THE NEW PRESIDENT: A MAN FOR THIS SEASON

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Ford was pre-eminently a loyal party workhorse and proud of it. He could be counted on to vote against most all Democratic legislation, worthy or not. He voted no on subsidized housing, aid to education, Medicare, the antipoverty program, minimum wage bills. In 1973, he was one of 70 Congressmen to vote to sustain all of Nixon's vetoes. On occasion, he has taken a more conservative stand than the White House. As a representative of an auto-manufacturing state, he voted against using any of the highway trust funds to pay for mass transit. "If Jerry saw a hungry child, he would give the kid his lunch," says Democrat Kleiner. "But he can't see that voting against the school lunch program is depriving millions of kids of food."

In Salacious Company

Only once did Ford's partisanship lead him into an uncharacteristically harsh attack on a fellow public servant. After the Nixon Administration was stung by Senate rebuffs of two nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ford led an impeachment drive against Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Ford charged that Douglas had received an annual retainer of $12,000 from the Albert Parvin Foundation, which reportedly had underworld connections in Las Vegas. Ford also denounced the Justice for writing an article for Evergreen Review in which he seemed to sanction violent revolution in America. Waving a copy of the magazine, Ford pointed out that Douglas' article appeared in the salacious company of photos of nude women. In the course of his tirade, Ford made the brash statement that an impeachable offense is what a majority of the House says it is. Not long after, he admitted he had gone too far: "Impeachment would have been too harsh, and perhaps what I did was too strong."

At the urging of his wife, Ford had seriously considered winding up his political career in 1974. He has often said his highest ambition was to become Speaker of the House, and it did not look as if the Republicans were going to control the House any time soon. But then Spiro Agnew was forced to resign as Vice President, and Ford was made an offer he could not refuse. Although former Treasury Secretary John Connally may have been the President's first choice, Ford had the right look to Nixon. He had never wavered in his loyalty to the President; ever since they had both been junior members of Congress, they had got along. Some cynics felt that the appointment was more Machiavellian than met the eye. With no experience in foreign affairs and no proven capacity for administration, Ford might make people think twice about dumping even a tainted Nixon. Very soon, though, Ford's candor loomed larger than Nixon's experience.

This openness made his confirmation hearings before the House Judiciary Committee—which lasted a grueling six days and went into every aspect of his life—a cakewalk. At least 350 FBI agents, 70 in Grand Rapids alone, fanned out to investigate his background, but Ford instructed anybody who asked: "Tell them the truth—give them everything." Everything did not amount to very much. He had been careless about disclosing the names of campaign contributors in his last election. A discredited Washington lobbyist had accused him of accepting money for favors. By the end of the televised hearings, Ford emerged with his reputation intact and even enhanced.