Community Connection to President Ford

Community Connection to President Ford

While attending former President Gerald Ford's funeral, I saw the familiar faces of Mary and David Mathews. Mary Mathews is on the Board of the Dayton Aviation Area. We frequently worked together in her prior role as president of Carillon Park. She was there with her husband, Dr. David Mathews, who is president of the Charles Kettering Foundation. The Kettering Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical, public policy, research organization (or "think tank"). The Kettering Foundation focuses on what it takes to make democracy work.

Seeing the Mathews' highlighted a hometown link to President Ford. Dr. Mathews was Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Ford (In 1980 the Department of Education became a separate Cabinet-level Department, and Health, Education and Welfare became the Department of Health and Human Services - HHS).

After the funeral, my communications director spoke with Dr. Mathews about President Ford. The following are some of the stories and recollections Dr. Mathews told of President Ford.

Dr. Mathews called Ford a reconciler. He continued by saying, "While there was a great balance in Ford, he was also tough as nails. He did what he believed the country needed and was never motivated by polls." The most obvious example is the pardon of Richard Nixon, but Mathews tells a more personal story.

In 1976 one U.S. solider stationed at Fort Dix died of the swine flu. There was some concern that the potential for an epidemic existed. A panel of the best and brightest scientists of the day was convened. That panel included Doctors Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin (who did much of his research at the University of Cincinnati). Both were pioneers in developing polio vaccines. Some of the panelists counseled the president to quickly begin creating vaccine and getting the word out to the nation. Others thought it prudent not to risk a panic, and wait. Mathews recalls a decisive President Ford unwilling to risk an epidemic, giving the order to produce the vaccine. He stated, "There were rumors that it was dreamed up, but it wasn't." To emphasize the point President Ford and HEW Secretary Mathews received the first and second doses of the vaccine.

The working relationship and personal friendship between President Ford and Secretary Mathews continued after the Ford administration. In the early 1980s, when Dr. Mathews became president of the Kettering Foundation, he suggested to Ford that he invite former president Jimmy Carter to the first conference at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. That conference addressed the public's reaction to proposals to strengthen the nation's Social Security program. The meeting was based on results from a citizens' briefing book prepared for the National Issues Forums.

Dr. Mathews recollected President Ford's reaction to the idea of inviting the man who had defeated him in the 1976 election. "Characteristically he [Ford] agreed, not just begrudgingly, or acquiescing, he was enthusiastic about inviting Carter…That was the first project Presidents Ford and Carter did together. It resulted in a life-long friendship.

The Kettering Foundation continues to do research that is used in the National Issues Forums briefing books. The Kettering Foundation does not finance or conduct the forums. They are done by local organizations as part of their own programs. The University of Dayton (UD) School of Law, Sinclair Community College and several churches are examples of organizations that have conducted forums locally.

The Kettering Foundation has compiled an extraordinary body of work. Much of it is available at no cost or at a low price. Their web site is www.kettering.org.

http://www.house.gov/miketurner/news/columns/1.5.07.shtml