Book description
History has not been kind to Gerald Ford. His name evokes an image of
either America's only unelected president, who abruptly pardoned his
corrupt predecessor, or an accident-prone man who failed to provide
skilled leadership to a country in domestic turmoil. In Gerald Ford
and the Challenges of the 1970s, historian Yanek Mieczkowski
reexamines Ford's two and a half years in office, showing that his
presidency successfully confronted the most vexing crises of the
postwar era. Surveying the state of America in the 1970s, Mieczkowski
focuses on the economic challenges facing the country. He argues that
Ford's understanding of the national economy was better than that of
any other modern president, that Ford oversaw a dramatic reduction of
inflation, and that his attempts to solve the energy crisis were based
in sound economic principles. Throughout his presidency, Ford labored
under the legacy of Watergate. Democrats scored landslide victories in
the 1974 midterm elections, and the president engaged with a spirited
opposition Congress. Within an anemic Republican Party, the right wing
challenged Ford's leadership, even as pundits predicted the death of
the GOP. Yet Ford reinvigorated the party and fashioned a 1976
campaign strategy against Jimmy Carter that brought him from thirty
points behind to a dead heat on election day. Mieczkowski draws on
numerous personal interviews with the former president, cabinet
officials, and members of the Ninety-fourth Congress. In his
reassessment of this underrated president, Ford emerges as a skilled
executive, an effective diplomat, and a leader with a clear vision for
America's future. Working to heal a divided nation, Ford unified the
GOP and laid the groundwork for the Republican resurgence in
subsequent decades. The first major work on the former president to
appear in more than ten years, Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the
1970s combines the best of biography and economic, social, and
presidential history to create an intriguing portrait of a president,
his times, and his legacy.
"This ambitious work calls for a reexamination of the Ford
presidency in light of the formidable challenges he faced upon taking
office. A welcome and important addition to the literature on the Ford
presidency." -- Library Journal
