 The leader of the free world, the president of the United States, ladies and gentlemen, the president, Ronald Reagan. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, George. Reverend Clergy, president and Mrs. Ford, the distinguished people that you have met up here, and those that are in the audience, millions of Americans will follow us to this place. And like us, they will find history here. They will relive in their own minds and through their children's eyes dramatic and critically important moments in our nation's life. Here they will reflect on the achievements of the 38th president of the United States. They will dwell on what Gerald Ford brought to this nation and what he gave to his country and his people. Some of those who come here will bring just as many of us to have today personal memories. I have my own. I couldn't help but recall, as we prepared for this trip, that the first time he and I encountered each other was in Michigan. Well, it wasn't exactly an encounter, and we certainly didn't have any awareness of each other. I was a young sports announcer for station WHO of Des Moines, Iowa. I was broadcasting an Iowa-Michigan football game. The center on that Michigan team was a fellow named Jerry Ford. Candor in a decent regard for history forced me to admit that was about 47 years ago and Michigan won. I have some other unique memories, one in particular is more recent, but serves to highlight our mutual interest in sports and politics. In 1976, we were engaged in another kind of game. He won that one, too, but you observe one day that we had something in common. He said that we both played football, and he said that he had played for Michigan and I played for Warner Brothers. Well, let me add that playing the gipper did get more attention than my three years in the line for Eureka College, which maybe proved something us linemen have always felt, and that is that it's pretty easy for the backs to get the glory. I was a guard, right guard, that is, and Mr. President, other less humorous similarities between us have occurred recently. This came home to me when I ran across this description of the American economy, the worst inflation in the country's peacetime history, the highest interest rates in a century, the consequence severe slump in housing, sinking, and utterly demoralized securities markets, a stagnant economy with large scale unemployment in prospect, and a worsening international trade and payments position. That description comes from the New York Times, and I thought you'd like to know the date was the summer of 1974. Gerald Ford had just become president of the United States. During his first few months in office, he made the battle against inflation, growing unemployment and the stagnant economy his first priority. He didn't hesitate to point to the causes of this economic crisis. He noted that in a 10-year period, federal spending had increased from over $100 billion to over $300 billion. In a 15-year period, direct and indirect federal payments to individuals had gone from 24% of the federal budget to 46% while spending for defense fell from 49% of the budget to 26%. President Ford asked his countrymen to choose. To put it simply, he said, we must decide whether we shall continue in the direction of recent years the path toward bigger government, higher taxes and higher inflation, or whether we shall now take a new direction, bringing to a halt the momentous growth of government, restoring our prosperity, and allowing each of you a greater voice in your own future. Well, as president, Gerald Ford made his choice. And when he left office, the economy was again moving in the right direction with inflation shrunk to a yearly rate of 4.8%. And his decision to carefully rebuild America's defense and his willingness to protect American interests and lives abroad began to re-establish our international prestige. He showed it can be done. Well, these are the facts of the objective criteria by which the success of the Ford presidency can be judged. Yet the legacy left his countrymen. My General Gerald Ford is something deeper and something more profound. In 1787, shortly after the Constitutional Convention concluded its work, Benjamin Franklin was asked what had been accomplished. And we all know, he said, we've given you a republic if you can keep it. For two centuries, this has been the challenge before all Americans. A challenge that has always been met but not without uncertainty, moments of doubt, and danger. During the first transition of federal power from one party to the other in 1800, fierce acrimony, vows of retribution to even talk of succession, filled the nation's capital. And in 1861, another great internal crisis shook our nation. And this time, the dissolution of the Union was not only threatened, it was, for a time, a reality. In both cases, the steadiness, the fortitude, the personal ease, and quiet confidence of our presidents saw us through. On August 9, 1974, when the nation was experiencing another traumatic test of its institutions, Gerald Ford, as has been said several times here today, took the oath of office in the East Room of the White House and spoke of the extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. He spoke of a time of trouble and hurt, and he told us, our long national nightmare is over. He woke us from that nightmare. We've heard, repeated here today, dramatic statements that were made as evidence of that. He did heal America because he so thoroughly understood America. His was and is an unquestioning belief in the soundness of our way of governing and in the resiliency of our people. And when he was about to step down from the presidency, he took note of our remarkable tradition of peaceful transitions of power. He said, there are no soldiers marching in the streets except in the inaugural parade. No public demonstrations except for some of the dancers at the inaugural ball. The opposition party doesn't go underground, but goes on functioning. And a vigilant press goes right on probing and publishing our faults and our follies. And during our bicentennial, he reminded the American people of the collective wisdom of their ways and the remarkable achievements of their past. And the fact that we can meet in solemn gatherings like this and go right on without being bothered a bit by a few raucous voices from beyond. In the space of two centuries, Gerald Ford said, we have not been able to right every wrong, to correct every injustice, to reach every worthy goal. But for 200 years we have tried. And we will continue to strive to make the lives of individual men and women in this country and on this earth better lives, more hopeful and happy, more prosperous and peaceful, more fulfilling and more free. This is our common dedication, he said, and it will be our common glory as we enter the third century of the American adventure. Gerald Ford healed America because he understood the adventure of America, her way of governing her people and the source of her strength as a nation. And on the night he learned that he was likely to be the next president of the United States, he and Betty recited a favorite prayer from the book of Proverbs. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Today many of us in public life from this country and others have come here to speak words of tribute to Gerald Ford. The millions of Americans who will soon hear or read these words will not long remember them, but can be sure that in their minds and hearts there will be a flash of recognition and a swell of gratitude, feelings that have put into words would result in a simple statement by his countrymen about Gerald Ford. He was a good president who led us well, a good man who sought to serve others. Mr. President, I noted recently that your confidence in our nature's future is not at all diminished. You said that the nation again faces difficult moments, but that there's a good feeling in the country despite the problems. You said our plans for economic recovery will work because the American people will make them work. You noted that the will of the people is more important than all the technical things, all the micro and macroeconomics. There is just no way to equate that, you said, with the will of 229 million Americans. I am, of course, grateful for your support and counsel on this matter, but I would remind you that if today 229 million Americans can look forward to that future you speak of, it is because you brought us through difficult and trying times and helped us to believe again in ourselves. Not too long ago on the 200th anniversary of Paul Revere's famous ride, you offered a prayer, Mr. President, in the old North Church in Boston. You said you hoped that those who follow us might say of our generation, we kept the faith, freedom flourished, liberty lived. That's a worthy prayer, Mr. President, and we offer it again today in a spirit of gratitude for your presidency and affection for you. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honor to introduce to you the 38th President of the United States, a man of decency, a man of honor, a man of healing, Gerald R. Ford. Mr. President, Mrs. Reagan, President López Portillo of Mexico, our good neighbor to the South, Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, our good neighbor to the North, President Giscard de Sting of France, our good neighbor across the Atlantic, Foreign Minister Sonoda of Japan, our good neighbor across the Pacific, Mrs. Lyndon Bain Johnson from Texas, our good neighbor from out west, distinguished guests, all of my good neighbors from Grand Rapids, from Michigan and beyond. They say you can't go home again. They're wrong. It's not uncommon for a man of my age to be surrounded by so many friends and to be eulogized so eloquently. What is most unusual, and I must say most enjoyable, is to be here to hear it. Old soldiers may just fade away, but politicians will always respond to one more curtain call. It's not just the applause that we love. It is the sense of common shared interest, of common shared ideals, of serving a purpose larger than ourselves. It is the comfort of being among friends, the high point of my life next to meeting and marrying Betty. Was not making Eagle Scout or being named All-State Center from South High or earning my varsity M at the University of Michigan or getting my sheepskin from Yale Law School or winning my first election to the Congress or serving as 38th President of the United States. They seem so at the time, but the high point is always ahead, and today it is here in my hometown among my friends. This building is made of steel and concrete, but this moment is made of love. As I look back over the lessons of the years, it's been my experience that if you want to get where you are going, you cannot spend too much of your time contemplating where you've been. All those Saturdays I spent in the Michigan line, looking at the world backwards and upside down, taught me this. The world looks a lot better head on and straight ahead. Yet there are times for looking back. I'm thinking particular of election day 1976. Some of you may remember I voted early. I'll let you guess for whom. And before heading back to Washington, we unveiled Paul Collins' mural at Kent County Airport. There was my whole life spread before me, my dear mother and father, my brothers, the happy scenes of my boyhood here. I was physically drained and emotionally full. I knew it was going to be a close election. We had come from 30 points behind in the polls to just about even. We were hopeful, but still the thought seized my mind that I might be ending the full career that I've been privileged to have. Well, nearly five years have passed, and I've never been busier and happier. I've been to places I always wanted to see. I've talked with thousands of people. I played a little golf with you know who, and I've had to reflect. I have worked to bring this museum and the Ford Library at Ann Arbor to completion. Now I'm working on a foundation that will help students and scholars from all over the world to work with the original documents and mementos of my career in the Congress, the Vice Presidency, and the White House. Here they can examine in specific detail how our Constitution works, why our great republic is a government of laws and not of men, and discover for themselves that the people rule. This magnificent structure beside the Grand River with other presidential archives and memorials serves and shares a common purpose and utility, though their contents like the men they honor are very different. Unlike the pyramids, their function is not to deify the dead, but rather to distill from the past the essence of experience that may illuminate the dim path and the future. The past can construct the present not only in the art of leadership but also in the opportunities of citizenship. Since the days of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, it has been a tenet of American faith that every native son could grow up to be president, but the ideals of their generations had to be forged into the realities of ours, and so through the years we've moved slowly but surely to erase every spurious bar to high public service, whether it be region, religion, race, or sex. I would not be surprised, I would be glad if in this century it could be said that every American boy or girl can grow to be president of the United States. Within these walls you will find clues to some of the convictions I hold which explain the policies that I set and the decisions that I made. There are souvenirs and beautiful state gifts from my official visits to our good neighbor, Mexico, who president honors us today. And with his family joined Betty and me at a private dinner in the White House in 1976. Journeys to Europe and Asia, including Mr. Foreign Minister, the historic first exchange of visits by an American president and the emperor of Japan. One of my regrets is that I never got to Canada while I was in the White House, but I did have a number of constructive meetings with Prime Minister Trudeau in Washington, Brussels, Helsinki, and Puerto Rico. And a couple of winners ago, we had a memorable reunion on the ski slopes of Vail, Colorado, where I showed him the superb upside down landing techniques which I learned in the Laurentian 40 years ago. I'm also sorry I was never able to visit metropolitan France, but I recall a delightful meeting on the sunny aisle of Martinique, defying protocol. President Giscard de Stang and I immediately jumped into a swimming pool, out-distanced our foreign ministers, and did more for Franco-American friendship that had been done since the last time Ben Franklin visited Paris. Curious citizens and future historians may ask, why, with his desk piled high with domestic difficulties, did Jerry Ford spend so much time traveling a quarter of a million miles to NATO meetings, European security conferences, economic summit meetings, salt talks? Why did he crowd his White House calendar with calls from foreign leaders? Why spend most of his first hectic day as president seeing nearly every ambassador in Washington? The answer to these questions is found here in the Ford Museum. It helps to go back to the summer of 1940. Europe was in flames, one by one our traditional friends were being smashed by Hitler, Stukas, and Panzers. I had one more year to go at Yale. In whatever time I could spare, I flung myself into Wendell Wilkie's campaign, even though he had beaten Michigan's hero Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Grand Rapids for the Republican nomination. Why Wilkie? Vandenberg was an ardent isolationist, so was Grand Rapids in those days, and so was I. But what I admired about Wilkie was his freedom from machine politics and his fighting spirit. When I came home from the Navy after World War II, it was plain to me that the free nations would have to stick together as they had in war to preserve and protect the peace we had won so dearly. My political mentor, Senator Arthur Vandenberg, had abandoned his isolationism, and so had I. In fact, Arthur Vandenberg had become the chief Republican champion of international cooperation.