The recently-installed Gerald Ford statue was in the Capitol Rotunda when I visited a few weeks back during the ridiculous heat wave.
Ford was an interesting guy. In Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford (a great book, by the way, and perfect for Kindle), Tom DeFrank records that when he became VP, Ford returned Spiro Agnew’s Air Force jet and crew to the VIP motor pool, in favor of a little Convair turboprop for his vice-presidential travel. And:
When the Secret Service made him take a Boeing 707 military jet to Vail for Christmas 1973, he made sure that the ten extra seats went to soldiers trying to make it home for the holidays.
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Out in the footlocker in the garage is the letter I received from him congratulation me on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Ford most definitely was an individual who had very bright shining moments, problem is very few of us are looking for that kind of light.
I was never a big fan of his statist politics, but he certainly beats his successor in humanity. Mr. Carter putting on shows loading his own (empty luggage) and not being very nice personally.
And Mr. Ford got a bad rap for clumsiness – he had been a male model, fer chrissakes!