The 41st President

‘He Gave Us A New Day’

I got to know Jerry Ford when I was running for the Senate down here in Texas in 1964. I lost that one, and then he campaigned actively for me in my House race in ‘66, which I won. When I got to Washington, he helped me get a seat on Ways and Means, which was a very great assignment for a freshman, and we became friends. He was well respected by people of different opinions, was

perceived as a guy who was a conservative fellow but who could get along with people.

In 1974, he had to pick a vice president, and I was considered one of the two names he might go with. One day–I’ll never forget it–Barbara and I were sitting on the front steps in Maine with the TV on in the background, and they said, “Well, he’s coming in now, he’s coming in now to announce his choice.” The telephone rang, and it was Jerry Ford, very courteous and thoughtful, and he said, “George, it was a very close decision I had to make, but I am going with Nelson Rockefeller”–which was kind of expected. I will never forget the kindness and the courtesy.

Watergate was just the worst. Bob Strauss used to call me when I was head of the Republican National Committee every time another shoe would drop, every time there was a new revelation. He said, “George, your job reminds me of making love to a gorilla.” And I said, “Why, Bob?” And he said, “Because you can’t stop until the gorilla wants to.” And that’s exactly the way it was, and of course Bob was loving it because he was the Democratic chairman.

Like Ford, I was going around talking about Nixon, saying, “Give the guy a chance, don’t go on rumors,” and then suddenly, in the summer of ‘74, this last shoe [a June 1972 tape revealing that Nixon ordered the cover-up] dropped, and it was very clear that Nixon could not survive. We had a final cabinet meeting in early August, and there was a kind of unreality to it, because he said, “OK, today we’re going to talk about the economy,” and everybody was quietly looking at each other and saying, “What the hell is going on here?” But when Ford became president, all of that changed instantly–he gave us a new day, and we all felt that, all over the country.

As president, Ford asked me to become director of the CIA, and my friends all advised me that the CIA was a political dead end: do not do this, do not take the CIA job. There were stories that Don Rumsfeld [then Ford’s chief of staff] was kind of the Machiavellian behind the scenes pulling strings. There was a lot of speculation as to whether Rummy had masterminded this so he could have a better shot at maybe being president someday. But Ford personally denied that to me, incidentally, and he said that’s just not fair, that’s not true. He told me that in the Oval Office.

I was surprised and disappointed that Reagan challenged Ford in ‘76. I thought Ford was doing a good job and was entitled to the nomination. So I was surprised, and I was surprised at how well Reagan did–I was underestimating him at the time.

In Detroit in 1980, it looked for a time like Reagan and Ford were going to run together. I was out of it, but then Reagan called me. Apparently they had been very serious about a Reagan-Ford ticket, but I honestly think–and not because I was the beneficiary of this–that it would have been a disaster to have what would have appeared to have been a co-presidency.

Jerry Ford was decent, honorable, trustworthy, down-to-earth. That was his whole personality. I hope it will be his legacy.