odds stacked against him, Ford left office with the lowest approval rating O’Neill, who was speaker from 1977 to persevered. of the 20th century, is now considered one 1987 but was the No. 2 Democrat in the A prayer from Proverbs, passed on to him of our 10 best Presidents, due in no small House when Ford was still Republican lead­ by his mother, would be recalled many times part to the way he confronted the Soviet er. They traded political attacks during the as he confronted the nation’s ills—“Trust in threat, his straightforward approach to is­ daytime but, when the day was over, dis­ the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not sues, and his standing up to Gen. Douglas played a friendship that would last.

A “Providential” President Prologue 41 Left: President Ford and Representative Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill at the Andrews Air Force Base golf course, September 16, 1974. Although of opposite parties, they maintained good relations. Right: Presi­ dent Gerald Ford with Soviet General Secretary at Vozdvizhenka Air Base, near Vladi­ vostok, USSR, November 24, 1974. Ford continued Nixon’s policies of détente.

“God has been good to America, espe­ 18 months, inflation was reduced by half, and which made human rights a bargaining chip cially during difficult times,” O’Neill would the jobless rate was down. He began the idea in any negotiation between the write later. “At the time of the Civil War, he of to encourage free enterprise Nations and the other signatories. gave us . And at the time rather than stifle it. By the end of his term, later said the Helsinki of Watergate, he gave us Gerald Ford—the telephones and airlines were affected by the agreement was one of the most important right man at the right time who was able marketplace rather than the government. pieces in bringing down the USSR and com­ to put our nation back together again. . . . Ford also tackled government spending, munism in . No longer could an East [T]he transition from Nixon’s administra­ vetoing more bills in his 30 months in of­ Germany or ignore the public tion to Ford’s was a thing of awe and dignity.” fice than did in eight years. outcry from America over how those nations Presidential historian Richard Norton Legislation with tacked-on, special projects treated their citizens. Smith wrote, “Gerald Ford’s presidency was was his favorite target. He trimmed govern­ Yet Ford’s own party railed against the less accidental than providential.” ment spending yet was compromising enough agreement. The right wing of his party lam­ to put aside his desire to cut taxes. By his last basted the move as a sellout to the Soviets; ford Vetoes legislation day in office, the economy was in better shape the Journal wrote, “Jerry Don’t to hold Down Spending than it would be for the next six years. Go.” But Gerald Ford felt it was the right Three days after assuming office, the new In the , Ford continued détente thing to do, saying, “I would rather read President arrived at the Capitol to address a with the Soviet Union and the People’s that [“Jerry Don’t Go”] than headlines all joint session of Congress. Republic of , begun by Nixon. He over Europe saying, ‘United States Boycotts “My fellow Americans, we have a lot of work developed a warm relationship with Soviet Peace Hopes.’” to do. My former colleagues, you and I have a leader Leonid Brezhnev and traveled to lot of work to do. Let’s get on with it.” Ford's China, moving ahead the process of the U.S. the : first priority was the economy. To him, infla­ recognition of China, which came to frui­ Winding it Down tion was “domestic enemy number one.” tion under Jimmy Carter. As immediate and troubling as the Cold He immediately gathered economists to as­ Ford’s greatest Cold War achievement cen­ War and the nation’s economy were, they sess the issue; he trimmed government spend­ tered on his decision to go to Helsinki, Finland, paled in comparison to the deep wounds to ing and anything else that might get this in 1975. There the leaders of Western and the country’s psyche left by Watergate and drain on the economy under control. Within Eastern Europe signed the , the Vietnam War.

42 Prologue Summer 2013 Left: President Ford in the during the massive evacuation from Saigon in April 1975. He pushed for the rescue of Americans and Vietnamese despite the risk to his career. Right: President Ford rings the ship’s bell of the USS Forrestal during Operation Sail in New York harbor, commemorating the Bicentennial, July 4, 1976.

Eleven days after being sworn in, Ford be­ Ford would not abandon those Vietnamese bringing closure gan the healing process by offering conditional sure to face reprisals. Ford ordered around­ to Watergate clemency for the 50,000 draft resisters who had the-clock evacuation of refugees late in April Ford’s most lasting legacy was the heal­ fled to other nations rather than serving in what 1975, and he did this at great risk to his ing of the country. Vietnam and Watergate they believed was an unjust war. This action political career—there would not be wide were bad enough on their own, but to have was in sharp contrast to the hard-line stance of acclaim for the success of the evacuation, both at the same time left Americans doubt­ Nixon, who offered no remedial sympathy for but should more American troops be lost, ing themselves, their government, and their the young men who had broken the law. the blame would be placed squarely on his nation. What makes Ford’s action all the more no­ shoulders. Former Secretary of State table is where he chose to announce his plan. Yet he was adamant that we should res­ said that Ford “saved the country. In fact, he He went before no liberal forum where it cue as many as we could, especially the most did it in such a matter-of-fact way that he would be applauded but instead announced innocent of all—the many young orphans isn’t given credit for it.” his plans in front of an audience that would who populated South Vietnam. Over sev­ Kissinger added, “Ford’s lack of ego be the toughest to persuade—the national eral days, Americans and Vietnamese were became part of the healing process after convention of the VFW. evacuated as a despondent America watched Vietnam and Watergate. He carried off one But that was Ford. He never took the easy the drama unfold on television. of the most complex assumptions of author­ path; he confronted his would-be critics To Ford, it was “as low a point in my ad­ ity with such apparent ease, and he estab­ head on. ministration as any.” One hundred twenty lished his brand of leadership at home and Less than a year later, the final chapter in thousand refugees had been saved, but they abroad with such remarkable speed that it our country’s involvement in Vietnam was had no place to go—Thailand and other Far came to be forgotten how close to chaos being written. The North Vietnamese army East nations refused them. Watergate had brought us. Other Presidents launched an offensive against the South, Ford requested aid from Congress to help were to receive the credit for winning the aiming to crush what remained of the op­ the refugees find homes in America. Again Cold War.” posing army. The U.S. military brass advised Congress balked, but this time Ford would Kissinger continued, “But I am certain the Ford that hundreds of millions of dollars of not be denied, and after a long struggle, time will come when it is recognized that the military aid would be needed to help South many refugees came to the United States. Cold War could not have been won had not Vietnam hold on, but Congress refused to He personally contacted friends across the Gerald Ford, at a tragic period of America’s provide funds. The decision doomed South nation to help settle the refugees, and this history, been there to keep us from losing it.” Vietnam, and its populace panicked, espe­ is why so many Vietnamese settled in his Historian Walter Isaacson underscored cially those who supported U.S. efforts. hometown of Grand Rapids. Kissinger’s assessment when he wrote,

A “Providential” President Prologue 43 Left: President Ford, First Lady , and daugh­ ter, Susan, walk their dog at in August 1979. Opposite left: Senator Edward Kennedy and former President Gerald Ford after Ford received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, 2001. Opposite right: The President and his staff watch elec­ tion returns in the Oval Office on November 5, 1974.

an obligation to history, but history had no obligation to him. Years later, , one of reporters who covered the and a vocal critic at the time of Ford’s pardon of Nixon, wrote: What at first and perhaps for many years looked like a decision to protect Nixon was instead largely designed to protect the nation. Watergate was a poi­ son that would not go away. . . . The only way out of the Watergate atmo­ sphere was to move fast, to short circuit the process. Preoccupation with Nixon’s fate could have continued for years. History would prove Ford right. In 2001, Ford received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. At the award ceremony, Senator Edward Kennedy, the younger brother of President “Either by luck, happenstance, or divine advice of many of his advisers and certain­ Kennedy, praised Ford for making “a coura­ grace the nation’s constitutional process had ly to the detriment of his own popularity, geous decision, one that historians now say come forth with an unexpected President Ford granted a full and complete pardon to cost him his office, and he pardoned Richard who was right for the moment.” Nixon for all offenses he committed while Nixon.” The healing of the nation could not have President. Kennedy also admitted: “I was one of occurred if Ford hadn’t had the courage “I know this is going to be harmful, from those who spoke out against his action to put his political capital in harm’s way. a political standpoint, but it doesn’t mat­ then. But time has a way of clarifying past Ford’s approval rating soared during his first ter; it’s the right thing to do,” Ford said. events, and now we see that President Ford month in office. He was open and candid, Thousands of angry calls, telegrams, and let­ was right. His courage and dedication to and he became close to the media. He made ters flooded the White House. Newspapers our country made it possible for us to begin himself available to all of them—an abrupt across the land raked Ford over the coals. the process of healing and put the tragedy about-face from previous administrations. Democrats, and many other Americans, of Watergate behind us. He eminently de­ He probably could have carried that approv­ believed a deal was made before Nixon re­ serves this award, and we are proud of his al rating all the way to an election victory signed. And Ford’s own press secretary and achievement.” in1976. friend, Jerry terHorst, immediately resigned. Yet Ford knew that the country needed The firestorm that ensued was expected, ford Makes historic Visit to move forward, but it couldn’t as long as but not its intensity. Ford had decided that to explain pardon to congress the Watergate issue and Richard Nixon’s fate 200 million people needed to move forward, In the wake of pardoning Nixon, Ford was continued to dominate the public discourse. but they could not until the problems of baffled by the arguments of his critics who One month after taking office, against the one man were gone. Ford believed he had failed to see that by accepting the pardon,

44 Prologue Summer 2013 Nixon actually confessed his guilt. Ford in as President were: “For myself and for our Note on Sources could not understand why his critics could nation, I want to thank my predecessor for The Gerald R. Ford (Ann not see the same. all he has done to heal our land.” Arbor, MI) and Museum (Grand Rapids, MI) Ford’s courage was doubly illustrated by Washington Post columnist David Broder provide a wealth of information about the life, career, and administration of the 38th President the congressional fallout from the pardon. wrote the day Ford left office, “In an odd, of the United States. The Democrat-controlled Congress wanted inexplicable way the truth has begun to This article also drew from the Public Papers of to launch hearings to determine whether a dawn on people in of Gerald the Presidents: Gerald R. Ford and A Time to Heal: deal was made. R. Ford’s tenure that he was the kind of The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford(New York: In one of the boldest moves by any President Americans wanted—and didn’t Harper Row, 1978). Secondary sources used in the drafting of President, Ford, against every adviser’s pro­ know they had.” this article include: James Cannon, Time and testations, agreed to testify before the House • Chance: Gerald R. Ford’s Appointment With Judiciary Committee. It was the first time History (New York: Harper Collins, 1994); David since Lincoln that a sitting President had Gerald R. Ford passed away in late Hume Kennerly, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford(Austin, Center testified before Congress. Furthermore, he December 2006. For the next week, pundits for American History, 2007); Douglas Brinkley, went before Congress with no advisers or and historians praised the 38th President of Gerald R. Ford (New York: Times Books, 2007); lawyers—alone, with no notes, no briefing the United States even as the nation mourn­ Thomas O’Neill with William Novak, Man of the book, and no fear. The hearing was short, ed his passing. House: The Life and Political Memoirs of Speaker and the congressional investigation stopped. President Ford’s obituary in the New York Tip O’Neill (New York: Random House, 1987); and Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a Times noted his greatest achievement when It has been the norm for Presidents to is­ President (New York: Bantam Books, 1982). sue at the end of their terms when it said: “Mr. Ford deserves to be remembered Also referenced is Black and Blue: The Story of the political fallout would be nil. Ford by for more than a pardon. Marking the end of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Michigan- contrast pardoned Nixon at the beginning a national nightmare is no small thing.” Georgia Tech Football Game, a Brian Kruger and Buddy Moorehouse Film. of his presidency when the consequences Per Ford’s instructions, when his body would be the greatest. Ford’s bid to win the was flown in back to Grand Author presidency in his own right came up short, Rapids for burial, the plane made a pass in no doubt because of the lingering effects of Ann Arbor over Michigan Stadium, where Jim Kratsas has been the deputy the pardon. In 1976, he narrowly lost to for­ Ford played football with the Wolverines and director for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum for 24 years. mer Georgia governor Jimmy Carter in his Willis Ward. And when the plane landed in He joined the National Archives at Grand Rapids, the University of Michigan bid to win an elected term. the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in An 895-day presidency had come to an marching band played not only “Hail to the 1985. He has worked at the Museum of History end, but its influences still reverberate today. Chief ” but the university’s hymn and its and has been an adjunct professor at Dekalb College in The greatest tribute came from the his suc­ fight song. Georgia as well as at Grand Valley State University and cessor. Carter’s first words upon being sworn Gerald R. Ford, Jr., was home. P Aquinas College in Michigan.

A “Providential” President Prologue 45