A Rush to Judgment on Gerald Ford

The hearings had originally been scheduled to be protracted affairs--the House's lasting until mid-December and the Senate's stretching on until early 1974. Congress wanted to take plenty of time to check out the record of Gerald Ford, the nominee of Richard Nixon to become the next Vice President.

Then came the uproar over the firing of Archibald Cox and the spreading realization that the President could resign or be impeached. Suddenly, leisurely hearings were a luxury that the Congress--and the nation--could not afford. Last week there was a sharp crackle of urgency in the air when the Senate Rules Committee began meeting on Ford's confirmation. Said Senator Claiborne Pell: "I believe we all realize that the nominee of today may not only be the Vice President of tomorrow, but the President of next year."

In its zeal to make sure it missed no Agnewesque indiscretions, the Congress subjected Ford to an extraordinary investigation. The FBI put 350 agents from 33 field offices onto his trail--sending 70 into Ford's hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. Soon a steady stream of phone calls began coming into Ford's Washington office from friends and associates who wanted him to know that they were being questioned. Ford had one stock reply: "Tell them the truth--give them everything."

The 1,700 pages of raw, unevaluated data collected by the FBI were reviewed for the committee by Democratic Chairman Howard W. Cannon and Marlow W. Cook, the ranking Republican. In addition, Ford made available records of his campaign finances, office and personal bank accounts, income tax records, confidential financial statements required by the House of all its members, material held by his personal accountant and all correspondence of his congressional office--everything down to and including his children's savings accounts.

But even with this vast amount of data to sift, the Senators found little that fazed Ford on opening day. Among other things, Ford:

> Denied charges that he had concealed $11,500 of campaign contributions in 1970 by handing over the funds to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. During that campaign, he received more than $13,000 from the committee. While admitting that he had not disclosed the original $11,500, Ford said that the committee as well as the donors had reported the transaction.

> Dismissed as "utterly preposterous" the claim by onetime Washington Lobbyist Robert N. Winter-Berger in his book The Washington Pay-Off that he had lent the Congressman more than $15,000. Said Ford: "I categorically, unqualifiedly and unreservedly say that's a lie."

> Denounced a report that he had been treated for a year by a New York City psychotherapist. "The truth is," he said, "I am disgustingly sane."

While he called himself a loyal member of the President's team ("After a play is called, you shouldn't tackle your own quarterback"), Ford carefully edged away from some of Nixon's views and policies. He said that the President should have given up the tapes--and disclosed that two of them were missing--much sooner; that Nixon's choice for special prosecutor should be subject to confirmation by the Senate; that the firing of Archibald Cox was "an unfortunate incident"; and that he had no bone to pick with the press. The House's inquiry into possible grounds for impeaching the President, said Ford, should continue, "to clear the air."

Looking ahead, Ford said that as Vice President he would try to be a "ready conciliator and calm communicator between the White House and Capitol Hill." He noted that for the past quarter-century he had known both the President and the Congress as intimately as any man. The only qualm he had about the vice presidency, said Ford, was "that my friends might stop calling me Jerry."

Indeed, last week Jerry Ford was among old friends who showed no disposition, on the basis of what they had learned so far, of turning down the nomination. Nor was there any thought of delaying his confirmation as a means of forcing concessions from President Nixon. Both chambers of Congress hope to confirm Ford by Thanksgiving Day--something of a record clip for Capitol Hill.

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