[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 98 (Monday, July 16, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7681-S7683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD

  Mr. LUGAR. Madam President, former Congressman, Vice President and 
President Gerald R. Ford turned 88 on July 14. A birthday tribute to 
our 38th President was written by White House correspondent Trude B. 
Feldman for the New York Times Syndicate; and it includes reflections 
by former Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, given to Ms. 
Feldman for Gerald Ford's 80th birthday. I ask unanimous consent that 
the article be printed in the Record.
  President Ford was a healing force at a time of much greater 
political upheaval than we have today. The lessons to us today are 
that: disagreements should not become divisive; and political revenge 
is a vicious cycle without winners.
  Most important, as President Ford reiterates in this interview, is 
that ``truth is the glue that holds government together--not only our 
government, but civilization itself.''
  He tells Ms. Feldman, who has also written numerous articles on Mr. 
Ford and his family for McCall's Magazine, that his main ambition was 
to become Speaker of the House of Representatives ``because the 
legislative process interested me and was the kind of challenge I 
enjoyed . . .''
  Gerald Ford concluded this interview--which I recommend to my 
colleagues and our staff--with his beliefs that during his 29 months as 
President, he had steered the U.S. out of a period of turmoil, making 
it possible to move from despair to a renewed national unity of purpose 
and progress. ``I also reestablished a working relationship between the 
White House and Congress, one that had been ruptured,'' he notes. ``All 
that made an important difference. I consider that to be my greatest 
accomplishment as President.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       [From the New York Times]

                Gerald R. Ford At 88: A Birthday Tribute

                         (By Trude B. Feldman)

       On July 14, Gerald R. Ford will celebrate his 88th 
     birthday. Having fully recovered from a stroke last August, 
     the former president says he is now in excellent health--
     alert, active and keeping up with world affairs.
       Asked--in a birthday interview--how he feels about turning 
     88, he says: ``Age doesn't bother me. I'm not as mobile as I 
     was 25 years ago, but I feel fortunate to still have my zest 
     for life. I have more enthusiasm now because of the care I 
     take of myself. I follow a good diet, I don't smoke or drink, 
     and I keep busy.''
       In association with the American Enterprise Institute, one 
     of Washington, D.C.'s leading think tanks, Mr. Ford 
     established--in 1982--the AEI World Forum which he hosts 
     annually in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
       The forum is a gathering of former and current 
     international world leaders, business and financial 
     executives and government officials who discuss political and 
     economic issues.
       This year--in late June--the participants included Valery 
     Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France; former Vice 
     President and Premier of the Republic of China, Chan Lien; 
     and Richard Cheney, Vice President of the United States, who 
     was a former Chief of Staff to President Ford and Secretary 
     of Defense in the first Bush administration.
       On May 21st, at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in 
     Boston, Mass., Mr. Ford was the recipient of the John F. 
     Kennedy Profile In Courage Award. Presented by the former 
     President's daughter, Caroline, and his brother, Senator 
     Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the award cites President Ford's 
     courage in making the controversial decision of conscience to 
     pardon former President Richard M. Nixon.
       Twenty seven years ago on August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon 
     resigned the presidency of the U.S. and Vice President Ford 
     became the 38th president. A month later (September 8), 
     President Ford granted a ``full, free and absolute pardon'' 
     to Nixon ``for all offenses against the U.S. which he . . . 
     has committed or may have committed or taken part in'' while 
     he was president.
       Today, Mr. Ford concedes that he did not expect such a 
     ``hostile'' reaction. ``That was one of the greatest 
     disappointments of my presidency,'' he told me. ``Everyone 
     focused on the individual instead of on the problems the 
     nation faced. I thought people would consider Richard Nixon's 
     resignation sufficient punishment, even shame. I expected 
     more forgiveness.''
       In accepting the Profile In Courage Award, Mr. Ford told 
     members of the Kennedy family and some 250 guests: ``No 
     doubt, arguments over the Nixon pardon will continue for as 
     long as historians relive those tumultuous days. But I'd be 
     less than human if I didn't tell you how profoundly grateful 
     I am for this recognition. The Award Committee has displayed 
     its own brand of courage . . . But here, courage is 
     contagious.
       ``To know John Kennedy, as I did, was to understand the 
     true meaning of the word. He understood that courage is not 
     something to be gauged in a poll or located in a focus group. 
     No adviser can spin it. No historian can back date it. For, 
     in the age old contest between popularity and principle, only 
     those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of 
     posterity's approval.''
       Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg said the award was inspired by 
     her father's Pulitzer Prize winning book, Profiles In Courage 
     (first published in 1955 by Harper & Row) and was 
     ``instituted to celebrate his life and belief that political 
     courage must be valued and honored. And that Gerald Ford had 
     proved that politics can be a noble profession. . . .''
       Sen. Kennedy said President Ford had ``withstood the heat 
     of controversy and persevered in his beliefs about what was 
     in our country's best interest. History has proved him right.
       ``At a time of national turmoil, our nation was fortunate 
     that he was prepared to take over the helm of the storm-
     tossed ship of state. He recognized that the nation had to 
     get on with its business and could not, if there was a 
     continuing effort to prosecute former President Nixon. So 
     President Ford made a tough decision and pardoned him.
       ``I was one of those who spoke out against his action. But 
     time has a way of clarifying things, and now we see that 
     President Ford was right.''
       General Alexander M. Haig Jr., Mr. Nixon's White House 
     Chief of Staff, concurs. ``The passage of time has once again 
     favored the truth and Gerald Ford has rightfully emerged as 
     one of our nation's most courageous leaders,'' he told me in 
     an interview, adding:
       ``Despite the risks, President Ford performed a singular 
     and selfless act of courage. Almost 30 years have passed 
     since ``Watergate'' and the scurrilous accusation that then 
     Vice President Ford had made or considered a secret deal with 
     President Nixon--

[[Page S7682]]

     through me--which traded the presidency of the U.S. for the 
     pardon of Richard Nixon.
       Gen. Haig, also one of Ronald Reagan's Secretaries of 
     State, went on to say that the source of this accusation came 
     from individuals who claimed to be acting in the best 
     interests of President Ford, but, that, actually, it was well 
     recognized at the time that the politics surrounding 
     ``Watergate'' would lead to either the impeachment or the 
     resignation of President Nixon.
       ``Those who fed the rumors of a deal were actually damaging 
     the reputation, if not the judgment, of our nation's first 
     non-elected president,'' General Haig recalls. ``Having 
     personally informed Vice President Ford of President Nixon's 
     intention to resign, I knew then, and now, that rumors of a 
     deal were wrong-headed or worse. If believed, they would have 
     the consequence of belittling what I have since referred to 
     as a Cincinnatian act of moral courage by President Ford.
       ``Years later, the Nixon pardon must rank with the most 
     courageous acts of a sitting president. President Ford, 
     almost alone, notwithstanding the advice of some of his most 
     intimate advisors, recognized that the nation could not risk 
     further prolongation of the `Watergate' controversy and that 
     the very effectiveness of his presidency was at stake.''
       Jack Anderson, long-time columnist for United Features and 
     Washington Editor of Parade Magazine, remembers Gerald Ford 
     from his days in Congress. ``He was never pumped up with self 
     importance,'' Mr. Anderson says. ``Even after he became 
     President, I was able to telephone him, leave a message, and 
     he would return my calls, without a secretary.''
       Jack Anderson adds: ``Even though I was number one on 
     Richard Nixon's `enemies list,' I agreed with President 
     Ford's pardon of Mr. Nixon because I had learned that he was 
     then in poor psychological condition. . . . It took great 
     political courage to grant the pardon--against public will. 
     So President Ford did what was best for Mr. Nixon and our 
     country rather than what was best for himself. . . .''
       Cong. Henry A. Waxman, (D. Calif--29th district), ranking 
     Democrat on the Governmental Reform and Oversight Committee 
     and on the Energy and Commerce Committee, remembers that when 
     he first came to Congress in Jan., 1975, Gerald Ford was 
     President of the U.S.
       ``At the time, I was critical of his pardon of Richard 
     Nixon,'' Rep. Waxman told me. ``But, looking back now, 
     President Ford took the right action for our country, and I 
     believe history will show him as a president who helped bring 
     the country together.''
       As a freshman Congressman, Gerald Ford was presented with 
     the American Political Science Association's Distinguished 
     Public Service Award by Ambassador Max M. Kampelman, who 
     today recalls Mr. Ford's rise to the top--``where he well 
     served America at a time of crisis . . . and the `Profile In 
     Courage' Award is a late, but well-deserved recognition.''
       Ambassador Kampelman, currently at the Georgetown 
     University Institute for Study of Diplomacy, was the head of 
     the American delegation to the Conference on Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe (1980-3).
       During our interview at Washington, D.C.'s Willard Inter-
     Continental Hotel, Mr. Ford was in an expansive mood while 
     reviewing his life's journey. He evaluated his achievements 
     and assessed the setbacks of his time in the Oval Office, and 
     he reflected on the highs and lows of his 53 years in 
     political life.
       What does Gerald Ford most regret as he looks back over a 
     long and distinguished career?
       ``Well, I wish I were a better public speaker,'' he allows. 
     ``I would have liked to be able to communicate more 
     effectively. That is so very important.''
       He also regrets not having fulfilled his ambition of 
     becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives. ``I lost 
     five times,'' he laments. ``There were not, then, enough 
     Republicans in the House. I wanted to be Speaker because the 
     legislative process interested me, and was the kind of 
     challenge I enjoyed. I was never as enthusiastic about being 
     in the executive branch. I even turned down the chance to run 
     for governor of Michigan.''
       In fact, he had made plans to retire from Congress in 
     January, 1977. But in 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's 
     legal and campaign finance problems surfaced; and when he was 
     forced to resign, Rep. Ford was selected as vice president.
       Two years ago at the White House, President William 
     Jefferson Clinton presented Gerald Ford with the Presidential 
     Medal of Freedom (America's highest civilian award) for his 
     legacy of healing and restored hope. ``From his days as a 
     student and athlete, Gerald Ford was destined for 
     leadership,'' Mr. Clinton noted. ``He was an outstanding 
     player on the Michigan football team in a segregated era, and 
     his horror at the discrimination to which one of his 
     teammates was subjected, spawned in him a life-long 
     commitment to equal rights for all people. He represents what 
     is best in public service and what is best about America.
       ``. . .When steady, trustworthy Gerald Ford left the White 
     House after 895 days, America was stronger, calmer, and more 
     confident . . . more like President Ford himself.''
       Two months later, (October 1999) in a U.S. Capitol Rotunda 
     ceremony, both Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, were 
     presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's 
     highest civilian honor. (He became the first former president 
     to be so honored during his lifetime, and the event marked 
     the first time a president and first lady were honored 
     together.)
       Cong. Vernon J. Ehlers (R. Mich), who introduced the 
     legislation to award the medals, said they are a token of 
     appreciation from Congress for the former First Couple's 
     years of sacrifice and contributions . . . ``They are living 
     examples of truly great Americans. . . .''
       Another speaker was President Clinton, who, after lauding 
     Gerald Ford for his achievements, turned to him and revealed: 
     ``When you made your healing decision, you made the Democrats 
     and Liberals angry one day, and you made the Conservatives 
     angry the next day. . . . I was then a young politician 
     trying to get elected to Congress. It was easy for us to 
     criticize you because we were caught up in the moment. You 
     didn't get caught up in the moment . . . and you were right . 
     . . You were right about the controversial decisions you made 
     to keep the country together and I thank you for that.''
       Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1973) and one 
     of Mr. Ford's White House Chiefs of Staff and Defense 
     Secretary (1975-1977), who is now again Secretary of Defense, 
     told me that Gerald Ford's basic human decency ``helped to 
     replenish the reservoir of trust for our country and I'm 
     delighted that the enormous contributions he made are being 
     recognized.''
       After a taste of the presidency, Mr. Ford still does not 
     hide his disappointment at losing the 1976 election to Jimmy 
     Carter. ``As you well know,'' Mr. Ford notes, ``I tried very 
     hard to win that election. That would have given me a chance 
     to expand individual freedom from mass government, mass 
     industry, mass labor, and mass education.''
       Despite that election, former Presidents Ford and Carter 
     are close friends and co-sponsors of various conferences on 
     world affairs at the Carter Center in Atlanta. And, on the 
     occasion of Gerald Ford's 88th birthday, Jimmy Carter today 
     reflects:
       ``The recent Profile In Courage Award and the Presidential 
     Medal of Freedom are long overdue recognition of Gerald 
     Ford's importance to our nation. He was a strong leader 
     during a time of great challenge, and his just and noble 
     decisions may well have cost him the election. In the years 
     since then, he and I have worked together on a number of 
     issues. Each time we do so, I am reminded anew of our 
     country's good fortune to have been led by a man of such 
     principled convictions. Not only do we share the special 
     bonds of the presidency, but I am also proud to claim Gerald 
     Ford as my friend.''
       Eight years ago, for my feature on Gerald Ford's 80th 
     birthday, another former president, Ronald Reagan, who 
     narrowly lost the 1976 presidential nomination to him, told 
     me: ``First, I can tell Jerry that turning 80 doesn't hurt at 
     all. Kidding aside, Jerry is an independent thinker and down 
     to earth. He is not impressed with his own importance. That 
     humility has stood him in good stead.
       ``He climbed to the top of his profession without wavering 
     from his principles. When respect for government officials 
     had begun to wane, he was, and still is, held in high 
     regard.''
       For that same birthday tribute, former President Nixon told 
     me that he had met Representative Ford in 1949 when he was 
     sworn in to Congress. ``I was then a representative from 
     California, and for all these years, we remained good 
     friends,'' Mr. Nixon said. ``In an illustrious career, he 
     became an eminent statesman, and as my vice president, he was 
     an asset.
       ``Because he understood members of Congress, he was able to 
     encourage them, to appeal to their best qualities and to 
     unite them for the common good. He was admired for his 
     decency and his respect for each individual's rights. And so 
     this milestone gives me the chance to express my gratitude to 
     Jerry Ford for all the good he has done for our nation . . 
     .''
       When Gerald Ford became president, he was faced with an 
     overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. He recalls that he 
     ``struggled repeatedly'' over such issues as government 
     spending, presidential war powers and oversight of the 
     intelligence community. He also advocated reducing the size 
     and role of the federal government through cuts in taxes and 
     spending, paperwork reduction and government deregulation.
       In foreign affairs, he recalls, his administration 
     emphasized stronger relationships with American allies, 
     encouraged detente with the Soviet Union, and made progress 
     in negotiating with the Soviets on nuclear weapons. With 
     French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, he initiated 
     annual international economic summits of the major developed 
     economic nations. In the face of bitter opposition, President 
     Ford signed the Helsinki Final Act, for the first time giving 
     the issue of human rights a real ``bite'' inside the Soviet 
     bloc, which eventually led directly to Eastern Europe 
     throwing off the shackles of communism. His administration 
     initiated the second Sinai disengagement agreement, further 
     separating Israeli and Egyptian forces and reducing tensions 
     in the Middle East. It also directed the final withdrawal of 
     Americans and refugees from Indochina at the end of the 
     Vietnam War.
       President Ford recalls that the saddest day of his 
     presidency was April 30, 1975, ``when we had to pull our 
     troops out of Saigon and withdraw from South Vietnam, which 
     soon surrendered to the North Vietnamese.''

[[Page S7683]]

       Asked whether foreign affairs is more pressing today than 
     during his White House tenure, he says, ``I don't think it is 
     any more important than when we were faced daily with the 
     nuclear challenge from another superpower--the Soviet Union. 
     Those were tense days.
       ``Yes, we have problems today in Europe, the Mideast and 
     elsewhere. But they are no more serious than the Cold War 
     days--with all the challenges that then existed.''
       Mr. Ford points out that President Nixon's skillful 
     maneuvering in the Mideast will go down in the annals of 
     great diplomacy. ``In foreign policy,'' he says, ``Richard 
     Nixon is unequaled by any other American president in this 
     century.''
       How was the presidency evolved since Gerald Ford left the 
     White House 24\1/2\ years ago? ``The office changes with each 
     president,'' he says. ``Each occupant defines the role and 
     his responsibilities. In my case, I tried to make a 
     difference in my leadership.''
       He went on to say that he learned about leadership and 
     making decisions while serving as an officer in the US Navy 
     during World War II. ``I think,'' he adds, ``I was a better 
     vice president and president because of that military 
     service.''
       He notes that there is ``a majesty'' to the presidency that 
     inhibits even close friends and heads of state from telling 
     the chief executive what is actually on their minds--
     especially in the Oval Office.
       ``You can ask for blunt truth, but the guarded response 
     never varies,'' he says. ``To keep perspective, any president 
     needs to hear straight talk. And he should, at times, come 
     down from the pedestal the office provides.
       ``I'm still convinced that truth is the glue that holds 
     government together--not only our government, but 
     civilization itself.''
       From his experiences, he cautions future presidents about 
     general abuse of power and the dangers of over-reliance on 
     staff.
       At the outset of President Bill Clinton's first term, there 
     was criticism of his staff and operation of his White House. 
     Mr. Ford then expressed sympathy for a president undergoing 
     periods of anxiety and disarray, even turmoil.
       He noted that he, too, had problems with staff 
     mismanagement. Today, he is still concerned about the image 
     of the presidency, and still concerned that a solution has 
     not been found about overzealous White House employees who 
     are not instructed, from the outset, that they work for the 
     president and for the people--and not the other way around.
       He maintains that staff assistants are not elected by the 
     people, and that the president himself needs to determine how 
     much trust to invest in his aides. ``Otherwise,'' he 
     emphasizes, ``the ramifications and the consequences of their 
     arrogance and abuse of power--particularly by secondary 
     and lower staff--can be dangerous.''
       Mr. Ford concurs with one of President Lyndon B. Johnson's 
     press secretaries, George E. Reedy, who wrote in his book, 
     ``The Twilight of the Presidency'': ``Presidents should not 
     hire any assistants under 40 years old who had not suffered 
     any major disappointments in life. When young amateurs find 
     themselves in the West Wing or East Wing of the White House, 
     they begin to think they are little tin gods . . .''
       In his autobiography, ``A Time to Heal,'' Mr. Ford wrote: 
     ``Reedy had left the White House staff several years before, 
     but he was predicting the climate that had led to 
     `Watergate.' And that is disturbing.''
       Born in 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, to Dorothy Gardner and 
     Leslie Lynch King Jr., Gerald Ford was christened Leslie L. 
     King Jr. His parents divorced when he was two years old. He 
     moved with his mother to Grand Rapids, Mich., where she 
     married Gerald Rudolph Ford, who later adopted the child and 
     gave him his name, Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.
       If he were able to relive his 88 years, what would he do 
     differently?
       ``I would make no significant changes,'' he says. ``I've 
     been lucky, both in my personal life and professionally. 
     Along the way I tried to improve myself by learning something 
     new in each of the jobs I held. I've witnessed more than my 
     share of miracles . . . I've witnessed the defeat of Nazi 
     tyranny and the destruction of hateful walls that once 
     divided free men from those enslaved.
       ``. . . It has been a grand adventure and I have been 
     blessed every step by a loving wife and supportive family.''
       He says he will never forget one of the family's worst days 
     in the White House . . . six weeks after they moved in, 
     ``Betty received a diagnosis of breast cancer,'' he recalls. 
     ``But her courage in going public with her condition . . . 
     and her candor about her mastectomy increased awareness of 
     the need of examination for early detection, saving countless 
     women's lives.''
       Six years later (1980), former President and Mrs. Ford 
     dedicated The Betty Ford Diagnostic and Comprehensive Breast 
     Center, in Washington, D.C. (part of Columbia Hospital for 
     Women). The Center's former director, Dr. Katherine Alley, a 
     renowned breast cancer surgeon, says today: ``As one of the 
     first women of note to go public with her cancer diagnosis 
     and treatment, Betty Ford helped women to face the disease 
     more openly and with less fear.''
       Turning to his philosophy of life, Mr. Ford says: ``I've 
     always been an optimist and still am. Yes, I suffered a few 
     disappointments and defeats, but I tried to forget about 
     those, and keep a positive attitude. When I was in sports and 
     lost a game by error, or in the political arena, when I lost 
     by a narrow margin, no amount of groaning would do any good. 
     So I don't dwell on the past. I learned to move on and look 
     ahead.''
       Much as he had yearned to be elected president in his own 
     right in 1976, Gerald Ford is confident that history will 
     record that he ``healed America at a very difficult time.''
       He believes that his presidential leadership for 29 months 
     had steered the U.S. out of that period of turmoil, making it 
     possible to move from despair to a renewed national unity of 
     purpose and progress.
       ``I also re-established a working relationship between the 
     White House and Congress, one that had been ruptured,'' he 
     concludes. ``All that made an important difference. I 
     consider that to be my greatest accomplishment as president, 
     and I hope historians will record that as my legacy.''

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