I just had the great honor of attending President Ford’s funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C..  It was one of the most impressive and meaningful events I have ever been part of.

If you didn’t have the chance to see it on TV, please take the opportunity to watch it when it is replayed.  Beautiful tributes were given by President George H.W. Bush, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Tom Brokaw and President George W. Bush.  There is nothing I can write here better than what they said.  Clearly he was greatly respected and loved by many.

I’m heading to Sacramento early tomorrow – which is first day of the new session – where I will adjourn the Senate in honor of our 38th President.  Last Friday, my wife, Mary, and I were privileged to be invited by the family to attend the Private Visitation at St. Margaret’s church in Palm Desert.  It’s been a long week.

I’m proud to say Gerald Ford was a constituent of mine for 12 years.  I’m even prouder to say he honored me with his friendship.  He’d known my father for 40 years (they served in Congress together and we lived very near them in Virginia when I was a young child), but I really got to know him starting in 1993 when I went to ask him for his support for State Assembly.

[To the left is a recent photo of President Ford, along with his wife Betty, the desert community that they loved to call home – Flash]

He was great.  He endorsed me, he wrote letters for me and he headlined the biggest fundraiser of my campaign.  What a thrill.  I was a 31 year old complete unknown at the time, running against the Democrat Majority Caucus Chair who was the hand-picked heir apparent to be Speaker by Willie Brown.  She had the Speaker and I had President Ford.  I won by 13 points.

From that point forward, he would headline an event for me every time I asked (which I did about every two or three years [I stopped asking a few years ago when the President stepped back from public appearances]) and he would call my office whenever he wanted to know what was going on in Sacramento.

But enough about why and how I knew President Ford —

I’ll leave it to history to record the strength of character of the man.  President Ford knew that granting a pardon to President Nixon was critical for the nation to get beyond the Watergate crisis (historical note:  Nixon was never charged with any crime).  He also knew that the pardon would likely cost him his election as president.  He did what he thought was right for our country- political consequences be damned.  He was a quietly strong, humble man throughout his life.  There are very few of his caliber.  

What I wanted the point of this post to be about, however, was his family.

I want you to keep Mrs. Ford in your prayers.  She just lost the love of her life.  She is 88 years old and was married for 53 years.  They were always together.  President Ford never started any speech or private conversation without some reference to his wife – ever.  Its hard to imagine a couple more in love.

Knowing that –  think of the week she has had.  She just lost her husband, but knows she now has a duty to our country to be strong and go through ceremony after ceremony.  She has always been a class act.

At the Private Visitation, Mrs. Ford sat and greeted every single person.  She thanked us for coming and received condolences over and over.  She just did it again at the State Funeral and will do it again in Michigan, where they will lay her husband to rest.  I can’t imagine how hard that must be.  When my father passed away, my mom was devastated – we should all sympathize with the coast to coast schedule that Betty Ford is going through.

Which brings me to her family.  Whether you are Republican or Democrat – liberal, moderate or conservative.  Whatever you may think of President Gerald R. Ford, you should hope to have a family like his.  At the visitation they all were there – their grandchildren thanked every single visitor for coming – and their sons stood by Mrs. Ford giving her support (rubbing her back and keeping her strong).  They did the same thing at the State Funeral and when the casket was open to public viewing in the Capitol rotunda.  I’m sure they will be there for her in Michigan as well.  When God takes me – I hope my kids (and their kids) are there for my wife as steadfastly as the Ford family was.

President Ford was a great man.  I was honored to know him.  Our country will be lessened without him.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.