“Luck and Love of Country”

Please join us as historian Scott Kaufman traces Gerald R. Ford’s rise to power, from his boyhood in Grand Rapids to the Oval Office, in his new book “Ambition, Pragmatism and Party: A Political Biography of Gerald R. Ford.”

Long before Ford became our nation’s commander-in-chief, his political ideology and the roots of his ambition and leadership were being forged in Depression-era Michigan. Ford’s stepfather stressed the importance of hard work and individual achievement. It got results as Ford rose to Eagle Scout, athlete, naval officer in World War II, prosecutor, politician, Minority Leader in Congress…and finally President.

Kaufman’s book also provides a glimpse into the unprecedented series of events that catapulted Ford into our nation’s highest office following President Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Ford is our nation’s only unelected president.

Kaufman credits Ford with a combination of luck, loyalty to party and leadership. Coupled with his driving ambition, it spurred this man from Michigan to rise to a remarkable place in American history.

Kaufman is Chair of the Department of History at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C.


Free Admission. Free Parking. Book sales/signing and reception follow program.