In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

73 Ford’s Vision for America Ford’s Vision for America Chapter 4 Gerald Ford went to college during the Great Depression. Coming from a modest, middle-class background, he faced a great challenge in simply finding the money to attend the University of Michigan. The Wolverine gridiron coach heavily recruited Ford, who captained his high school football team as a senior, leading it to an undefeated season and state championship; but in the 1930s there were no athletic scholarships. Still, help came down various avenues. Ford’s high school principal created a special scholarship for him. Ford waited tables at the university hospital and gave blood every two to three months for money. Although always on a tight budget, he managed to pay for his Michigan education.1 For meals, Ford turned to the center of his college social life, Delta Kappa Epsilon. Ford recalled that being in a fraternity “was the thing to do in those days.” During his freshman year, he pledged, washed dishes at “Deke” for meals, and was inducted as a sophomore.2 The frat brothers grew to respect the star football center, one of them remembering that Ford took “tough courses like economics and got excellent grades.”3 They appreciated another Ford achievement. As a junior and senior, Ford served as the Deke house manager. He recalled that “when I became house manager, we straightened out the fraternity’s fiscal problems, and instead of being in the red, we became solvent.”4 When Ford graduated in 1935, the University of Michigan yearbook credited him with having “put the D.K.E. house back on a paying basis.”5 Forty years later, Ford found himself managing a much larger budget, that of the United States. But his principles remained the same; once again, he fought for solvency. The Definition of a Statesman In December 1973, when Ford’s nomination as vice president came before Congress, just three senators voted against his confirmation. Two of them, 74 Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s Democrats Thomas Eagleton of Missouri and Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, explained that they did not think that Ford could provide what Nelson called “inspirational leadership” were he to succeed Nixon.6 From the moment Ford stepped into the executive branch, liberals in Congress decried his vision for the country, or lack of one. As president, Ford’s views ignited ideological opposition from Congress. Democrats took a traditional liberal approach to correcting the country’s economic ills, emphasizing full employment and an active role for the federal government, with less concern about inflation and budgetary deficits. Ford had been a fiscal conservative throughout his career, and since he had not campaigned for the presidency, he transformed his political beliefs into a presidential program, making his ideas a nostrum for the nation’s challenges. This process was critical; to lead, a president must articulate a philosophy and establish policies to implement it. For his vision of a good America, Ford repaired to the Constitution and the idea of limited government. As Philip Buchen recalled, Ford was “very realistic about how government works and the effects of its action; he knew what its limitations were.”7 Buchen explained that his longtime friend and colleague “was not a great one for initiating a wide variety of programs. He limited his so-called ‘agenda’ to what really concerned him, and to what he thought government had the opportunity to do something about. He was a minimalist as far as the government was concerned.”8 This outlook was a key component in Ford’s battle against inflation. Excessive government spending and budget deficits fueled inflation, he believed, and the Democratic pursuit of “full employment” contributed to higher prices.9 Ford was trying to change, even reverse, a trend in social and economic policies that had been entrenched for nearly half a century. Skeptical of grand federal programs with catchy names like the New Deal or the Great Society, Ford couched his language in simple terms and eschewed a lofty vision. “Ford wasn’t a theme type of man. He wasn’t someone who attempted to sell things by packaging them for the media,” Assistant for Ecomonic Affairs William Seidman recalled. As a congressman, Ford opposed such Great Society initiatives as Medicare, federal aid to education, and subsidized housing.10 He believed that they were often wasteful and did little to assist those they were designed to help, instead reaping benefits for the professionals who planned and administered...

Share