Washington Whispers: Lead
Item "Dissing the Ford Presidency"
Ford felt dissed by Reagan and Bush - US News & World Report -
Usnews.com, March 21, 2005.
One of the Reagan era's biggest boasts--that it reversed the 1970s
"decade of neglect" in the military--really irked former President Ford,
who blamed congressional Democrats and Jimmy Carter for slashing the Pentagon budget.
But only now are we learning that Ford, who served from 1974 to 1977, squawked when
former Vice President Bush made the claim at the 1984 recommissioning of the USS Iowa.
In a letter to "George" uncovered by historian Gil Troy , Ford flashed:
"It is not accurate to lump the Ford administration in the same category with
President Carter on defense matters." He also vented at Reagan Chief of Staff
James Baker , who had suggested new language the prez and veep could use to fight
Walter Mondale in the 1984 election. "I resent being lumped in with Carter and the
Democratic Congresses on this vital issue," wrote Ford. For Troy,
whose Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s is out
this week, it was shocking correspondence. "I've rarely seen this kind of
back and forth," he said, "and certainly not at the president-to-president level."
One of the Reagan era's biggest boasts--that it reversed the 1970s
"decade of neglect" in the military--really irked former President Ford,
who blamed congressional Democrats and Jimmy Carter for slashing the Pentagon budget.
But only now are we learning that Ford, who served from 1974 to 1977, squawked when
former Vice President Bush made the claim at the 1984 recommissioning of the USS Iowa.
In a letter to "George" uncovered by historian Gil Troy , Ford flashed:
"It is not accurate to lump the Ford administration in the same category with
President Carter on defense matters." He also vented at Reagan Chief of Staff
James Baker , who had suggested new language the prez and veep could use to fight
Walter Mondale in the 1984 election. "I resent being lumped in with Carter and the
Democratic Congresses on this vital issue," wrote Ford. For Troy,
whose Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s is out
this week, it was shocking correspondence. "I've rarely seen this kind of
back and forth," he said, "and certainly not at the president-to-president level."