Ford Joins in Forum on His Presidency

ORANGE —  As the nation considers what former President Clinton’s legacy will be, four Chapman University students who critiqued Gerald Ford’s presidency got to hear his reactions firsthand as part of a school symposium Saturday.

The event culminated a two-day conference that focused on the Ford presidency. Four students wrote essays on such topics as economics and the two assassination attempts on Ford, and read them to the former president before an audience of nearly 200 people.

One of the four students, Jeff Castillo, 23, a political science major, chose economics for his essay because he saw parallels between what Ford did at the outset of his administration and what President Bush is trying to do now.

Though Ford’s ascension to the presidency is associated with the nation’s trauma over the Watergate scandal, the nation was also suffering from high rates of unemployment and “stagflation.” To jump-start the economy, Ford’s key economic advisors, Alan Greenspan and William Simon, suggested a tax cut, similar to what Bush has proposed.

Ford said that he at first wanted to veto any tax cut. But “after careful reconsideration,” his administration changed its position midstream, a move that some in Congress labeled a flip-flop on policy direction.

Meghan Tidgewell, 24, read her essay on the two attempts on Ford’s life, both in California. They involved Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme and Sara Jane Moore.

As the audience grew still, Ford lightened the moment by describing what he told his wife, Betty Ford, a supporter of women’s causes, including the Equal Rights Amendment.

“Now here was a situation where two ladies tried to shoot me,” Ford said. “So when I returned to Washington, I said to my dear wife, who was a proponent of the ERA, I’m going to have to reconsider my stand.”