The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the US Government charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It’s also tasked with increasing public access to those documents which make up the National Archive. The nationwide presidential library system is under the jurisdiction of the agency and is administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries. As a history buff, I’ve had the pleasure of touring each of them from Herbert Hoover’s in West Branch, IA to Richard Nixon’s in Yorba Linda, CA. However, since the start of the pandemic several years ago, all the Presidential Libraries and Museums were closed. I was delighted to learn of their recent reopening with the decline in coronavirus levels across the country and couldn’t wait to continue my quest. President Gerald Ford was next on my list and so it was with a great deal of excitement that I set out for Grand Rapids, Michigan on a Tuesday in mid-January.
Once again, I was fortunate in securing First Class tickets on American Airlines through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport using my British Airways Avios points. The carrier was using an Airbus A319 for the first leg of my morning journey which started at the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Flight time was one hour and fifty-three minutes, giving us ample time for a beverage service and selections from the snack basket. We pulled into Gate H8 and I proceeded to the Admirals Club located between the H and K Concourses. This lounge was relatively quiet at the Noon hour on that Tuesday which was a welcome change as it’s normally overcrowded and difficult to find a seat. My next flight was departing from Gate K2 and was flown on a CRJ-700 Regional Jet. Kudos to our flight attendant who managed to offer a beverage and snack service on this relatively short twenty-three-minute flight over Lake Michigan at 21,000 feet. We landed on time at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. Interestingly enough, the three-letter code assigned to the airport by the International Air Transport Association is GRR, my very own initials!
My reservations were made for the JW Marriott Hotel, which features 340 rooms and suites in its twenty-three story tower. I was surprised to check in at the bell desk near the hotel’s main entrance, but the front desk was closed. I soon learned that outside contractors working in the third floor pool area mistakenly drilled directly into a water main five days prior to my arrival. After the break, water cascaded down the windows from the ceiling and flooded the lobby. The seating area was still closed off days later and ten very loud fans were running twenty-four hours a day during my two-day stay to help dry out the carpets.
On arrival, I was upgraded to one of their lovely one-bedroom luxury suites on the thirteenth floor. Although the furnishings were a bit dated, the sitting room had a wonderful view overlooking the Grand River as well as a sofa, chair, writing desk and 42-inch flat-screen TV, along with a Keurig coffee machine and an in-rom safe. The adjacent King-bedded room shared the same great view. The Executive Lounge was open daily from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM to Platinum Elite Marriott Bonvoy Members and above, as well as guests residing on the Executive Floors, or those with upgraded package stays. I did visit the lounge the day I arrived and was pretty disappointed with the lackluster food offerings like chips, cheese and crackers. However, the attendant was very friendly, going out of his way to make everyone feel welcome and the lounge did offer complimentary coffee, soft drinks and water, along with a cash bar for anyone desiring something stronger. While most hotel concierge lounges closed during the pandemic and many are still shuttered, I was very happy that lounge was now open to guests.
After breakfast in the hotel’s Margaux Restaurant, I was able to walk across the river to the Ford Museum. This one is unique among all the Presidential complexes in having two Michigan sites located 130 miles apart. The library holding papers and audiovisual materials is located in Ann Arbor and the museum I visited holding artifacts and memorabilia is in Grand Rapids. The two sites are run as a single institution with one director. The genesis for this split library/museum operation developed after President Ford began donating his congressional papers to his alma mater, the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s, long before he would come vice president and president. Later, his many friends in his hometown of Grand Rapids, which he represented in Congress for twenty-five years, lobbied for the opportunity to create a museum there. In typical Ford fashion, a compromise was struck which pleased both cities.
The museum, with 55,000 square feet set on 4.6 ares, cost $7 million to build and was dedicated in September of 1981. The two-story triangular building of steel and concrete has 11,000 square feet devoted to ten galleries of permanent exhibits and 4,500 square feet for featured displays. It was virtually empty when I visited. In fact, I only saw five other persons all day so it was a very private experience and most enjoyable. After viewing “A Time to Heal,” the twenty-minute film about the life and times of President Ford, I was ready to explore the exhibits. The ten permanent exhibits are arranged chronologically and span Ford’s childhood, his service in the US Navy during World War II, as well as his congressional years and his service on the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Gerald Ford has a unique role in American history. He took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, after President Richard Nixon’s resignation amid the Watergate scandal. He thus became the first, and so far only, person to assume the nation’s highest office without winning a general election for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution allowed Ford to assume the office after he was selected by Nixon to replace Spiro T. Agnew, the Vice President elected on the 1972 Republican ticket, who resigned in an unrelated scandal.
The museum exhibits covered all aspects of the Ford Presidential years, including the Nixon pardon and the ensuing controversy. His attendance at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe led to the 1975 Helsinki Accords. This agreement recognized the inviolability of the post-World War II frontiers in Europe and pledged the 35 signatory nations to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to cooperate in economic, scientific, humanitarian, and other areas. Although he was criticized at the time for his involvement, today the accords are often credited with helping to pave the way for dissidents in Eastern Europe. They also helped improve communication between the Eastern and Western Bloc countries, and they are seen as a major turning point in the Cold War. Ford also served as President during the American Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. His nomination on the Republican ticket for President that year and his loss to Jimmy Carter is also covered in an extensive exhibit, along with one on the role which First Lady Betty Ford played at the time. She was an outspoken advocate of women's rights and was a prominent force in the Women's Movement of the 1970s. She supported the proposed Equal Rights Amendment and lobbied state legislatures to ratify the amendment, and also took on its opponents.
Of special mention is the “Leadership in Diplomacy” exhibition surrounding the staircase from the US Embassy in Saigon, which was used to help evacuate thousands of US personnel and South Vietnamese during the final days of America’s involvement in April of 1975. Despite the reservations of others, President Ford personally insisted that the staircase be included in the exhibit, dubbing it “the staircase to freedom.” It was very special for me to personally see an artifact that played such an important role in US history. Between April 29 and 30, 1975, American helicopters landed at ten-minute intervals on the rooftop of the US embassy in Saigon to evacuate American diplomatic staff and at-risk Vietnamese. Called Operation Frequent Wind, over 7,000 people were evacuated, including 5,500 Vietnamese, in less than 24 hours! The museum also includes a replica of the Oval Office as it appeared during Ford’s years as President, which is unique among the Presidential Libraries for its display of the actual artifacts from his time in office. An almost full-size replica of the Cabinet Room is also on exhibit which featured a special audio tour narrated by Carla Hills, the first woman to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Before my departure, I enjoyed a visit to the Betty Ford Garden and Fountain in front of the museum and took time to pay my respects to President and Mrs. Ford’s burial site on the grounds. I headed home the following day with a better appreciation of our 38th President and the great integrity he brought to the position at a pivotal time in our nation’s history.
Until next time…safe travels.
Very informative and well researched. I cannot however stop thinking of your initials - GRR - and will now rename you Mr Angry 😁
As always you bring our history to the forefront of what we should know I. This modern age. I appreciate all the research involved as well as your down to earth reporting!!
chatting about your upgrades is always a hoot!
❤️