#gerald ford
Happy anniversary, Gerald and Betty Ford!
In August 1947, Gerald Ford was introduced to Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren by mutual friends and a few months later they were engaged. The couple had to delay the wedding while Ford planned his first congressional campaign because they were unsure how voters would feel about him marrying a divorced ex-dancer. They were finally married on October 15, 1948 at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Betty wore a sapphire blue satin dress and a matching hat with a piece of lace from a parasol belonging to her husband-to-be’s grandmother, while Gerald had mud on his shoes from campaigning before the ceremony. “My mother was furious,” he recalled, “but Betty pretended not to notice.”
Image: “Photograph of Gerald and Betty Ford on Their Wedding Day at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” 10/15/1948.
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President and Mrs. Ford began their 1975 ten-day visit of Eastern Europe in Germany. President and Mrs. Walter Scheel of Germany greeted them at the Villa Hammerschmidt on July 27, 1975, and Mrs. Scheel presented this gift to the Fords.
This white china plate features gold etched edges and open lattice work around the rim. The center of the plate displays a hand-painted fruit design with four smaller fruits surrounding it. This elegant gift is housed in its original box.
While Betty Ford utilized her time as First Lady to fight for women’s equality and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, German First Lady Mildred Scheel used her public role to advocate the fight on cancer. She raised awareness on different types of cancers, collected donations, and created the German Cancer Aid. Long-time friend Andy Warhol even created one of his signature silk-screen portraits of her to raise funds for her organization. Both women went above and beyond in their roles as First Ladies and made lasting public health and social impacts on their countries.
Image: German First Lady Mildred Scheel greets Betty Ford outside of the Villa Hammerschmidt in Bonn, Germany, prior to a luncheon on July 27, 1975 (A5911-26).
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Happy Earth Day!
“America’s mountains, prairies, woodlands, and waterways are natural wonders of breathtaking beauty, and they provide resources for trade and transportation, human welfare and recreation. These resources are not ours to abuse. We hold them in trust for posterity,” President Ford said in his proclamation designating April 22-28, 1976, as Earth Week. “Our environment is the responsibility not only of government and business, but it must also be a matter of daily concern to every American.”
Read the full text of the proclamation.
Image: President Gerald R. Ford’s Proclamation for Earth Week 1976, 4/20/1976 (National Archives Identifier 16637451)
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Join us in cheering on the Michigan Wolverines as they take on the Georgia Bulldogs! Here we see Gerald Ford on the football field at the University of Michigan in 1933. (Image H0035-03)
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Looking for a present for someone who’s hard to shop for? Consider the gift of calculator humor!
When President Ford traveled to the Far East in November 1974 he did some early Christmas shopping, picking up pocket calculators in Japan. He planned to give them to his friends and colleagues in Congress.
Back home President Ford personally made a list of the recipients:
The calculators went to Speaker of the House Carl Albert, House Majority Leader Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, House Minority Leader John Rhodes, House Minority Whip Les Arends, President pro tempore of the Senate James Eastland, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Senate Majority Whip Robert Byrd, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, and Senate Minority Whip Robert Griffin. The President might have forgotten to check it twice, however, since House Majority Whip John McFall was later added.
President Ford sent a letter with the devices that included special operating instructions:
“It is an excellent pocket calculator–but it also has other accomplishments. For instance, if you punch 77340 into the calculator and then turn it upside down, you will see what the Republicans said after the 1974 elections.”
“But this little machine is also a fortune-telling calculator–and if you punch in 3507 and turn it upside down, you will see what we don’t intend to do in 1976!”
Based on the thank you letters sent to President Ford the calculators were well received. Speaker Carl Albert reported, “I am having a lot of fun with it, and I am finding it very useful.” John Rhodes wrote that “I will treasure always the pocket calculator and its special message for 1976!”
Citation: Documents from the Robert T. Hartmann Files, Box 15, folder “President - Christmas Presents (1)”
The University of Michigan football team kicks off its season this weekend, so we’re looking back to when Gerald Ford was a member of the squad.
Ford attended the University of Michigan from 1931 to 1935 and he played as a center and linebacker for the Wolverines. In his first year there he won the Meyer Morton Trophy, which was given to the outstanding freshman player in spring practice. Ford played on the University’s national championship teams in 1932 and 1933. He saw limited action on the field those years, however, since Michigan already had an All-American center, Chuck Bernard, in its starting lineup. Ford became the starting center his senior year and was voted Most Valuable Player.
While at Michigan Ford wrote to Frederica “Freddy” Pantlind, a friend and neighbor from his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. His letter from September 17, 1933, describes life as a student-athlete at the beginning of football season his junior year.
“You should thank your lucky stars you’re not a would be athlete. Between the weather, the coaches and my own wretched condition, the afternoons are long the hours for sleep too short,” he wrote, later adding that "Herm Everhardus [a friend and football teammate] and myself just had a couple of bottles of beer a piece, and did they ever taste good after drinking milk (and that’s all) at the training table.”
Ford closes the letter with the note that “Even though it is Sat. night, it is just about my bedtime, as we have practice tomorrow (Sun) and besides I can’t afford to miss breakfast at 8:30, so I’d better cease my pen pushing for the evening.”
Images: Gerald R. Ford, Jr., Holding a Trophy with University of Michigan Football Teammate Herman Everhardus, 1932 (National Archives Identifier 186983)
Letter from Gerald Ford to Frederica Pantlind (3 pages), 9/17/1933 (National Archives Identifier 6200861)
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July is National Grilling Month.
There is nothing better than a steak off the grill! Here’s President Ford grilling steaks for his daughter Susan and her roommates in 1976.
Image: President Ford grilling steaks with Mrs. Ford, his daughter Susan, and Susan’s roommates Kim Nardi, Beau Firth, and Patty Salmon in the backyard of Susan’s residence in Alexandria, Virginia, 9/28/1976 (White House Photograph B1689-14)
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The First Lady (2022) Official Trailer | SHOWTIME
A revelatory reframing of American leadership through the lens of the First Ladies. Starring Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, this series delves deep into the Ladies’ personal and political lives. Exploring everything from their journeys to Washington, family life, and world-changing political contributions, the impact of the White House’s women is no longer hidden from view. Starring Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt.
Watch the premiere on Sunday, April 17 on SHOWTIME.
George Harrison at the White House
On December 13, 1974, keyboardist Billy Preston, sitarist Ravi Shankar, saxophonist Tommy Scott, manager Denis O’ Brien, publicity agent Michael Sterling, and George Harrison’s father, Harry, all accompanied the former Beatle to the Ford White House. Harrison and company were in the midst of their 1974 North American tour and were performing in nearby Landover, Maryland, on December 13.
Jack Ford said he invited George and friends to the White House because he had been invited backstage at the Salt Lake City show. "They were so hospitable to me I wanted to return the favor,“ he said.
A lunch of vegetables and beef was served in the solarium while George’s Dark Horse album was played in the background. It was reported George stuck to the vegetables.
Jack and his sister Susan acted as tour guides as the entourage viewed the White House rooms. In the East Room, Harrison and Preston sampled a few bars on the 1938 Steinway piano situated in the historic room. President Ford met briefly with them for about 15 minutes in the Oval Office. Politics was apparently avoided that day. After the meeting, Harrison stated, “I didn’t ask him [Ford] about Bangladesh or anything else political … I didn’t want to bug him.”
Tom Scott recalled they were brought to a conference room outside the Oval Office to wait until the President became available. "We walked into the presidents’ conference room with the oval table and the chair and signs saying, ‘Secretary of Defense,’ 'Secretary of this and that’ and we sat down in the chairs, clowning around.” Scott went on to say that George and Billy did some jamming on a piano in the room, but then it was time to meet the President.
As Harrison’s entourage was leaving the office, Jack told his father, “I promised George a WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button.” When one could not be immediately found, the president sent appointments secretary Terry O’ Donnell to find one. In return for the WIN button, Harrison gave the president an “Om” mantra pin representative of Harrison’s interest in Eastern spirituality.
Harrison would remember Ford as quite amiable both in the immediate aftermath of the visit as well as in his 1980 autobiographical work, I Me, Mine. Harrison confessed that he felt “good vibes about the White House.” On whether the president was a follower of Harrison’s musical output, Harrison admitted shortly after the meeting, “I don’t think he’s too familiar with my music.” Later that evening at the Capital Centre, Harrison was seen onstage wearing the pin given to him by President Ford.
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