Saturday, February 17, 2007
Biographyconveys the decency of our 38th president
By MARTA SALIJ
DETROIT FREE PRESS
A new biography of Michigan's contribution to the American presidency -- Gerald R. Ford -- portrays him as most Michiganders remember him: Solid, decent, never flashy.
Is that code for "boring"?
No, says historian Douglas Brinkley, whose "Gerald R. Ford" is part of a series of presidential biographies edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
"He was a man of competence, and sometimes that gets underappreciated in governance," Brinkley says from New Orleans, where he is a professor of history at Tulane University.
Brinkley's biography covers Ford's entire life, beginning with his growing up in Grand Rapids, Mich., playing football for the University of Michigan, serving in the Navy during World War II and rising through the House of Representatives.
Twist of fate
Ford often said his ambition was to be speaker of the house, not president. But when Spiro T. Agnew resigned the vice presidency in 1973 -- he then pleaded no contest to charges of tax evasion and money laundering while governor of Maryland -- Ford was chosen by President Nixon to serve out the vice-presidential term.
Then came Watergate, and Nixon's resignation in 1974. Ford became the 38th president, acutely aware that he hadn't been elected to the job.
Brinkley says Ford was unelected, but not unprepared or unwilling.
"He was an extremely ambitious man," Brinkley says, "but in a low-key way."
"Gerald R. Ford" does not shy from criticism, such as his determination to assert Nixon's innocence, based on Attorney General John Mitchell's statements, past the point many believed credible.
"If Ford was a fool," Brinkley writes, "he was the same ploddingly loyal GOP fool he had remained throughout his entire political career, and what a career it had turned out."
And the pre-emptive pardon of Nixon? Was that a misstep?
Ford had two main reasons for pardoning Nixon, says Brinkley. The first was to save the nation from the distraction and divisiveness of a long public trial. The second was more personal -- they had been friends since Ford's first days in the House.
"He knew the man, " Brinkley says.
Brinkley has published biographies of Henry Ford, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry and Rosa Parks, among others. His recent books include "The Great Deluge," "The Boys of Pointe du Hoc" and "Tour of Duty."