Nation: Inside the Jerry Ford Drama

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Du Pont was the first to respond to Reagan's question. "Of course," he said, "Jerry Ford would be the very best choice. He could add tremendous impact to the ticket." Michel agreed: "If you really want the strongest Vice President, it's Ford, for obvious reasons."

Thone then expressed what most of the party's insiders felt about Ford: "I don't think there's a prayer that Ford will accept." But if Reagan did want to push the idea, Michel offered some advice: "It ought to be on a one-on-one basis and not handled by staff, so there's no mistake. You bare your breast to him and tell him how it is. He appreciates forth-rightness." Without any hint of what he would do, Reagan said of Ford: "We are meeting later on today."

Tuesday Afternoon: Talks at the Top

Robert Barrett, Ford's chief of staff, escorted his boss down one flight of Stairs from the former President's 70th-floor Plaza suite. Reagan was more than cordial to Ford as they met for 65 minutes. For the first time, Reagan revealed that he wanted to try once more to coax Ford into running with him. He had been alerted by aides weeks ago that Ford cronies seemed to be sending signals of a reviving interest on Ford's part, and his initiative was far from a deadline impulse inspired by the mood of the convention.

Reagan even suggested that Ford might be given an additional job in a revised Administration: he could serve as a member of the Cabinet, quite possibly as Secretary of Defense. Ford quickly rejected that suggestion.

As later paraphrased by Ford aides, the meeting ended with Ford saying about the proposed pairing: "I don't think it will work. I don't want to encourage you." Ford had made his first mistake: he had not said no.

Tuesday Night: Kissinger Is Called

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was ready to go off on a dinner date with Senator Paul Laxalt when the telephone rang in his Plaza suite. The caller was William Casey, Reagan's campaign director. Could Kissinger come over to Casey's rooms in the Plaza? When he got there, he was welcomed by Casey, Reagan Aide Michael Deaver and Edwin Meese, Reagan's chief of staff. Quite succinctly, Meese explained that Reagan very much wanted Ford on the ticket and asked if Kissinger would help persuade Ford to consider running. In fact, Meese noted, time was getting short and perhaps Kissinger should go directly to see Ford.

Kissinger demurred. Bracing Ford suddenly with a proposal that he had so often rejected might just irritate him. It would be better, Kissinger suggested, for him to raise the matter later that night during a relaxed visit that both had planned on a yacht docked on the Detroit River near the Joe Louis Arena. Casey agreed that Kissinger should handle it his own way.

One floor higher, Ford told Barrett and John Marsh, a former aide in the Ford White House, about his meeting with Reagan. He felt flattered, honored—and pressured. He and Betty joined two dozen other friends on the yacht Global Star, owned by John McGoff, a Michigan newspaper publisher. Among the guests was Alan Greenspan, a Ford friend and his chief economic adviser in the White House.

Tuesday Midnight: The Pressure Grows