Presidential scholar discusses former President Gerald Ford on ‘An Ordinary Man’ book tour

Presidential scholar Richard Norton Smith recently published “An Ordinary Man,” an 832-page biography of former President Gerald Ford. He sat down with Meijer Inc. Executive Chairman Hank Meijer to discuss the life and legacy of the former president as part of his statewide book tour.

Courtesy of Richard Norton Smith

Gerald Ford, the only United States president to hail from Michigan, was an unlikely holder of the country’s top office, ascending to the position only after President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

Ford was enigmatic and misunderstood but was considered a peacemaker for pardoning Nixon after the Watergate scandal. He also provided conditional amnesty for more than 100,000 young men who had crossed the border to Canada to avoid the draft. 

Ford’s plan would have required draft dodgers to serve two years in a public service job, but in 1977, President Jimmy Carter eliminated that requirement.

Ford, who was born in Nebraska but grew up in Grand Rapids, was elected to Congress when he was 35 years old and served as a representative for 25 years, rising to House minority leader. He was tapped to be vice president in 1973 after his predecessor, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned. 

His time as president was brief, serving only 895 days in office. He was defeated by Carter in the 1976 election.

Presidential scholar Richard Norton Smith’s new biography of Ford, “An Ordinary Man,” is 832 pages, only slightly shorter than the number of days Ford served as president. Smith, who previously directed four presidential libraries and museums, including the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and Library in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, respectively, recently joined Hank Meijer, executive chairman of Meijer Inc., in a lively discussion about the book at the Michigan History Center. Meijer is also the author of a biography about another prominent Grand Rapids politician, the late U.S. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg.

Here’s a look at a tiny part of the more than two hours of questions and answers.

Meijer: What did you learn in writing the book that might change how history views Gerald Ford?

Smith: There are all kinds of factoids that may surprise people. He was the first American president to proclaim Black History Month in this country, as the offshoot of the Bicentennial. 

Before Pearl Harbor, Ford applied to the FBI to be an agent. I found documentation of that, but it wasn’t the whole story. J. Edgar Hoover personally blackballed his application when the New Haven office found Ford had been involved with the group America First. 

America First was a college organization of isolationists. A young John F. Kennedy was a supporter, and the range of support went from Walt Disney to Frank Lloyd Wright, who rallied behind the group, which was initially an antiwar organization. That changed when people like Charles Lindbergh took center stage and brought with them an ugly message that bordered on antisemitism.

Before winning (his seat in Congress), Ford had been offered a job in state government by the governor, but he turned it down. Although he was the only president from Michigan, he was never drawn to state government. In the 1950s, the state GOP tried to get him to run for governor. He didn’t have the executive temperament. His goal from day one was to stay in the House and become speaker of the House.

One of the surprising things was how close Ford and Kennedy were — a personal relationship and political relationship.

Mejier: Did Ford first come to notice with the Warren Commission?

Smith: It was particularly difficult (for Ford) to serve on the Warren Commission — he was the youngest member on the commission. The reason he was on the commission was President Johnson asked Robert McNamara and Dean Rusk who they would recommend, and they both said you could trust Jerry Ford. 

It was personally painful for him. The last 15 years of his life, he was the go-to guy. His great concern was that young people would see the movie (Oliver Stone’s “JFK”) and believe that was what actually happened.  

People think Gerald Ford was the ultimate apologist for the Warren Commission. The first draft of the Warren Commission report had the unequivocal assertion that there was no conspiracy to kill the president. He and others went to Chief Justice Warren (E. Burger) to subtly but significantly rewrite that phrase. If you look at the report, it says, “We have found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy.” 

Ford went to his grave convinced that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman. You may be surprised by his personal theory about Oswald’s motivation. Ford believed he killed the president to impress his estranged Soviet wife.