The dirt

A while back, I attended a conference at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum which got me interested in Gerald R. Ford (whose birth name was Leslie King Jr, did you know?). Well, while browsing at the library one day, I came across a book called Write It When I'm Gone by Thomas DeFrank. Background: Tom DeFrank was a journalist assigned to cover Ford. They became good friends, and DeFrank received permission to have off-the-record interviews with Ford and print them after Ford's death.

This book is really fascinating. I thought it might be a bit of a time commitment to read, but it went very quickly. First off, even though he has his quirks, you can't help but like Ford. He was a truly decent guy. A bit too committed to the party for my taste, but he wasn't partisan. He believed in Republican values, but I don't think he was like politicians today, who put party before the good of the people they represent. I don't know for sure, but that's an impression I have.

Also, you learn a lot about other presidents. Keeping in mind it is one man's opinions, it still helps you to round out the picture of people who are usually very able to control their image and public perception. But you still get some insight into what these people were like when you strip away the position.

It is also interesting to get a glimpse into the life of a former president. I don't know that we really think about it (and why would we?) but it was really interesting. It never occurred to me that there are only 44 people who can claim to have been the President of the US, and at any given time, there are only maybe 4 or 5 living people who can say they were once in that office. That is a very very small minority.

Anyway. This is really a good read. It gives a lot of insights into events that aren't part of the past of the up and coming generation. It will give you a lot of new topics to explore and give a glimpse into the life of a decent person, who just happened to be a politician. Now that's rare.