GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.- Hundreds came out the Amway Grand for a celebration honoring the late president, Gerald R. Ford on Monday. This year would have marked his 100th birthday.
The evening ended with a panel discussion that included President Ford’s Chief of Staff, Dick Cheney, his former speechwriter Ben Stein, Bob Schieffer a journalist that covered President Ford extensively and rounding out the panel was Ford’s son, Steve Ford.
Together they discussed the life a man they each knew very well in their own ways.
Dick Cheney said, “There was a myth out there that he didn’t have a temper, and I can say from first hand knowledge, Gerry Ford did have a temper.
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While Steve Ford added a story of what happened soon after two assassination attempts on his life, “We are there, at the White House, and he’s coming back. It’s the second assassination attempt in two weeks, he comes up the elevator on the second floor, and at that time Mother was very active in the equal rights movement for women, the ERA, and dad got off the elevator and as much as we tried to smile and put on a happy face, there was this chill in the room. And he walks in the room and he just knew the perfect thing to say. He looks at my mother and says ‘Betty those dang women and lousy shots.’ ”
The celebration will continue on Tuesday at the Gerald R. Ford Museum when a new exhibit opens with in an in depth look at the president’s life growing up in Grand Rapids.
