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The Daily Dose/November 28, 2007
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
Notes from the human experience, including a Capsule Book Review, plus exciting On This Date tidbits from Magellan, Thatcher and Dahmer, and Charlie's Angels Week continues at The Column Four Foto: Cheryl Ladd.
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-The-Record Conversations With Gerald R. Ford by Thomas DeFrank: Thomas DeFrank was a 28-year-old reporter for Newsweek covering Vice-President Ford in the spring of 1974. He had been away from the Ford caravan for a few days to attend the birth of his son and when he caught up with Ford, Ford was enjoying some Easter R and R in Palm Springs. DeFrank spent some time with vice-president catching up, and, invariably, the topic turned to President Richard Nixon, and his staff, who currently were annoyed with Ford for something he had said that they thought disloyal.
DeFrank said Nixon's staff was bitter because they knew the jig was, if not completely up, certainly did not have long to run.
Quote That Sucker...Or Not: "You're right," Ford said. "But when the pages of history are written, nobody can say I contributed to it."
That is how this informative, interesting book was born. DeFrank, as any reporter would have been in that on-the-record setting, was leveled by Ford's acknowledgement that he, too, felt the Nixon administration was on its last legs. It was four months before Nixon would resign, and Ford had always insisted that Nixon would survive and complete his term. At least publicly. DeFrank knew he had a scoop; unfortunately, Ford knew it, too, and jumped over his desk, grabbed DeFrank by his tie and slapped him around a bit, not letting DeFrank leave until they had "an understanding". They stood there staring at each other for several seconds.
A Compromise: "Write it when I'm dead," Ford said, breaking the silence.
DeFrank drove a hard bargain. "Okay," he said.
DeFrank covered Ford through Jimmy Carter's inauguration. Curiously, his interviews with Ford didn't begin until 1991, but they continued right up until the last year of Ford's life.
Leading Off: Know in advance there is nothing completely and utterly Earth shattering. There aren't any revelations about secret deals for pardons, or evidence about how the Weekly Word News' story about Ford's alien love child actually had merit. Had there been, DeFrank would have achieved a lot more notoriety than he had and I wouldn't have found this book in the 25 percent off bin.
But there's still more than enough for thinking citizens and fans of Ford and the presidency to sink their teeth into. For example, Ford felt that if Nixon had simply faced the country and said "Look, some people under me did some things I did not authorize; they have been fired" that the whole matter would have blown over. He thought Clinton was a sex addict who needed help for his addiction much like beloved wife Betty needed help for her drug and alcohol addiction, even while he admired Clinton's immense skills as a politician. He did not have a high opinion of Jimmy Carter, either as president or as a former president, though they eventually forged a cordial friendship, and didn't think Ronald Reagan was the sharpest stick in the drawer.
Show Me The Money: What was rather illuminating was the extent to which Ford worked to build his personal fortune. Not content to live on his rather generous government pensions for his service in the House and as president and vice-president (which was slightly more than $250,000 a year at the time of his death), Ford was determined to build a financial empire not only for him and his wife, but also his children and grandchildren, and between serving on various corporate boards, teaching gigs and fees from speeches, Ford left an estate of approximately $25 million.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Though Gaylon is better read than most, he is not Einstein for Pete's sake and is not a professional book reviewer. In fact, he makes no guarantees that the reviewed book is current, or even being read for the first time. Reviews are based on his own personal tastes, are completely subjective and not measured against established literary standards. He has a habit of re-reading selected favorites and books that were published as early as the 20th century.
We Interrupt This Program For A Word From The Ratings Department: Following Is The Official Writer's Shack Rating scale:
EX - Excellent; as good as the medium can produce in every respect.
VG - Very Good; well worth your time.
AR - All Right. Not completely without merit.
SP - Nothing of substance; a steaming pile, utterly without merit.
Official Writer's Shack Rating: VG. DeFrank has done a very good job of combing good reporting with warm, personal memories, and has written a book that could easily have delved into a valentine to a man he obviously likes and admires. Instead, DeFrank has produced a book that not only will historians will find moderately useful, but a book that serious citizens and fans of the presidency will enjoy as well.
ON THIS DATE: In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan, commanding a flotilla of three ships and sailing through a straight that will later bear his name, reaches the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first European to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Magellan would not live to complete the circumnavigation of the globe, dying in the Philippines the following April.
Live From Pine Grove, Or Oakdale or Wherever: In 1975, The Edge of Night and As The World Turns air their last live episodes.
In 1990: In the cold, gracious manner typical of the British, Margaret Thatcher is forced out as leader of the Conservative Party resigns as British Prime Minister. Thatcher served eleven-and-half years and was succeeded by John Major.
And Served With Your Choice Of Potato: On this date in 1994, convicted murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer was himself murdered, along with another prisoner, while working in the prison gymnasium. Earlier, Dahmer had survived another attempt on his life, receiving only superficial wounds after some malcontent tried to slit his throat with a razor blade after church services.
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