An ordinary man : the surprising life and historic presidency of Gerald R. Ford / Richard Norton Smith.

Title :

An ordinary man : the surprising life and historic presidency of Gerald R. Ford

Author:

Smith, Richard Norton, 1953-

Format:

Books

Summary:

For many Americans, President Gerald Ford was the genial accident of history who controversially pardoned his Watergate-tarnished predecessor, presided over the fall of Saigon, and became a punching bag on Saturday Night Live. Yet as Richard Norton Smith reveals in a book full of surprises, Ford was an underrated leader whose tough decisions and personal decency look better with the passage of time. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Smith recreates Ford's hardscrabble childhood in Michigan, his early anti-establishment politics and lifelong love affair with the former Betty Bloomer, whose impact on American culture he predicted would outrank his own. As president, Ford guided the nation through its worst Constitutional crisis since the Civil War and broke the back of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression--accomplishing both with little fanfare or credit (at least until 2001 when the JFK Library gave him its prestigious Profile in Courage Award in belated recognition of the Nixon pardon). Less coda than curtain raiser, Ford's administration bridged the Republican pragmatism of Eisenhower and Nixon and the more doctrinaire conservatism of Ronald Reagan. His introduction of economic deregulation would transform the American economy, while his embrace of the Helsinki Accords hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union. Illustrated with sixteen pages of black-and-white photos, this definitive biography, a decade in the making, will change history's views of a man whose warning about presidential arrogance ("God help the country") is more relevant than ever.

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

9780062684165

0062684167

Physical Description:

x, 814 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Contents:

Introduction: A capacity for surprise -- Prologue: Seven days in June -- Part I: Junior, 1912-1950. Secrets -- Luck and pluck -- Yale -- The view from the bridge -- Betty -- Time for a change -- Part II: Everybody's friend, 1950-1972. A modern Republican -- The middle of the road -- The congressman's congressman -- The Warren Commission -- Holding the line -- The good soldier -- Part III: The replacement, June 1972-October 1974. Ahead of the curve -- "The worst job I ever had" -- "My God, this is going to change our whole life" -- Change and continuity -- The pardon -- Clearing the decks -- Part IV: Riding the tiger, October 1974-December 1976. "Run over by history" -- A president in the making -- The cruelest month -- Starting over -- The dangerous summer -- "The cat has nine lives" -- The road to Kansas City -- I'm feeling good about America -- Part V: When is this retirement going to start? 1976-2006. Do what you can -- Lights in a tree -- Epilogue: "God help the country".

Subject:

Presidents -- United States -- Biography.

United States -- Politics and government -- 1974-1977.

Biography.

Biographies.

Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006.

First Title value, for Searching:

An ordinary man : the surprising life and historic presidency of Gerald R. Ford / Richard Norton Smith.

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Summary

"Richard Norton Smith had brought a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and storytelling verve to the life of a consequential president--Gerald R. Ford. Ford's is a very American life, and Smith has charted its vicissitudes and import with great grace and illuminating perspective. A marvelous achievement!" -- Jon Meacham

From the preeminent presidential scholar and acclaimed biographer of historical figures including George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller comes this eye-opening life of Gerald R. Ford, whose presidency arguably set the course for post-liberal America and a post-Cold War world.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Smith recreates Ford's hardscrabble childhood in Michigan, his early anti-establishment politics and lifelong love affair with the former Betty Bloomer, whose impact on American culture he predicted would outrank his own. As president, Ford guided the nation through its worst Constitutional crisis since the Civil War and broke the back of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression--accomplishing both with little fanfare or credit (at least until 2001 when the JFK Library gave him its prestigious Profile in Courage Award in belated recognition of the Nixon pardon).

Less coda than curtain raiser, Ford's administration bridged the Republican pragmatism of Eisenhower and Nixon and the more doctrinaire conservatism of Ronald Reagan. His introduction of economic deregulation would transform the American economy, while his embrace of the Helsinki Accords hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Illustrated with sixteen pages of black-and-white photos, this definitive biography, a decade in the making, will change history's views of a man whose warning about presidential arrogance ("God help the country") is more relevant than ever.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Historian Smith (On His Own Terms), the former director of the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library, delivers an exhaustive account of Ford's life and presidency. Painting his subject as someone "who thought for themselves, did his homework," Smith tracks Ford's rise from the only child of an abusive marriage that ended just weeks after his birth in 1913, to standout college football player, freshman congressman from western Michigan, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, replacement for disgraced vice president Spiro Agnew, and president following Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974. Devoting the bulk of the book to Ford's presidency, Smith meticulously details key moments, including the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to secure Nixon's resignation, negotiations over the 1975 Helsinki Accords with the Soviet Union ("Widely denounced at the time... now regarded as an important milestone on the road to European liberation," Smith contends), and the hard-fought battle to secure the 1976 Republican presidential nomination over Ronald Reagan. Though Smith makes a convincing case that Ford's affability and bipartisanship made him the right person to replace Nixon, the narrative sometimes sags under the weight of its voluminous detail. Still, this is a solid and revealing biography of an underestimated president. Agent: Gail Ross, Ross Yoon Agency. (Apr.)

Kirkus Review

A comprehensive, evenhanded biography of a president who "guided the nation through its worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War." Handed the helm of the floundering national ship at the climax of the Watergate crisis, Gerald Ford (1913-2006) managed to quiet the storm due to his congressional navigation skills and personal rectitude. Known as a loyal Nixon supporter and chosen as the replacement vice president when Spiro Agnew was forced to resign, Ford gradually restored public trust in the presidency despite the shocking and, for many citizens, unforgivable pardon he issued to his predecessor just a month into his term. Smith, who has served as the director of five presidential libraries and has authored bios of Thomas Dewey, Herbert Hoover, and Nelson Rockefeller, provides a useful new appraisal of Ford's life, underscoring how his complicated early family history (largely unknown during his political career) helped shape him into the guileless character he became. Early on, his mother divorced his abusive biological father, and she was enmeshed in legal battles during Ford's adolescence. When she married Gerald Ford Sr., the young man took his name. Ford Jr. eventually married strong-minded divorcée Betty, who became a force in her own right on such issues as women's rights, addiction, and breast cancer. In 1948, Ford ran for Congress largely because he was unable to become a probate judge, "his original ambition." A member of the Warren Commission and House minority leader, he was ready to retire when he was chosen to be vice president. Concluding this massive, somewhat overlong portrait, Smith touts Ford's signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, taming of double-digit inflation, policy of economic deregulation, support of Black majority rule in Rhodesia, and "tough love" rescue of an ailing New York City. A fresh appreciation of an underrated, underappreciated president who arrived in the nick of time. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.