Richard Norton Smith is a renowned historian, a former director of five presidential libraries, & author whose latest work - Ordinary Man - chronicles the life and career of Gerald Ford. In this conversation, we talk the insurgent rise of Ford as he takes on the local GOP machine, his ascent through the House GOP of the 50s and 60s, the fortuitous events that led him to become Vice President and then President upon Nixon's resignation, his very narrow loss in 1976, & why the Ford Presidency and his enduring impact on America is much more consequential than often realized.
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IN THIS EPISODE
What made Ford the “first post-New Deal President”...
One of the rare times Ford lost his temper in politics...
Ford’s “political father figure”, Senator Arthur Vandenberg…
The story behind Ford’s first insurgent bid for Congress…
The secret society within the House that helped propel Ford’s career…
The story behind Ford’s attempt to become Richard Nixon’s running mate in 1960…
The never before disclosed “deal” that nearly gave House Republicans the majority in the early 1970s…
The one politician who could’ve disrupted Ford’s path to become Nixon’s VP in 1974…
The proposed “constitutional coup” that could have replaced Richard Nixon with a Democratic President…
Two meetings with the same influential senator only days apart demonstrate Ford’s quick growth in office…
The political damage done to Ford by his pardon of Richard Nixon…
Two late factors that might have cost Ford in his narrow loss to Jimmy Carter…
The political impact of First Lady Betty Ford in the 1976 campaign…
Ford’s leftward drift after he left the White House…
Richard reads a bit of what he feels is Ford’s best speech as President…
Two of Richard’s favorite recommendations for off-the-beaten-path historical sites around DC…
AND Bella Abzug, Sprio Agnew, Carl Albert, apartheid, asterisks, Doug Bailey, bar stools, the Bicentennial, Phil Buchen, butcher knives, the CIA, Chevy Chase, Dick Cheney, concealed resentments, John Connally, docile acceptance, Bob Dole, Tom Dewey, English muffins, Barry Goldwater, grizzly bears, Jesse Helms, the Helsinki Accords, Leon Jaworski, Billy Kidd, Leslie King, Henry Kissinger, Tom Korologos, Mel Laird, Henry Cabot Lodge, Russell Long, The Marshall Plan, Sara Jane Moore, non-descript committee rooms, OSHA, Old Bulls, John Rankin, Ronald Reagan, the road to Damascus, Nelson Rockefeller, John Rhodes, Rhodesia, the Rules Committee, Bob Schieffer, Phyllis Schlafly, Hugh Scott, scoundrels, George Shultz, ski chalets, Oliver Sipple, Ted Sorensen, Robert Taft, transitional figures, Harry Truman, the UAW, the Warren Commission & more!