Topic: Scroll 2007 A.D.
Scroll January 2007 A.D.
Character Counts, Manners Matter.
A Knight of Our Age 
Surely character begins at home, and in Ford's case we know for certain that it began with his mother. Dorothy Gardner Ford was a strong and resourceful woman whose own character was tested at the age of twenty. She grew up in a warm, loving family in a small town in northern Illinois where her father prospered as a businessman and served as town mayor. In college Dorothy met the brother of her roommate, and fell in love with him. Leslie King was the blond, blue-eyed, charming son of a wealthy Omaha banker who also owned a stage-coach line and a wool business. On their honeymoon she discovered that she had made a tragic mistake. Her new husband struck her, not once but repeatedly. When they reached Omaha , where they were to live with his family, she found out that King was not only brutal, but a liar and a drunk. His outward charm concealed a vicious temper... She decided to leave King, but discovered she was pregnant. With the encouragement of King's mother and father, she decided to have the baby in Omaha , and did. On July 14, 1913, the thirty-eighth President of the United States was born in the mansion of his paternal grandfather, and named Leslie King, Jr... Unaccountably, a few days later, King came into his wife's room with a butcher knife and threatened to kill mother, child and nurse. Police were called to restrain him... Divorce was rare in 1913, but an Omaha court found King guilty of extreme cruelty, granted custody of the child to the mother, and ordered King to pay alimony and child support. King refused to pay anything... By good fortune, in her son's first year, Dorothy Gardner King met a man whose character matched and complemented her own. He was a tall, dark-haired, and amiable bachelor named Gerald R. Ford. By trade, Ford was a paint salesman; in the community he was respected as honest and hardworking, kind and considerate, a man of integrity and character--everythi ng Dorothy's first husband was not. The next year she married Jerry Ford and her two-year-old son grew up as Jerry Ford, Jr., believing his stepfather was his true father. By Jerry Ford, Sr., Dorothy had three more sons, and the Fords provided a strong combination of love and discipline. Ford house rule number one was: "Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time." Mother was a strict disciplinarian. She resolved that her oldest son must learn to control the hot temper he had inherited from King. When the boy raged in anger, she would try to reason with him, or send him to his room to cool off. During one episode, she had young Jerry memorize Kipling's poem "If." After that, she would have him recite it every time he lost his temper. Ford joined the Boy Scouts and attained that program's highest rank, Eagle Scott. He always regarded this as one of his proudest accomplishments, even after attaining the White House. In subsequent years, Ford received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in May 1970 and Silver Buffalo award from the Boy Scouts of America. He is the only US president who was an Eagle Scout.
As I reflect on the passing of our President Gerald Ford I am reminded that what will be remembered is the good that he did because that was who he was. He was called good old Gerry by his friends. He pardoned as president not only Nixon but he also pardoned Tokyo Rose, and many others who just needed to be forgiven. You know what better thing can a man do in his life than forgive? A few years ago I wrote to President Ford and thanked Him for his example to us all and asked for an autograph, they told me he was too sick to sign anything anymore but they sent me a letter of thanks which I treasure.
I pray that as we begin this New Year you will work first on your Character because that is what others will remember about you mostly. (Knight Commander Terry Lee Stair) January 2007 AD
Some of this was excerpted from an essay by James Cannon:
