PRESIDENT GERALD FORD PASSES AWAY
He was the man who brought America together after Watergate, tackling White House challenges with a strong, Midwestern work ethic and sensibility. While denied a full-term by voters who were lulled into thinking Jimmy Carter would be an improvement (he certainly wasn't) and due to his pardoning of Richard Nixon (which spared the nation an endless circus), President Ford was a good and decent man. His administration was known for being open and honest. More info: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_re_us/obit_ford_16
I first met him when I was 9, visiting Washington, DC in 1964 with my grandparents. Our local congressman (and later Presidential candidate) John B. Anderson introduced us to Ford in the Congressional dining room. That moment inspired me to be much more tuned in to politics throughout my life. He impressed me with his humility---the very embodiment of the attitude that you can grow up and work to be just about anything you set out to do, with God's help... that's what being an American is all about. In the 1980s, I was re-introduced to him by Bob Hope (yes, that Bob Hope) on a golf green at the Andy Williams Open golf event in San Diego. That was a moment that will go down in my personal radio history: An interview with Bob Hope suddenly merging into a "Hey, you know Jerry Ford, don't you Mark?" transition, followed by the two of them doing one-liners while I pinched myself. What a place to be, just doing my job! In 1996 I met President Ford again, this time when I emceed a Bob Dole event following one of his debates with Bill Clinton. In the photo below (taken by KGTV Channel 10 at that event), Ford has just asked me for advice about a person appearing on the program with us. (In the foreground you can also see Lorenzo Lamas and Bob Dole.) While his politics were sometimes more moderate than I would have liked, Gerald Ford was always a gracious, down-to-earth man, and one to whom America owes a debt of gratitude.
I first met him when I was 9, visiting Washington, DC in 1964 with my grandparents. Our local congressman (and later Presidential candidate) John B. Anderson introduced us to Ford in the Congressional dining room. That moment inspired me to be much more tuned in to politics throughout my life. He impressed me with his humility---the very embodiment of the attitude that you can grow up and work to be just about anything you set out to do, with God's help... that's what being an American is all about. In the 1980s, I was re-introduced to him by Bob Hope (yes, that Bob Hope) on a golf green at the Andy Williams Open golf event in San Diego. That was a moment that will go down in my personal radio history: An interview with Bob Hope suddenly merging into a "Hey, you know Jerry Ford, don't you Mark?" transition, followed by the two of them doing one-liners while I pinched myself. What a place to be, just doing my job! In 1996 I met President Ford again, this time when I emceed a Bob Dole event following one of his debates with Bill Clinton. In the photo below (taken by KGTV Channel 10 at that event), Ford has just asked me for advice about a person appearing on the program with us. (In the foreground you can also see Lorenzo Lamas and Bob Dole.) While his politics were sometimes more moderate than I would have liked, Gerald Ford was always a gracious, down-to-earth man, and one to whom America owes a debt of gratitude.
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