On Monday May 16th, 1966 Senator Gerald Ford spoke to a large gathering of students in the Student Union Grand Ballroom (now Ackerman Grand Ballroom). The Senator and future President outlined to the students his views and ideas concerning such varied topics as general government to the war in Vietnam. Gerald Ford was born in July of 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska. His family later moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford attended the University of Michigan where he played football. He attended Yale School of Law and graduated in 1941. Eight years later in 1949 he was elected to Congress as a representative of Michigan. In Congress he quickly rose through the Republican ranks, becoming a member of the Joint House-Senate Republican Leadership. By the time he spoke at UCLA he was the House Minority Leader in a Congress largely dominated by Democrats. After President Johnson won reelection overwhelmingly over Barry Goldwater in 1964 the Democrats controlled close to two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Ford pointed out that the point of the opposition is not to get legislature passed, but to maintain some sort of control over the majority party. Ford told the students that his party's job as the minority party is to look at the decisions of the incumbent party in a new light. If the Democrats were to try to pass legislation that he didn't agree with his job would be to "disagree without being disagreeable."
Ford expressed his concern with some of President Johnson's programs such as Medicare and and the Johnson Administration's stance on taxes. He felt that Medicare should be voluntary and only given to the most worthy individuals. His stance on these social issues seems to closely follow that of most Republicans. He also opted for a sliding scale in Medicare that would appropiate benefits based on need. This would allow the most needy to recieve more comphensation while those who were less needy would recieve less. As far as taxes and Johnson's "Great Dream" he felt that Johnson had taken too aggressive of a stance as far as programs and taxes.
Ford did not, however, offer a solution to the problem in Vietnam. He only stated that no stable government could be formed in a country with so much conflict. He seemed as though he did not want to offend one side or another by saying we should send in more troops or withdraw completely. The Senator did express optimizim for the upcoming election. He predicted that the Republicans would capture forty seats in the next election and help restore balance in Congress. The 25th Amendment, which was passed just a year after he gave his speech at UCLA, granted him the Presidency on August 9, 1974 when President Nixon resigned after the scandal at Watergate. He helped to heal the country after the scandal and the crisis in the Middle East (the Six-Day War). In September of 1981 the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum was opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan to commemorate the President. More information on the the museum can be found here.
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