Gerald Ford: Off to a Fast, Clean Start

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Originally, Ford had hoped to announce his choice for Vice President by the end of his first week in office, but he failed to make it. Amid endless speculation, almost everyone agreed that the leading contenders were former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Republican National Chairman Bush. Others believed to be on Ford's list included former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, Governor Evans and former Attorney General Elliot Richardson. Former Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, who was helping Ford with takeover problems, was also said to be a candidate, but Scranton described himself as "Mr. Temporary" and claimed that he would not accept the job unless "the nation was at war or something."

Rockefeller's prospects were buffeted briefly by a bizarre report, mentioned by Columnist Jack Anderson last week, alleging that Rockefeller money had been used to finance a "standby" group of "toughs" to disrupt the 1972 Democratic National Convention. The shenanigans were supposedly described in papers contained within seven mysterious boxes of Watergate "documents." This material, once supposedly held by Watergate Conspirator E. Howard Hunt, was said to have been spirited away by a Nixon loyalist named Roy Sheppard following the Watergate break-in of June 1972. Sheppard later said that he burned the papers, but recently there have been rumors that either the originals or copies of the originals had not been destroyed.

Whether the so-called Sheppard papers ever existed is dubious. Rockefeller branded the allegations as "absolutely untrue" and signified his willingness to open campaign finance records to refute the charge. Rockefeller contributed $250,000 to the Nixon campaign that year with the stipulation, he said, that the money be spent only in New York state campaigns and only under supervision of Rockefeller associates. A telephoned tip to the White House, giving the location of a safe-deposit box supposedly containing copies of the documents, sent the Watergate Special Prosecutor's investigators scurrying, but the vault they were directed to proved to be empty. With that, the White House described the charges against Rockefeller as being "without foundation" and reiterated that Rocky was still very much "under consideration" for the No. 2 job in the nation.

At odd moments throughout the week, Ford retired to the small working office beside the Oval Office, took off his jacket, and shuffled through his notes on the vice-presidential appointment. When asked for the names of people whom the President was consulting, Press Secretary Jerry terHorst replied, "He's consulting himself." At week's end Ford was said to be still genuinely undecided. When informed by terHorst that some newspapers were saying that the President had narrowed the field from about 15 to only three, Ford quipped, "I'm glad you told me that. It'll save me a lot of time."