50 years after Gerald Ford became president, scholars ponder modern parallels

As the nation looks ahead to the upcoming presidential election at a time of political uncertainty, some in Michigan will look back on Friday to the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of a man who became president under extraordinary circumstances.

During a Aug. 9, 1974, ceremony at the White House, Vice President Gerald R. Ford — who had been a long-time U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th district — took the oath of office.

His wife, Betty, held the Bible, which was open to Proverbs 3:5-6, verses that emphasized trusting "in the Lord;" and Ford, who was appointed vice president just eight months earlier, became the first — and only — person to hold both top offices without having been elected to either.

Leading up to Ford's presidency, the nation had faced some dark times, the assassinations of a sitting president and presidential candidate, including racial strife, international conflict, economic hardship, scandal and discord. How would Ford view the juncture America finds itself in now?

"I think Ford would look at this moment and say tumultuous times are part of the long arc of history," Celeste Watkins-Hayes, dean of the University of Michigan's public policy school that now bears Ford's name, said during a recent PBS segment about the anniversary. These times, she added, can feel "very anxiety producing and very worrying," but Ford would likely ask "what are the areas of common ground, what are the areas of common concern, and how do we move forward on the basis of those?"

In many ways, Ford’s inauguration and presidency is a reminder to Michiganders of the place the state holds in history in shaping the only president to come from it. It also is reassurance to Americans that, even in challenging times, the message that Ford delivered in his first presidential address is true: The democratic process works.

After leaving office, Ford, a Republican, also offered some thoughts on women in the White House, which some voters find relevant today.

To mark the milestone anniversary, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids is opening a year-long exhibit, "Ford at 50: Decisions that Defined a Presidency," displaying artifacts and film footage that chronicle some of Ford’s most difficult and controversial decisions.

Moreover, at 6:30 p.m., the museum is sponsoring a variety of activities and tributes at a West Michigan Whitecaps game at the LMCU Ballpark just north of Grand Rapids in Comstack Park. Ford’s nephew, Greg Ford, is scheduled to throw out the first pitch, and the first 1,000 attendees will receive a Gerald R. Ford bobblehead.

But, history shows, Ford was no bobblehead politician.

While in office, one contemporary told Ford he was acting like "too much of a boy scout," taking principled stances on issues. Ford, who was an Eagle Scout, responded that a boy scout was what the American people wanted and he intended to use the aspirations and ideals of scouting as a "guide and compass."

"In a time of ethical relativism and political cynicism, Ford’s personal integrity stood out," Gleaves Whitney, the executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation in Grand Rapids, wrote in a yet-unpublished essay he emailed the Free Press. "His presidency was characterized by transparency and accountability, with frequent news conferences to rebuild trust with the media and the American people."

An office he never sought

Ford’s tenure as president was short — just 2 years and 164 days — but not the shortest in history.

William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia after 32 days in office. James Garfield was shot and died after 199 days. Zachary Taylor suffered from a bacterial infection after a year and 127 days. Warren Harding died from a heart attack after 2 years and 151 days.

In many ways Ford's presidency was a test of a peaceful transfer of executive power, which was an area of the Constitution that was clarified by the 25th Amendment and ratified in 1967, Daniel Clark, an Oakland University history professor, explained.

"No one anticipated, when that amendment was passed, it would be put to the test so quickly," Clark said, adding that the question of transfer of power is one of the parallels of what happened then has for today. "Can we continue to rely on peaceful transfers of power?"

Clark, who grew up in Midland and was 15 when Ford became president, recalled that he had gone on a week-long canoe trip up north. When he left, he said, Nixon was president; when he came back home, Ford occupied the Oval Office.

Ford's presidency, Clark also noted, was — and is — a source of pride for Michiganders, who recognized Ford, a son of Grand Rapids, as one of their own, even though he was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Ford, who was named Leslie Lynch King Jr. at birth after his biological father, ended up in Michigan after his parents separated. Ford said his father was abusive to his mother. To get away, his mother moved them to Oak Park, Illinois. Then they relocated to Grand Rapids, where his grandparents lived.

Ford’s parents divorced and his mother married Gerald Rudolff Ford, a businessman.

Ford adopted his stepfather’s name, becoming Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr. To his friends, he was just Jerry.

As a boy, Ford got involved with sports and scouting, becoming an Eagle Scout, the only president to do so. A standout athlete, Ford went on to play football at the University of Michigan. While on the team, the Wolverines won two national titles.

Ford went on to Yale Law School, where he also coached football and boxing.

Still, Ford loved football and his undergraduate alma mater so much that, as president, instead of "Hail to the Chief," he reportedly would have the band play "The Victors," the U-M fight song.

Ford joined the Navy, served as an officer, and returned to Grand Rapids, where he had a law practice and became active in politics, running for congress. He held the seat for 25 years, with an ambition to become Speaker of the House. Instead, he settled for minority leader.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew pleaded no contest to income-tax evasion and resigned. To replace him, President Richard Nixon selected Ford, which, the congressman from Michigan figured, was the highest political position he would attain, according to Ford’s obituary in the New York Times.

But a few months later, Nixon resigned and Ford became president.

When Ford died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, in 2006, the Times praised Ford, who it said had "gently led the United States out of the tumultuous Watergate era." It noted the 93-year-old former president had a "common touch" and "uncommon virtue."

And yet, the Times obituary also pointed out, Ford was thrust into an office "he had never sought."

 Our 'national nightmare is over'

Ford’s inauguration speech — a talk, he called it — was brief.

"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers," he told the nation, making clear that he had not "gained office by any secret promises."

But in becoming president though a Constitutional process, as opposed to a party nomination and election, Ford reasoned he was not bound by a "partisan platform" nor was he "indebted to no man, and only to one woman — my dear wife, Betty."

During that speech, he also uttered some of the best-known phrases of his presidency.

"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over," Ford said, referring to the Watergate office building break-in that had gripped the nation and forced Nixon to resign, the first president ever to do so. "Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule."

A month later, Ford pardoned Nixon, a controversial decision that led to the resignation of the Detroit News reporter Ford had appointed as his press secretary, and, some said, was an act that helped doom Ford’s chances for re-election.

But many historians also recognize Ford's pardon — Proclamation 4311 — was the right decision for America.

Nixon, who, until Ford's pardon insisted he had not committed crimes, released a contrite statement, expressing "regret and pain" at the "anguish my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and the presidency."

He added: "I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy."

A woman in the White House

After he left office, Ford put his presidential library in Ann Arbor, honoring his connection to the University of Michigan, and his presidential museum in Grand Rapids, his hometown until he went to Washington D.C. Both are operated as one entity.

And in 1989, Ford was in West Branch, Iowa, where former President Herbert Hoover was from, for a conference for former presidents. Ford spoke to a group of school children, and one of them, a girl, asked him a prophetic question.

"What advice would you give a young lady wanting to become president of the United States?"

Ford’s response, recorded on video, has had some relevance in these past few months, and recently has been circulating on social media. Ford gently told the girl that he hoped that at some point a woman would become president.

"I can tell you how I think it will happen," he said to her, although he added he didn't believe such an event would happen through the "normal course of events." He said he thought a woman might become president "sometime in the next four or eight years."

His prediction:

"Either the Republican or Democrat political party will nominate a man for president and a woman for vice president, and the woman and man will win," he said. "And in that term of office of the president, the president will die, and the woman will become president under the law, our Constitution."

But Ford didn't stop at forecasting how the first woman might become president, he added: "And once that barrier is broken, from then on, men better be careful because they’ll have a hard, hard time ever even getting a nomination in the future."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.