A young man attending South High School in Grand Rapids, excelled in his grades and graduated in the top fifth percentile of his class in 1931. As a center and team captain of the school's football team, this young man soon emerged a local hero. He then enrolled in the University with a major in economics and political science.
This young man could easily be any student at the University. Only this man, after having been voted the Wolverines' Most Valuable Football Player in 1934, went on to become the nation's president in 1974. He was Gerald Rudolph Ford - minority leader in the House of Representatives, a vice president and president of the United States.
Born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Neb., Ford (then Leslie L. King) moved with his mother to Grand Rapids after the failure of his parents' marriage. There, he was informally adopted by his mother's new husband, Gerald Rudolph Ford, and given his second father's name.
Ford went on to attend the public schools in Grand Rapids and eventually enrolled at the University. Although he came from a family of modest means, Ford managed to put himself through the University by balancing a variety of jobs throughout his years as on campus.
Because finances were a constant problem, Ford was a professional blood donor for three years, earning $25 a month per pint - in the '30s, $25 was the equivalent of one-fourth of the annual tuition. In addition, Ford bused tables at University hospitals throughout the school year while working summers at his father's paint factory.
As a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Ford, then known as "Jerry," washed dishes while serving the positions of chapter treasurer and house manager.
In addition to being a brother in the Deke House, the former president was also inducted into Michigamua - the senior men's honorary society. He was later accepted at Yale Law School. Between his studies, football and jobs, however, he occupied the little leisure time he had with such activities as bowling and frequenting the Michigan Theater.
Despite his demanding schedule, Ford made sure he had the time to play football. He played center on the freshman football team in 1931 and played on the varsity team during the 1932-34 seasons. He started at center by his senior year. Following 1932 spring training, however, Ford was presented with the impressive Chicago Alumni Trophy, an annual award to newcomers showing the greatest improvement, best attitude and promise for the following year's varsity team.
One former football teammate of Ford's, Francis Wistert, in an interview in the February 1974 issue of "Michigan Alumnus," said, "He was a real good competitor - a real bulldog type. Even during a losing year, he was voted MVP by his teammates. They felt he was one guy who could stay and fight for a losing cause."
Even after receiving the MVP in 1934, offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers could not deter this future American politician from his destiny.
In 1934, in an ironic twist of fate, the Michiganensian cleverly nominated Ford for its 1935 Hall of Fame with this witty summation:
"Because the football team chose him as their most valuable player; because he was a good student and got better grades than anyone else on the squad; because as house manager he put the D. K. E. house back on a paying basis; because he never smokes, drinks, swears or tells dirty stories - qualities quite novel among the rest of his fraternity brothers; because he's exceedingly bashful but broke forth in the middle of his senior year with a date; because he has decided to coach football at Yale and incidentally to study law; and because he's not a bit fraudulent and we can't really find anything nasty to say about him."
Perhaps the presence of Jerry Ford as a one of the University alumni is most widely felt by his decision to substitute "The Victors" for "Hail to the Chief" during his presidential term. The former president explained his reasons for this substitution during an interview with the March/April, 1986 Michigan Alumnus, when he said, "I have also felt that it is the most inspirational college song in the whole United States. Every time it is played I get goose bumps. I still get them."
So do we, Jerry.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Gerald R. Ford.