Family, friends gather to remember Ford
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Gerald R. Ford was remembered Wednesday as a man not afraid to laugh, make tough decisions or listen to the advice of his independent wife in eulogies delivered during a funeral at the church the couple attended for six decades.
An honor guard carried the casket inside Grace Episcopal Church, where Ford's defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, recalled his public service.
His widow, Betty, wiped away tears as she sat with the couple's four children and more than 300 dignitaries and family friends, including Vice President
Dick Cheney and golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.
"He was one of us," Rumsfeld said, "And that made him special and needed in a dark and dangerous hour for our nation."
Rumsfeld, who recently left his post as
President Bush's defense secretary, remembered Ford as a courageous and steady leader who healed the nation after Watergate.
Rumsfeld said the Navy is considering naming a new aircraft carrier after Ford, a Navy veteran. A decision is expected later this month.
"How fitting it would be that the name Gerald R. Ford will patrol the high seas for decades to come in defense of the nation he loved so much," he said.
Carter described the close personal friendship he and Ford developed over the years.
"I relished his sound advice," Carter said as his wife, Rosalynn, cried. "I want to thank my predecessor for all he did to heal our land."
Thousands of flag-waving mourners lined the roads under sunny skies as the motorcade bearing Ford's casket traveled between his presidential museum and library in downtown Grand Rapids to the church, before returning to the museum, where Ford was to be buried later Wednesday.
The funeral service capped six days of official mourning, including services in California, ceremonies at the nation's capital and a 17-hour viewing Tuesday night and Wednesday morning at the museum.
The viewing had to be extended Wednesday until nearly noon so everyone in line could pay their respects. Some 57,000 mourners waited hours to file past the flag-draped casket during the night. Some stopped and made silent prayers.
"We're here to honor him," said Philip Bareham of Lansing, who was the last person to view the casket and whose parents were among Ford's earliest supporters and political allies. "We just love this family. They are so down-to-earth."
Ford represented Grand Rapids in Congress for 25 years. His family had belonged to Grace Episcopal Church since the early 1940s.
Richard Norton Smith, an author, presidential historian and former director of Ford's museum and library, reminded mourners how important Ford's hometown was to him.
"Grand Rapids returned his affection many times over," which was "unforgettably demonstrated by the tens of thousands who stood in line for hours outside the museum, braving the cold to assure that his last night was anything but lonely," Smith said.
Draped over the back of one pew at the funeral was a blue blanket with the letter "M" emblazoned on it, symbolizing Ford's alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he played football for national championship teams in 1932 and 1933.
Many of the mourners at the museum and lining the roads during his funeral procession on Wednesday wore Michigan hats and sweat shirts in his honor.
Ford, who became president after Richard Nixon resigned, died Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 93.
January 03, 2007
January 02, 2007
Ford state funeral moves to Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The nation remembered Gerald R. Ford on Tuesday for what he didn't have — pretensions, a scheming agenda, a great golf game — as much as for the small-town authenticity he brought to the presidency.
The state funeral for the 38th president began with an elaborate service at Washington National Cathedral, then moved to Grand Rapids in Ford's final homecoming. The marching band from the University of Michigan, the school where he played football, greeted the White House jet carrying his casket, members of his family and others in the funeral party.
The service in Washington unfolded in the spirit of one of its musical selections — "Fanfare for the Common Man" — as powerful people celebrated the modesty and humility of a leader propelled to the presidency by the Watergate crisis that drove predecessor Richard Nixon from office.
"In President Ford, the world saw the best of America, and America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation's history," President Bush said in his eulogy.
Bush's father, the first President Bush, called Ford a "Norman Rockwell painting come to life" and pierced the solemnity of the occasion by cracking gentle jokes about Ford's reputation as an errant golfer. He said Ford knew his golf game was getting better when he began hitting fewer spectators.
Ford's athletic interest was honored, too, in the capital and in Michigan. At the Grand Rapids airport that bears Ford's name, the Michigan band played the school's famous fight song, "The Victors," as Ford's flag-draped casket was transferred to a hearse.
He had played center for the Wolverines in their undefeated, national championship seasons in 1932 and 1933 and turned down several pro football offers to go to law school at Yale instead.
In Grand Rapids, which the Nebraska native adopted as his hometown and represented in Congress for a quarter century, Ford's presidential museum opened its doors for a brief service and then an 18-hour public viewing, stretching overnight, before his burial Wednesday afternoon.
Jimmy Carter, the Democrat who defeated Ford in 1976 and became his friend, not only attended the Washington service with the two other living ex-presidents, the elder Bush and Bill Clinton, but came to Grand Rapids on the plane with Ford's family and his remains.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, delivering one of the most emotional tributes of the day, spoke as if addressing Ford directly, in remarks at the museum. "You were an incredible human being," said Granholm, a Democrat. "You were a paradoxical gift of remarkable intellect and achievement wrapped in a plain brown wrapper."
Under towering arches of the cathedral in the morning, Henry Kissinger, Ford's secretary of state, paid tribute to his leadership in achieving nuclear arms control with the Soviets, pushing for the first political agreement between Israel and Egypt and helping to bring majority rule to southern Africa.
"In his understated way he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery," Kissinger said. "Gerald Ford had the virtues of small town America."
Another eulogist, NBC newsman Tom Brokaw, said Ford brought to office "no demons, no hidden agenda, no hit list or acts of vengeance," an oblique reference to the air of subterfuge that surrounded Nixon in his final days.
In his homily, Episcopalian minister Robert G. Certain touched on the fractious debate in the church over homosexual relationships, and said Ford did not think the issue should be splitting Episcopalians. He was Ford's pastor at St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert, Calif.
"He asked me if we would face schism after we discussed the various issues we would consider, particularly concerns about human sexuality and the leadership of women," Certain said. "He said that he did not think they should be divisive for anyone who lived by the great commandments and the great commission to love God and to love neighbor." On a national day of mourning that closed most of the government as well as financial markets, the cortege brought Ford's casket to the cathedral in blustery winds that blew off the hats of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, and members of the honor guard outside the service.
White-gloved police officers lined the route passing the White House to the cathedral; light, subdued crowds watched the cortege.
Inside, more than 3,000 people mourned the man who was charged with restoring trust in government after Nixon's downfall. They remembered an unassuming leader who was content with his congressional career until history called him to higher office.
President Bush escorted Ford's widow, Betty, down the aisle of the great stone cathedral, which stretches nearly the length of two football fields and has soaring towers, 215 stained glass windows and an organ with 10,650 pipes.
Carter engaged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an animated conversation while waiting for the funeral party. Rice also chatted with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and at one point the three ex-presidents — Carter, the elder Bush and Clinton — shook hands.
Among others at the cathedral: Nancy Reagan, who mourned her husband Ronald there in 2004; former Secretary of State
Colin Powell and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a presidential prospect for 2008.
Thousands of average Americans had filed into the Capitol Rotunda over two days and a night to pay final respects.
Funeral services were held there for former presidents Eisenhower in 1969 and Reagan in 2004, and ex-President Wilson is buried there.
Ford died at 93 on Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
He was appointed vice president by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned in a bribery scandal stemming from his days as Maryland governor. After Nixon resigned, Ford assumed the presidency for 2 1/2 years.
A month after taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon for any Watergate crimes he might have committed.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The nation remembered Gerald R. Ford on Tuesday for what he didn't have — pretensions, a scheming agenda, a great golf game — as much as for the small-town authenticity he brought to the presidency.
The state funeral for the 38th president began with an elaborate service at Washington National Cathedral, then moved to Grand Rapids in Ford's final homecoming. The marching band from the University of Michigan, the school where he played football, greeted the White House jet carrying his casket, members of his family and others in the funeral party.
The service in Washington unfolded in the spirit of one of its musical selections — "Fanfare for the Common Man" — as powerful people celebrated the modesty and humility of a leader propelled to the presidency by the Watergate crisis that drove predecessor Richard Nixon from office.
"In President Ford, the world saw the best of America, and America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation's history," President Bush said in his eulogy.
Bush's father, the first President Bush, called Ford a "Norman Rockwell painting come to life" and pierced the solemnity of the occasion by cracking gentle jokes about Ford's reputation as an errant golfer. He said Ford knew his golf game was getting better when he began hitting fewer spectators.
Ford's athletic interest was honored, too, in the capital and in Michigan. At the Grand Rapids airport that bears Ford's name, the Michigan band played the school's famous fight song, "The Victors," as Ford's flag-draped casket was transferred to a hearse.
He had played center for the Wolverines in their undefeated, national championship seasons in 1932 and 1933 and turned down several pro football offers to go to law school at Yale instead.
In Grand Rapids, which the Nebraska native adopted as his hometown and represented in Congress for a quarter century, Ford's presidential museum opened its doors for a brief service and then an 18-hour public viewing, stretching overnight, before his burial Wednesday afternoon.
Jimmy Carter, the Democrat who defeated Ford in 1976 and became his friend, not only attended the Washington service with the two other living ex-presidents, the elder Bush and Bill Clinton, but came to Grand Rapids on the plane with Ford's family and his remains.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, delivering one of the most emotional tributes of the day, spoke as if addressing Ford directly, in remarks at the museum. "You were an incredible human being," said Granholm, a Democrat. "You were a paradoxical gift of remarkable intellect and achievement wrapped in a plain brown wrapper."
Under towering arches of the cathedral in the morning, Henry Kissinger, Ford's secretary of state, paid tribute to his leadership in achieving nuclear arms control with the Soviets, pushing for the first political agreement between Israel and Egypt and helping to bring majority rule to southern Africa.
"In his understated way he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery," Kissinger said. "Gerald Ford had the virtues of small town America."
Another eulogist, NBC newsman Tom Brokaw, said Ford brought to office "no demons, no hidden agenda, no hit list or acts of vengeance," an oblique reference to the air of subterfuge that surrounded Nixon in his final days.
In his homily, Episcopalian minister Robert G. Certain touched on the fractious debate in the church over homosexual relationships, and said Ford did not think the issue should be splitting Episcopalians. He was Ford's pastor at St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert, Calif.
"He asked me if we would face schism after we discussed the various issues we would consider, particularly concerns about human sexuality and the leadership of women," Certain said. "He said that he did not think they should be divisive for anyone who lived by the great commandments and the great commission to love God and to love neighbor." On a national day of mourning that closed most of the government as well as financial markets, the cortege brought Ford's casket to the cathedral in blustery winds that blew off the hats of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, and members of the honor guard outside the service.
White-gloved police officers lined the route passing the White House to the cathedral; light, subdued crowds watched the cortege.
Inside, more than 3,000 people mourned the man who was charged with restoring trust in government after Nixon's downfall. They remembered an unassuming leader who was content with his congressional career until history called him to higher office.
President Bush escorted Ford's widow, Betty, down the aisle of the great stone cathedral, which stretches nearly the length of two football fields and has soaring towers, 215 stained glass windows and an organ with 10,650 pipes.
Carter engaged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an animated conversation while waiting for the funeral party. Rice also chatted with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and at one point the three ex-presidents — Carter, the elder Bush and Clinton — shook hands.
Among others at the cathedral: Nancy Reagan, who mourned her husband Ronald there in 2004; former Secretary of State
Colin Powell and former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a presidential prospect for 2008.
Thousands of average Americans had filed into the Capitol Rotunda over two days and a night to pay final respects.
Funeral services were held there for former presidents Eisenhower in 1969 and Reagan in 2004, and ex-President Wilson is buried there.
Ford died at 93 on Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
He was appointed vice president by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned in a bribery scandal stemming from his days as Maryland governor. After Nixon resigned, Ford assumed the presidency for 2 1/2 years.
A month after taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon for any Watergate crimes he might have committed.
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