Remembering Gerald Ford

With the recent passing of President Gerald R. Ford, many youth and young adults might take a renewed interest in his life and work.

Please visit: http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/default.asp

Gerald R. Ford: July 14, 1913 to December 26, 2006

Mrs. Betty Ford issued the following statement from her home in Rancho Mirage, California:

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald R. Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, has passed away at 93 years of age. His was a life filled with love of God, his family, and his country."

Funeral details for the 38th President of the United States will be provided by the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capitol Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington Public Affairs Office to both the public and the media as they become available. Any media requests are to be directed to the U.S. Army Military District Public Affairs Office at (202) 685-4644.

For information and press releases, visit the Gerald R. Ford Memorial site at www.GeraldFordMemorial.com.

President Ford's family requests that contributions be made to the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Memorial Fund. This request includes donations in lieu of flowers. Information about the memorial contributions and the way you can send a message of condolence to the Ford family can be found at www.GeraldFordMemorial.com.

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum are offering extended hours for those who wish to express their sympathy to the Ford family, including signing a condolence book.

In Ann Arbor, the Library lobby will be open 9:00 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Thurs. and Fri (Dec. 28-29) and Tues. - Weds. (Jan. 2-3). The lobby will be open 1:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and New Year's Day (Dec. 30 - Jan. 1). The Library's research room will be closed during this period and will reopen on Thursday, January 4, 2007.

In Grand Rapids, the Museum lobby will be open 24 hours/day until further notice beginning December 27, 2006. The Museum's other areas, including all exhibit galleries and the gift store, will be closed until 9:00 a.m. Saturday, January 6, 2007.

http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/aboutlib.asp

The Gerald R. Ford Library collects, preserves, and makes accessible to the public a rich body of archival materials on U.S. domestic issues, foreign relations, and political affairs during the Cold War era. Current holdings include 21 million pages of memos, letters, meeting notes, reports, and other historical documents. Also there are one-half million audiovisual items, including photographs, videotapes of news broadcasts, audiotapes of speeches and press briefings, film of public events, and televised campaign commercials. The 1974-77 presidential papers of Gerald Ford and his White House staff form the core collection. These are supplemented by the pre- and post-presidential papers of Gerald Ford, the papers of Betty Ford, collections of Federal records, and more. Former government officials have donated personal papers, researchers in the period have given copies of research interviews, and private individuals associated with the issues and events of the time have given their materials. The Library serves students of all ages, scholars, mass media production staff, government officials, journalists, and others regardless of national citizenship. The Library is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the North Campus of the University of Michigan, Gerald Ford's alma mater (B.A., 1935). The Library is part of the Presidential libraries system of the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal agency. Unlike other Presidential libraries, the museum component is geographically separate from the library/archives. The Ford Museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 130 miles west of Ann Arbor, in Gerald Ford's hometown and the congressional district he represented from 1949-73. Despite the separation, the library and museum are a single institution sharing one director.

Basic Facts:
Groundbreaking - January 15, 1979
Opened to the public - April 27, 1981
Cost of construction - $4.3 million
Square footage - 50,000 square feet
Staffing - 10.5 FTE plus Director
Collections/Holdings
Documents - 23 million pages
Still photographs - 325,000
Video - 3,500 hours
Audio - 3,000 hours
Motion picture film - 787,0007 feet
Research Statistics (in FY 2005)
Research cards - 473
Research visits - 1033
Reference inquiries - 1932
Reproductions provided - 46,034


Gerald R. Ford Quotes
“He [Gerald R. Ford, Sr.] and Mother had three rules: tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time—and woe unto any of us who violated those rules.”From President Ford's memoir, A Time to Heal 1979

“I am not a saint, and I am sure I have done things I might have done better or differently, or not at all. I have also left undone things that I should have done. But I believe and hope that I have been honest with myself and with others, that I have been faithful to my friends and fair to my opponents, and that I have tried my very best to make this great Government work for the good of all Americans.”Statement before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration [Vice Presidential Confirmation Hearings] November 1, 1973

“I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.”Remarks after being sworn in as Vice President of the United States ecember 6, 1973

“I promise my fellow citizens only this: To uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and…to do the very best that I can for America.”Remarks after being sworn in as Vice President of the United States December 6, 1973

"I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it . . . I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government, but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end. My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a Government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”Remarks upon being sworn in as President of the United States August 9, 1974

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”Address to a Joint Session of Congress August 12, 1974

“This Congress, unless it has changed, I am confident, will be my working partner as well as my most constructive critic. I am not asking for conformity. I am dedicated to the two-party system, and you know which party I belong to. I do not want a honeymoon with you. I want a good marriage.” Address to a Joint Session of Congress August 12, 1974

“As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family. Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.”Remarks upon granting a pardon to former President Richard Nixon September 8, 1974

“Desertion in time of war is a major, serious offense; failure to respond to the country’s call for duty is also a serious offense. Reconciliation among our people does not require that these acts be condoned. Yet, reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the Nation’s wounds and to heal the scars of divisiveness.”Remarks upon announcing a clemency program for Vietnam era draft evaders September 16, 1974

“We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties, our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart.”Address before the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe August 1, 1975

“History will judge this Conference not by what we say here today, but by what we do tomorrow - not by the promises we make, but by the promises we keep.”Address before the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe August 1, 1975

“As we continue our American adventure…all our heroes and heroines of war and peace send us this single, urgent message: though prosperity is a good thing, though compassionate charity is a good thing, though institutional reform is a good thing, a nation survives only so long as the spirit of sacrifice and self-discipline is strong within its people. Independence has to be defended as well as declared; freedom is always worth fighting for; and liberty ultimately belongs only to those willing to suffer for it.”Bicentennial Remarks at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania July 4, 1976

“The world is ever conscious of what Americans are doing, for better or for worse, because the United States today remains that most successful realization of humanity’s universal hope. The world may or may not follow, but we lead because our whole history says we must. Liberty is for all men and women as a matter of equal and unalienable right. The establishment of justice and peace abroad will in large measure depend upon the peace and justice we create here in our own country, for we still show the way.”Bicentennial Remarks at Independence Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania July 4, 1976

“Remember that none of us are more than caretakers of this great country. Remember that the more freedom you give to others, the more you will have for yourself. Remember that without law there can be no liberty. And remember, as well, the rich treasures you brought from whence you came, and let us share your pride in them.”Remarks during Naturalization Ceremonies at Monticello, Virginia July 5, 1976

“To me, the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency were not prizes to be won, but a duty to be done.”Remarks upon accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination, Kansas City, Missouri August 19, 1976

"I am a loyal Wolverine. When they lose in football, basketball, or anything I still get darn disappointed."Remarks from a phone interview to the Ann Arbor News before the University of Michigan retired his football number October 8, 1994.

"Some people equate civility with weakness and compromise with surrender. I strongly disagree. I come by my political pragmatism the hard way, for my generation paid a very heavy price in resistance to the century we had of some extremists -- to the dictators, the utopians, the social engineers who are forever condemning the human race for being all too human."Remarks upon receiving the Congressional Gold Medal October 27, 1999.

“I have always believed that most people are mostly good, most of the time. I have never mistaken moderation for weakness, nor civility for surrender. As far as I'm concerned, there are no enemies in politics--just temporary opponents who might vote with you on the next Roll Call.”Remarks upon receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award May 21, 2001

“. . . The ultimate test of leadership is not the polls you take, but the risks you take. In the short run, some risks prove overwhelming. Political courage can be self-defeating. But the greatest defeat of all would be to live without courage, for that would hardly be living at all.”Remarks upon receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award May 21, 2001