1976 Campaign

James A. Baker

James Baker served as Undersecretary of Commerce for President Gerald R. Ford and ran the President Ford’s 1976 campaign. He later served as White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan. President George H.W. Bush appointed him as Secretary of State and later as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Byron Cavaney

Red Cavaney served as the Assistant to the President and Director of Scheduling and Advance for President Gerald R. Ford. He also served on the staff of Presidents Nixon and Reagan. After leaving government, Cavaney pursed a successful career in business and governmental affairs including becoming President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute and Senior Vice President at ConocoPhilips. He is a Trustee and the President of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Richard Keiser

Richard Keiser served as Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service’s Presidential Protection Division under President Gerald R. Ford and President Nixon. Keiser was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on November 15, 2010 by Richard Norton Smith.

Mel Laird

Mel Laird served with Gerald R. Ford in Congress for many years. Laird served as the Congressman from the 7th District from Wisconsin. He became Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon. President Ford awarded Laird the Medal of Freedom in 1974. After government service, he remained active and served on the board of directors of numerous corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

David Gergen

David Gergen served as Director of Communications for President Gerald R. Ford. David has served as a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents of both parties including Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. Currently, he is a Professor of Public Service and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States. President Bush was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on July 26, 2010 by Richard Norton Smith.

Greg Willard

Greg Willard was White House Staff Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford and thereafter was President Ford’s personal aide in California. He later served as President and Mrs. Ford’s attorney and was President and Mrs. Ford and the Ford Family’s personal representative for President Ford’s State Funeral, responsible for overall planning and conduct of the State Funeral. He is Corporate Secretary and a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas was a journalist, columnist and author for almost 70 years. Thomas covered Gerald R. Ford’s presidency, as well as nine other presidents. Thomas began as a reporter at the United Press in 1943, which later became United Press International. In 1960, she began covering the White House, first as a correspondent and later as White House Bureau Manager.

Jack Marsh

Jack Marsh served with Gerald R. Ford in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia from 1963 until 1971. President Nixon appointed him as Assistant Secretary of Defense in 1973. In 1974, he was selected to serve as National Security Advisor to then Vice President Ford and later served as Counselor to President Ford. From 1981 to 1989, he served as the U.S. Secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Jerry Jones

Jerry Jones served as Staff Secretary and Deputy Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford. He also served as President Ford’s Director of Scheduling and Advance. Jones served as Staff Secretary and Director of the White House Personnel Office under President Nixon. He later worked as a Special Assistant to Secretary Don Rumsfeld at the Department of Defense under President George W. Bush.

Jim Cannon

Jim Cannon was an esteemed journalist and policy maker in Washington, D.C., advising many Presidents. He served as Domestic Policy Advisor to President Gerald R. Ford and was the author of “Time and Chance: Gerald Ford’s Appointment With History” and “Gerald R. Ford – An Honorable Life.”

John Carlson

John Carlson served as Deputy Press Secretary to President Gerald R. Ford. He also served as Assistant Press Secretary to President Richard Nixon. Carlson also worked with George H. W. Bush when he was the U.S. Representative to China during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Leon Parma

Leon Parma was a close personal friend and advisor of President Gerald R. Ford and a frequent golfing companion of President Ford. The special friendship among President and Mrs. Ford and Leon and Barbara Parma spanned over forty years. He was an Honorary Pallbearer at President Ford’s State Funeral. Leon enjoyed a very successful career in a variety of businesses. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Phil Jones

Phil Jones covered the Gerald R. Ford Presidency as a correspondent for CBS. Jones was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on February 28, 2009 by Richard Norton Smith.

Frank Zarb

Frank Zarb served as President Ford’s “Energy Czar.” President Ford appointed him to lead both the Energy Resources Council and the Federal Energy Administration. He also served as Assistant Secretary of Labor and Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Nixon administration. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Frank Ursomarso

Frank Ursomarso served as White House Staff Assistant to President Ford in the Office of Presidential Advance. He would later serve as Director of the White House Office of Communications under President Ronald Reagan. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Richard Wennekamp

Richard Wennekamp was a Special Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford, as well as Executive Director of the Ford Transition Office. Wennekamp held a number of senior executive positions at Community Bank and Bank of America. He serves on the board of CytRx Corporation.

Rod Hills

Rod Hills served as Counsel to the President and as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Gerald R. Ford. After leaving government, Hills worked at the investment bank of Drexel Burnham Lambert, as the CEO of Peabody Coal and as an attorney at a number of law firms, including Hills & Stern, and as Chairman of Hills Enterprise, Ltd. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Roger Porter

Roger Porter was a White House Fellow and served as Special Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford, as well as Executive Secretary of the President’s Economic Policy Board. He also served as Executive Secretary of the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs and as Director of White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan and as Assistant to the President for Economic and Domestic Policy under President George H.W. Bush. He currently serves as Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Stu Spencer

Stu Spencer is a political consultant who served as Deputy Chairman for Political Organization in the re-election campaign of President Gerald R. Ford. Stu Spencer was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on December 2 & 3, 2008 by Richard Norton Smith.

Terry O’Donnell

Terry O’Donnell served as White House personal aide to President Gerald R. Ford. He also served in the Nixon White House. After leaving the administration, O’Donnell practiced law at Williams & Connolly and served as General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Defense. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Doug Bailey

Doug Bailey served as political consultant to Gerald R. Ford’s 1976 campaign. Bailey was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on August 21, 2009 by Richard Norton Smith.

Don Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld served with Gerald R. Ford in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a four-term Congressman from Illinois. In the Nixon Administration, he served in the Office of Economic Opportunity, Counselor to the President, and as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO. President Ford appointed him as his White House Chief of Staff and later as Secretary of Defense. He also served as Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Don Penny

Don Penny served as Deputy Director for White House Communications in the Ford Administration. Don Penny was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on December 13, 2009 by Richard Norton Smith.

Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney served as Chief of Staff to President Gerald R. Ford. He was the youngest person in U.S. history to serve in that position. He served as the U.S. Congressman from the state of Wyoming from 1979 until 1989. President George H.W. Bush appointed him Secretary of Defense. Cheney served two terms as Vice President of the United States during the Presidency of George W. Bush. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

David Kennerly

Prior to joining the Ford Administration, David Kennerly worked as the staff photographer for a number of newspapers and magazines, including Time magazine. In 1972 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography for the photo collection he took while covering the Vietnam War. Kennerly was appointed as Personal Photographer to the President the day President Ford was sworn in. He was only the third civilian ever to hold that position. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Bob Goodwin

Bob Goodwin served as White House Staff Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford in the Advance Office. Goodwin would later be appointed as Ambassador to New Zealand by President George H.W. Bush.

Bob Dole

Bob Dole was President Gerald R. Ford’s vice presidential running mate for the 1976 election. Dole served 4 terms as a U.S. Congressman from Kansas prior to being elected U.S. Senator. Dole served as both Senate Minority and Majority Leader. In 1996, he ran unsuccessfully as the Republican Presidential Nominee against incumbent President Bill Clinton.

Anne Holkeboer

Anne Holkeboer served on Gerald R. Ford’s staff from 1963 until 1977. Holkeboer was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on August 8, 2008 by Richard Norton Smith.

Alan Greenspan

Alan Greenspan was President Gerald R. Ford’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. Under President Ronald Reagan he was appointed Federal Reserve Chairman and served in that capacity from 1987 until 2006. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

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