July 2014
I made my first visit to the Gerald R. Ford
Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to celebrate President Ford’s
birthday, July 14. (The Ford Presidential Library is in Ann Arbor.) I toured
the magnificent Museum and enjoyed the historical exhibits of Mr. Ford’s
administration from August 9, 1974, to January 20, 1977.
Mr. Ford’s statue outside the museum is most
impressive. On the plinth are words from former House Speaker Tip O’Neill, “
God has been good to America especially during difficult times. At the time of
the Civil War, he gave us Abraham Lincoln. And at the time of Watergate, he
gave us Gerald Ford – the right man at the right time who was able to put our
nation back together again.”
Former Ford administration Commerce Department
official James A. Baker II, also the 61st Secretary of State, was
keynote speaker for the William E. Simon Lecture in Grand Rapids on July 14, 2014. Simon, an advocate
of free trade, and liberalization of trade and investment, served as Treasury
secretary for President.
During Q&A, Baker
said he served as Presidential Chief of Staff longer than anyone in history and
“I didn't go to jail.” The Chief’s job is to “catch the javelins intended for
the old man,” he laughed.
In opening remarks, Baker said Ford “served his
fellow Americans with dignity.” President Gerald Ford had “a true moral
compass,” Baker said. He noted Ford was Pacific war hero with the intellect of
a Yale Law graduate. “Gerald Ford was “a beautiful human being.”
Ford’s most exemplary traits, Baker said, included selflessness,
bipartisanship, and perseverance in the face of adversity. “Compromise is the oil that makes government
go,” he recalled Ford saying. He said Ford had no political enemies. He said
former First Lady Betty Ford turned Her “trials into triumphs.” Baker said Ford
left a “sizable footprint in U.S. history.”
Among current challenges facing our country, Baker
cited developing regional stability in the Middle East. Obama needs to have a
multilateral strategy for Iraq and Syria to end the terror. He said the
Islamist State controls much of both countries and is a danger to the region
and to the world.
Baker called Transpacific Trade Partnership was critical and Obama needed to provide the political leadership to get the trade agreement settled via fast-track authority where Senate debate would be limited to 20 hours with no changes to the agreement.
President Obama needs to correct a squishy foreign policy, Baked said. Just back from a State Funeral in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Baker said Russian control of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine has many other countries worried about a growing war and greater economic and political destabilization. He said economic sanctions need to tougher. He said U.S. Army and Naval resources needed to be increased in Poland as a deterrent to broader Russian expansion.
President Obama needs to correct a squishy foreign policy, Baked said. Just back from a State Funeral in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Baker said Russian control of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine has many other countries worried about a growing war and greater economic and political destabilization. He said economic sanctions need to tougher. He said U.S. Army and Naval resources needed to be increased in Poland as a deterrent to broader Russian expansion.
Climate change is another pressing challenge Baker
said, stressing it is a global challenge. He said he supports US reduction in carbon
emissions but China and India must do the same. President Obama’s plan, Baker
suggested, could damage our economic recovery. The US effort to address climate
change, he said, must be in conjunction with other countries to be successful.
Other issues Baker mentioned were immigration
reform, education reforms, and the political polarization that has paralyzed
Washington. He said President Obama needed to provide leadership to revive bipartisanship.
Baker ended by calling President Ford an “honest,
ethical and talented public servant” and a “true American patriot who always
put our country’s interest before his own.”
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Ford Ballroom, Amway Grand Hotel, Grand Rapids
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Honorable Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill statement on the Ford statue
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Resting place for President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford, Ford Museum, Grand Rapids, MI.
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Diplomat Jim Patterson with the Gerald R. Ford US Postage Stamp
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President Gerald R. Ford receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President and Mrs, Clinton
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Diplomat Jim Patterson after worship at the Ford family parish, Grace Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids, MI, July 2014. This is a beautiful church with great study rooms and social areas.
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Diplomat Jim Patterson at sign commemorating the 40th anniversary of President Ford's inaugural, August 9, 1074.
Ways to Honor President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford
1. Visit
the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids and Library in Ann Arbor.
2. Support
the Gerald R. Ford Foundation.
3. Make
a donation to the Ford family church, Grace Episcopal Church, in Grand Rapids.
4. Ask
the Postmaster General to re-issue the Ford stamp as a Forever stamp.
5. Thank
the people at the Ford Museum and Library for all they do for the Ford family
6. Read
books on Mr. Ford’s presidency, Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s is
a great book!
7. Attend
the annual Ford Journalism Award at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Awards
are for national Defense and White House reporting.
8. Direct
convention business to Grand Rapids.
9. Tell
the Republican National Committee in Washington to prominently place Mr. Ford’s
portrait in the building or in the Capitol Hill Club.
President
Gerald R. Ford was Healer in Chief
James
Patterson, August 9, 2005
On August 9, 1974, when Vice President Gerald R.
Ford assumed the Presidency under terms of the 25th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, I was visiting with an economics professor at Auburn
University. We listened to the historic news on his radio. It was a time of
great national concern.
I listened as President Ford addressed the nation.
“Our long national nightmare is over,” he said referring to the Watergate
crimes of President Richard Nixon.
President Ford spoke with a sincerity that appealed to me. I liked his long international and foreign policy experience. I also liked that he asked Dr. Henry Kissinger to remain at State and continue to open diplomatic channels to Beijing and Moscow.
President Ford spoke with a sincerity that appealed to me. I liked his long international and foreign policy experience. I also liked that he asked Dr. Henry Kissinger to remain at State and continue to open diplomatic channels to Beijing and Moscow.
Soon after Mr. Ford’s “inaugural” address, I joined
Auburn University Young Republicans, Mr. Ford inherited a troubled economy and
a country in near political chaos. I wanted to help him. It can’t be said I joined the party at a
political high point in Alabama.
At that time, Alabama’s Republican Party was
virtually non-existent. In contrast,
today Alabama’s Democratic Party is virtually non-existent! The same phenomenon
has occurred all across the South. I’d like to say I had the wisdom to foresee
a major political re-alignment in the region. I didn’t know that would happen.
Instead, I liked Ford and I wanted to help him.
My enthusiasm and position in the Young Republicans
led me to meetings with Alabama Republican Party officials in Birmingham and
Montgomery. In 1976, I was selected as a member of a national youth group
called The Presidentials. In total, there were over 200 hundred of us.
As a member of The Presidentials, I worked for the
Ford Presidential campaign in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Later, I
traveled to Kansas City, where I had a leadership role with The Presidentials.
It was my first national convention. What a convention it was!
Neither President Ford nor California Governor
Ronald Reagan had the presidential nomination sewn up going into the
convention. As a result, each day was tense. Still, celebrities Cary Grant,
Gordon MacRae, Sonny Bono, Pat Boone, Tony Orlando and Edgar Bergen were among
the happy conventioneers and guests.
Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, a longtime
personal and political hero, was head of the New York delegation for President
Ford. He sat at a table with the New York delegates on the convention floor.
The Vice President had a direct telephone line to
President Ford. One day, an angry Reagan delegate from Texas came to
Rockefeller’s table and instigated a confrontation. The Reagan delegate jerked
Rockefeller’s telephone from its connection. For a short time that tense day,
the Vice President had no direct connection with President Ford. What if?
After long nights of hard politicking, President
Ford secured the presidential nomination. The Presidentials were on the
convention floor as President Ford gave
his acceptance speech. Ronald and Nancy Reagan, sitting high in the rafters of
Kemper Area, responded to President Ford’s wave to come and share the moment.
Reagan gave a crowd pleasing short speech.
Despite their political disagreements, President
Ford and Governor Reagan left eh convention as friends. I learned a valuable
lesson from the Ford-Reagan example: Discuss your differences, settle them, and
walk away friends. I have used that approach as a diplomat, economist and
politician.
After the convention, members of the Presidentials returned to their home
states and campaigned for the Ford/Dole ticket. (Kansas GOP Senator Bob Dole
was the 1976 vice presidential candidate.)
The vote was close, but, in the end, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter was
elected president.
As Mr. Ford prepared to leave office, the Wall
Street Journal opined the country needed more than a strong leader in office
after the Nixon resignation over Watergate crimes. “What the country needed
this time was a healer, and that is what it got in Gerald Ford.”
In his inaugural speech, President Carter thanked
President Ford “for all he has done to heal our land.” President Ford would
later title his presidential memoir “A Time to Heal.” I have an autographed
copy of it in my library.
In 1999, President Ford received the Congressional
Gold Medal. President Bill Clinton awarded Mr. Ford the Presidential Medal of
Freedom that same year. President and Mrs, Ford have enjoyed active retirement
years together in California. I am a longtime member of the Gerald R. Ford
Foundation.
Gerald
R. Ford, a profile in courage
Jim
Patterson, May 28, 2001
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston
bestowed the Profile in Courage Award to President Gerald R. Ford, the 38th
President of the United States.
As I read about the award to Mr. Ford, I recalled my
work as a Young Republican at Auburn University during the Ford administration.
Those were difficult days for us Republicans. Still, they were the best days of
my young life in politics.
Ford’s ascendancy to the presidency was filled with
high drama. The resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew for taking
“kickbacks” while Governor of Maryland opened the political door for Michigan
US. Representative and House Minority leader Gerald R. Ford, of Grand Rapids,
to become Vice President.
On August 9, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon resigned
due to Watergate crimes and Ford became President of the United States. Ford is
our only Constitutionally appointed president.
Ford moved quickly to nominate former New York
Governor Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President. Republicans across the country
were disheartened with Nixon’s resignation.
Democrats, in control of Congress, used the
Watergate scandal against Republicans from maine to California. The 1974
mid-term election produced a significant number of new Democrats, the so-called
Watergate class of legislators.
Yes, things looked horrible for Republicans. At
Auburn, our monthly Young Republican meetings consisted of only office holders.
New member recruitment was a dream. Democrats abounded on campus. I served as
state committeeman and represented our group at the state convention, which was
also disheartened by Watergate.
Ronald Reagan supporters, including Judge Guy Hunt,
who was later elected Alabama governor, enlivened the state party convention.
When it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, the media began to focus on the
new Ford administration. Fortunately,
many of President Nixon’s top hands remained to serve Mr. Ford, thus avoiding
partisan political battles over new nominees on Capitol Hill.
Although Mr. Nixon resigned in 1974, Democrats
intended to pursue him legally for Watergate crimes. They were eager to jail
Nixon.
Ford realized his job was to move the Nation forward
and get past Nixon and Watergate. On a Sunday morning in September 1974, Ford,
on national television, took a controversial move and issued “a full, complete,
and absolute pardon to President Richard M. Nixon for any and all offenses
against the United States of America.”
At once, Democrats began to scream about a “pardon
deal” bewtsween Ford nd Nixon. Mr. Ford testified to Congress there was no such
deal and his only concern was for the country and he felt the pardon was needed.
In granting the pardon, Mr. Ford demonstrated great political
courage and true political grit necessary to bring closure to the whole
Watergate scandal.
Certainly, Ford knew the pardon would not be
politically popular and he was right. Vicious political attacks from Democrats
began the day of the pardon. Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy campaigning in
California, at the time, called the pardon “the culmination of the Watergate
cover up. Instead of turning away from Watergate and instead of building on the
early record of [his] first weeks in office, instead of setting new standards
of respect for the presidency, the premature pardon of the former president has
sown new doubts.”
Contrary to Kennedy’s charge, Ford did bring respect and honor to the presidency. Due to his popularity and honesty, Mr. Ford sought to
become an elected president in 1976. After a bruising primary battle with
former California Governor Ronald Reagan, Ford narrowly lost the general
election to former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, himself a one-term president
thanks to Reagan.
History and even some Democrats have looked kindly
on Mr. Ford’s political courage in pardoning Nixon. Thus, the Profile in
Courage Award from the Kennedy Foundation. Today, Senator Edward Kennedy speaks
favorably of Mr. Ford. According to the Boston Globe, Senator Kennedy said, “Now
we clearly recognize Ford put the needs of the country ahead of his own. We now
know it took great political courage make that pardon. President Ford recognized
we had to return to the nation’s business, and pursuing Richard Nixon through
the courts would have diverted the country’s interest.”
A New York high school student nominated Ford, now
87, for the Profile in Courage Award and the Kennedy family agreed Ford had
shown enormous courage by granting Nixon the pardon.
Ford had a challenging presidency including raging
inflation, the fall of Saigon, the capture of the Mayaguez, a summit with
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev at Vladivostok, and a controversial human rights
agreement in Helsinki, the Helsinki Accords.
Ford had a full assortment of tough issues, domestically
and internationally, that demanded his full attention.
On the Sunday before the 1976 Presidential election,
Auburn University Young Republicans were invited to a Ford campaign event in
Plains, Georgia, the home of Jimmy Carter. We had a hay ride down main street Plains and were escorted out of town by Plains
police.
Note: The event was not a Ford campaign event. It was an
anti-Carter event sponsored by farmer foes to the Carter family. There is a big
difference in these types of events. I should have stayed away from this one.
Jim Patterson, Diplomat
Ford '76 Presidential
Here is my President Ford Convention Staff identification badge for access at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, 1976. I donated my convention papers to the Ford Library in Ann Arbor.
Here is Dr. Henry Kissinger's remembrance of President Ford
Gerald Ford was such a man. Propelled into the presidency by a sequence of unpredictable events, he had an impact so profound as rightly to be considered providential.
Unassuming and without guile, Gerald Ford undertook to restore the confidence of Americans in their political institutions and purposes. Never having aspired to national office, he was not consumed by driving ambition. In his understated way, he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery.
Gerald Ford had the virtues of small-town America: sincerity, serenity and integrity. As it turned out, his artless decency rather than glibness became a political asset, fostering an unusual closeness to leaders around the world, which continued long after he left office.
In recent days, the deserved commentary on Gerald Ford's character has sometimes obscured how good a President he had been.
Gerald Ford's prudence and common sense kept ethnic conflicts in Cyprus and Lebanon from spiraling into regional war. He presided over the final agony of Indochina with dignity and wisdom. In the Middle East, his persistence produced the first political agreement between Israel and Egypt. He helped shape the Final Act of the European Security Conference in Helsinki, which established an internationally recognized standard for human rights, now generally accepted as having hastened the collapse of the former Soviet empire.
In his presidency, the International Energy Agency was established, which still fosters cooperation among oil-consuming nations. Gerald Ford was one of the founders of the continuing annual economic summit for cooperation among the industrial democracies. Throughout his twenty-nine months in office, he persisted in conducting negotiations with our principal adversary over the reduction and control of nuclear weapons. He sparked the American initiative to bring majority rule to Southern Africa - a policy that was a major factor in ending colonial rule.
Gerald Ford's actions were suffused with an emphasis on humane values. He stunned experts and, I may say, his Secretary of State when he used the first call on him by the Soviet ambassador - five days after his inauguration - to intervene on behalf of a Lithuanian seaman, who, four years earlier, had, in a horrible bungle, been turned over to Soviet authorities after seeking asylum in America. Against all diplomatic precedent, Gerald Ford requested that the seaman - a Soviet citizen in a Soviet jail - not only be released but be turned over to American custody. Even more amazingly, his request was granted.
Throughout the final ordeal of Indochina, Gerald Ford focused on America's duty to rescue the maximum number of those who had cast their lot with us. The extraction of 150,000 refugees was the consequence, and, typically, Gerald Ford saw it as his duty to visit one of the refugee camps long after public attention had moved elsewhere.
Gerald Ford summed up his concern for human rights at the European Security Conference in Helsinki. Looking directly at Leonid Brezhnev, he proclaimed America's "deep devotion to human rights and individual freedoms, to my country, they are not clichés or empty phrases."
Historians will debate for a long time over which President contributed most to victory in the Cold War. Few will dispute the Cold War could not have been won had not Gerald Ford emerged at a tragic period to restore equilibrium to America and confidence in its international role.
Sustained by his beloved wife Betty and the children to whom he was devoted, Gerald Ford left the presidency with no regrets, no second-guessing, no obsessive pursuit of his place in history. For his friends, he leaves an aching void. Having known Jerry Ford and worked with him will be our badge of honor for the rest of our lives.
Early in his administration, Gerald Ford said to me, "I get mad as hell, but I don't show it, when I don't do as well as I should. If you don't strive for the best, you will never make it."
We are here to bear witness that Jerry Ford always did his best and that his best proved essential to renew our society and bring hope to the world.
Jim Patterson
www.HumanRightsIssues.com
Jim Patterson, Diplomat
Ford '76 Presidential
Here is Dr. Henry Kissinger's remembrance of President Ford
Eulogy For Gerald R. Ford
Washington, D.C.
January 2, 2007
According to an ancient tradition, God preserves humanity despite its many transgressions because, at any one period, there exist ten just individuals who redeem mankind, without being aware of their role.Gerald Ford was such a man. Propelled into the presidency by a sequence of unpredictable events, he had an impact so profound as rightly to be considered providential.
Unassuming and without guile, Gerald Ford undertook to restore the confidence of Americans in their political institutions and purposes. Never having aspired to national office, he was not consumed by driving ambition. In his understated way, he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery.
Gerald Ford had the virtues of small-town America: sincerity, serenity and integrity. As it turned out, his artless decency rather than glibness became a political asset, fostering an unusual closeness to leaders around the world, which continued long after he left office.
In recent days, the deserved commentary on Gerald Ford's character has sometimes obscured how good a President he had been.
Gerald Ford's prudence and common sense kept ethnic conflicts in Cyprus and Lebanon from spiraling into regional war. He presided over the final agony of Indochina with dignity and wisdom. In the Middle East, his persistence produced the first political agreement between Israel and Egypt. He helped shape the Final Act of the European Security Conference in Helsinki, which established an internationally recognized standard for human rights, now generally accepted as having hastened the collapse of the former Soviet empire.
In his presidency, the International Energy Agency was established, which still fosters cooperation among oil-consuming nations. Gerald Ford was one of the founders of the continuing annual economic summit for cooperation among the industrial democracies. Throughout his twenty-nine months in office, he persisted in conducting negotiations with our principal adversary over the reduction and control of nuclear weapons. He sparked the American initiative to bring majority rule to Southern Africa - a policy that was a major factor in ending colonial rule.
Gerald Ford's actions were suffused with an emphasis on humane values. He stunned experts and, I may say, his Secretary of State when he used the first call on him by the Soviet ambassador - five days after his inauguration - to intervene on behalf of a Lithuanian seaman, who, four years earlier, had, in a horrible bungle, been turned over to Soviet authorities after seeking asylum in America. Against all diplomatic precedent, Gerald Ford requested that the seaman - a Soviet citizen in a Soviet jail - not only be released but be turned over to American custody. Even more amazingly, his request was granted.
Throughout the final ordeal of Indochina, Gerald Ford focused on America's duty to rescue the maximum number of those who had cast their lot with us. The extraction of 150,000 refugees was the consequence, and, typically, Gerald Ford saw it as his duty to visit one of the refugee camps long after public attention had moved elsewhere.
Gerald Ford summed up his concern for human rights at the European Security Conference in Helsinki. Looking directly at Leonid Brezhnev, he proclaimed America's "deep devotion to human rights and individual freedoms, to my country, they are not clichés or empty phrases."
Historians will debate for a long time over which President contributed most to victory in the Cold War. Few will dispute the Cold War could not have been won had not Gerald Ford emerged at a tragic period to restore equilibrium to America and confidence in its international role.
Sustained by his beloved wife Betty and the children to whom he was devoted, Gerald Ford left the presidency with no regrets, no second-guessing, no obsessive pursuit of his place in history. For his friends, he leaves an aching void. Having known Jerry Ford and worked with him will be our badge of honor for the rest of our lives.
Early in his administration, Gerald Ford said to me, "I get mad as hell, but I don't show it, when I don't do as well as I should. If you don't strive for the best, you will never make it."
We are here to bear witness that Jerry Ford always did his best and that his best proved essential to renew our society and bring hope to the world.
Jim Patterson
www.HumanRightsIssues.com
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