Any of you who read this blog with regularity know that Gerald Ford was one of my favorite presidents. One of my close friends and long time colleague, Gordon Vander Till was a close personal associate of the late president, and I asked him to share some of his memories of the man with you and me. Here's Gordon's short take on Mr. Ford:
It was my great pleasure and privilege to serve Mr. Ford as his first full time special assistant in the Grand Rapids office. When he asked me to become his presence in the district, neither of us really knew fully what a position description would look like. I spent two weeks in the Washington office learning their protocols, meeting congressional liaison persons in various department and agencies of the federal government, and learning the personal predilections of the staff located in H-230 of the U.S. Capitol.
On my last day of this accelerated indoctrination, March 19, 1969, Mr. Ford and I had a brief sitdown and review. One of the most enduring admonitions I recall was his explicit direction that there was no political test in his office. "When someone comes in to seek help," he stated, "remember that I was elected to serve ALL the people of the congressional district." He told me that I had his permission to sign his name on correspondence if I felt it was necessary, and he gave me his telephone credit card (at&t) with a dime in the slot -- "call if you need something," was his final direction.
After press notices were sent to local media in the 5th congressional district of Michigan, the office phone rang "off the hook" as we used to say. Local service clubs were anxious to hear about what was transpiring -- and after some initiatory dealings with media, people started showing up on our doorstep. The next five years of my life was spent trying to help constituents resolve their problems with government, especially the federal government.
Along the way I also managed to oversee two re-election campaigns, find time to speak at commencements, and help people resolve "barking dog" complaints. When Ford was dedicating a new section of expressway in the northern end of his district, one of the media types asked him for speculation on the future of Spiro T. Agnew. . . and then asked if Mr. Ford would be interested in becoming vice-president. Ford gave a hearty laugh and said, "We still have a vice president." We left the ceremony and two weeks later Ford was named by Nixon to succeed Agnew.
Sorta like me, you know, son of a trucker to assistant to a President of the U.S. Along the road of life, one never knows the little surprises that may arise.
Gordon
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For those of us old enough to remember, the endearing, soothing words President Ford gave to the nation as he assumed office as the only unelected President in our history, that our long national nightmare was over, will always remain with us as the perfect balm to what had indeed become a national nightmare, with widely admired men being fired for refusing to go along with the President in his final days, Elliott Richardson in particular. Those words and the following actions may seem to some as so little, but the statement was so perfect, and later followed by the President's wise decision not to continue the nightmare by simply pardoning Nixon. While there were those who disapproved of that action, I was always grateful for it, and I think millions of other Americans were also. It meant the nightmare was truly over. May the Lord bless President Ford's good and wise decisions.
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