Domestic Policy

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.

Gerald Warren

Gerald Warren served as Deputy Press Secretary to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Gerald Warren was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on August 26,2010 by Richard Norton Smith.

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.

James 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.

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.

John Knebel

John Knebel served as President Gerald R. Ford’s Secretary of Agriculture. He also served as General Counsel to the Small Business Administration and General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Nixon.

Ken Lazarus

Ken Lazarus was Associate Counsel to President Gerald R. Ford. He began his career as a trial attorney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as Chief Minority Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

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.

Max Friedersdorf

Max Friedersdorf was President Ford’s White House Assistant for Congressional Relations. He also served in the Office of Economic Opportunity and the Congressional Relations staff under President Nixon. Max then served as Federal Election Commission Chairman under President Carter. He also served as Ambassador to Bermuda and Switzerland in the Reagan administration.

Paul O’Neill

Paul O’Neill served as President Gerald R. Ford’s Deputy Director of the Office Management and Budget. After leaving the Ford Administration, he served as President of International Paper, Chairman of the Rand Corporation and President and CEO of Alcoa. He later served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Peter McPherson

Peter McPherson was a Special Assistant to President Gerald R. Ford. After the Ford Administration, he would become managing partner of the Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease law firm. He served as general counsel to the Reagan-Bush transition in 1980. President Reagan appointed him as USAID Administrator and Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Peter Wallison

Peter Wallison served as Counsel to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller during President Gerald R. Ford’s Administration. He also served as General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Treasury and as Counsel to President Ronald Reagan.

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.

Red 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 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.

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.

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 Mathews

Forrest David Mathews served under President Gerald R. Ford as the 11th Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Mathews currently serves as president and CEO of the Kettering Foundation. He is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Carla Hills

Carla A. Hills was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford as the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She was the third woman in U.S. history to hold a Cabinet position. Hills previously served President Ford as U.S. Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Hills would later be selected by President George H.W. Bush to serve as U.S. Trade Representative. She was the primary U.S. negotiator on the North American Free Trade Agreement. She is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Bobbie Kilberg

Bobbie Kilberg began her White House career as a White House Fellow, where she served on President Richard Nixon’s Domestic Policy Council. She was appointed as Associate Counsel to President Gerald R. Ford. She would later serve as Deputy Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H.W. Bush.

Bob Orben

Bob Orben served as a speechwriter for President Gerald R. Ford having been appointed Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Speechwriting Department in 1974.

Bob Hynes

Bob Hynes served as Minority Counsel to the Rules Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. When Gerald R. Ford was nominated as Vice President, Bob was a member of the team that handled the Congressional confirmation hearings. He later joined NBC’s Washington office where he served for twenty-one years, the last nine as NBC’s Vice President. Hynes is a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman served as Secretary of Transportation to President Gerald R. Ford. After leaving government, Coleman became a partner in the Washington office of O’Melveny & Myers law firm. Coleman was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. President George W. Bush appointed him to the United States Court of Military Commission Review. Coleman served as an Honorary Pallbearer during the State Funeral of Gerald R. Ford. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Aram Bakshian

Aram Bakshian served as one of President Ford’s speechwriters. He also served as speechwriter for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Bakshian was interviewed for the Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project on April 28, 2010 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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