A Grand Hail to an Ex-Chief

Gerald Ford comes home again to open a museum in his honor

When he was the nation's 38th President, Gerald Rudolph Ford acquired an unwanted, and perhaps undeserved, reputation for stumbling, bumbling and bumping his head upon leaving presidential aircraft. So it was entirely fitting that, stepping off Air Force One to greet Ford in his home town of Grand Rapids, the 40th President collided with the 38th and almost stumbled down the top step. Once on the right foot, the ceremonial opening of the Ford museum last week was a fitting tribute to the man who helped rescue the honor of the American presidency from the ignominy of Watergate. Said Ronald Reagan of the man who has been both his rival and ally: "Gerald Ford healed America because he understood the adventure of America: her way of governing, her people, and the source of her strength as a nation."

To the banks of the Grand River came leaders from around the world to offer their respects: President José Lopez Portillo of Mexico, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada, former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing of France, Foreign Minister Sunao Sonoda of Japan, and even the emperor of Hollywood, Bob Hope. There were fireworks and fishing contests, viewings of the Gerald Ford stamp collection, and a $1,000-a-plate dinner of chicken breast complemented by Michigan wine (Tabor Hill Winery's Vidal Semi-Blanc).

The museum itself, a $11 million steel and concrete triangle, prompted some to joke that there were not enough memorabilia from Ford's brief 30 months in office to hang on four walls. That is hardly a problem. The political odyssey of the Eagle Scout from Grand Rapids is represented by full-size replicas of the Oval Office and the Quonset hut from which he ran his first, successful, campaign for Congress in 1948. Among the treasures: Ford's typed pardon of Predecessor Richard Nixon, an aide's memo suggesting that he not keep Alexander Haig as Chief of Staff, and a copy of the Declaration of Independence made out of Campbell's alphabet soup noodles. Said a jubilant Ford of his special day: "They say you can't go home again. They're wrong."