What do you think?
Palace politics: An inside account of the Ford years
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 5, 2019
''A case in point is detailed in Chapter 8, when president Ford ordered me to tell General Haig he wanted portraits of President Lincoln and Truman hung by the next morning for his first cabinet meeting. The Praetorians diddled around for weeks before changing the way President wanted the room, It took several more Presidential demands before he finally got his way- too late to make his point.
In this small episode, the old (Nixon's) guard was testing the new President and testing me, too. It's interesting to speculate how previous Presidents would have handled this low-key insubordination.
Harry Truman, I'm sure, would have fired everybody involved, including me, on the second day.
Eisenhower would have fired me, the man to whom he gave the original order, and scared hell out of everybody else.
Kennedy would have told Bobby to do it in the first place, and it would have been done.
Johnson would have fired Haig and then gone to the attic and dusted off a portrait of himself.
Nixon would have denied he ever gave the order. praised me and Haig as two of the finest public servants he ever knew, then fired both of us and John dean to Boot.
Carter, I suppose, would have expressed love and compassion for all concerned and decided there were some other Presidents he'd rather have anyway.
What did Ford do? He simply let things work themselves out. he would not choose between two senior subordinates. he made a firm and instant decision, issued a clear instant directive, not once but thrice, but he would not insist upon instant obedience''.
Political memoir of a speech writer and close adviser tho Gerald Ford. I read it to be more knowledgeable and familiar with his cabinet. I enjoyed the sense of history that the author has while comparing the Ford years to other governments. It is also a book attacking the 'Nixon guys'' who stayed in the Ford administration but, according to Hartmann, did not have its best interest at heart. Also interesting and highly readable were the parts on Dick Cheney and the 76' Republican Convention.
Very fine read.
In this small episode, the old (Nixon's) guard was testing the new President and testing me, too. It's interesting to speculate how previous Presidents would have handled this low-key insubordination.
Harry Truman, I'm sure, would have fired everybody involved, including me, on the second day.
Eisenhower would have fired me, the man to whom he gave the original order, and scared hell out of everybody else.
Kennedy would have told Bobby to do it in the first place, and it would have been done.
Johnson would have fired Haig and then gone to the attic and dusted off a portrait of himself.
Nixon would have denied he ever gave the order. praised me and Haig as two of the finest public servants he ever knew, then fired both of us and John dean to Boot.
Carter, I suppose, would have expressed love and compassion for all concerned and decided there were some other Presidents he'd rather have anyway.
What did Ford do? He simply let things work themselves out. he would not choose between two senior subordinates. he made a firm and instant decision, issued a clear instant directive, not once but thrice, but he would not insist upon instant obedience''.
Political memoir of a speech writer and close adviser tho Gerald Ford. I read it to be more knowledgeable and familiar with his cabinet. I enjoyed the sense of history that the author has while comparing the Ford years to other governments. It is also a book attacking the 'Nixon guys'' who stayed in the Ford administration but, according to Hartmann, did not have its best interest at heart. Also interesting and highly readable were the parts on Dick Cheney and the 76' Republican Convention.
Very fine read.
December 19, 2020
A candid look at the short lived Ford administration from one his closest aides. It was fascinating to read his take on the decision to pardon Nixon and the reasons for it as well as his drive to bring America together after the bitterness of the Watergate saga.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews