This essay by Aiswarya Padmanabhan, MPP ‘25, was awarded second place in the Ford50 essay contest. In 2001, Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States, delivered an insightful statement on leadership while accepting the John F. Kennedy...
This essay, by Anna Pomper, MPP '24, was awarded third place in the Ford50 essay contest. I. BackgroundOn August 1st, 1974, Vice President Gerald Ford received a visit from the President’s Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig. The “smoking gun tape,” a...
Fifty years ago, at a time of great division and turbulence in the U.S., Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States. As part of our Ford50 commemoration, the Ford School challenged students to draft original essays on the...
50 years ago, in a nation wracked by scandal and uncertainty, President Gerald R. Ford made the controversial decision to pardon former President Richard Nixon. How do we think about the implications of that historic pardon in a modern political...
Joan and Sanford Weill Hall Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
On the 50th anniversary of Gerald R. Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, a re-assessment of the relevance of that action in today's political landscape. After being vilified, and then lionized as a great act of patriotism, in this era of seeming impunity, what is the significance of that unique, historical pardon?
President Ford’s son, Steve Ford, and the Ford Presidential Foundation executive director, Gleaves Whitney, will talk about the momentous events of August 8 and 9, 1974. Steve will share how that 24-hour period changed his family, American politics, and world history.
Detroit Public Television contributor Zoe Clark from Michigan Public sits down with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes from the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and Jenna Bednar, Professor of Public Policy and Faculty Director of UMIC