Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations With Gerald R. Ford | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas M. Defrank
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Category: Book
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Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 21581
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 0399154507
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.925092
EAN: 9780399154508
ASIN: 0399154507
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
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Product Description
In an extraordinary series of private interviews, conducted over sixteen years with the stipulation that they not be released until after Ford's death, the thirty-eighth president of the United States reveals a profoundly different side of himself: funny, reflective, gossipy, strikingly candid-and the stuff of headlines.
In 1974, award-winning journalist and author Thomas DeFrank, then a young correspondent for Newsweek, was interviewing Vice President Gerald R. Ford when Ford blurted out something astonishingly indiscreet related to the White House, came around his desk, grabbed DeFrank's tie, and told the reporter he could not leave the room until he promised not to publish it. "Write it when I'm dead," he said-and that agreement formed the basis for their relationship for the next thirty-two years.
During that time, they talked frequently, but from 1991 to shortly before Ford's death in 2006, the interviews became something else-conversations between two men in which Ford talked in a way few presidents ever have. Here is the real Ford on his relationship with Richard Nixon (including the 1974 revelation that, in DeFrank's words, "will alter what history thinks it knows about the events that culminated in Ford's becoming president"); Ford's experiences on the Warren Commission; his complex relationships with Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter; his startling, never-before-disclosed discussions with Bill Clinton during the latter's impeachment process; his opinions about both Bush administrations, the Iraq war, and many contemporary political figures; and much more. Here also are unguarded personal musings: about key cultural events; his own life, history, and passions; his beloved wife, Betty; and the frustrations of aging.
In all, it is an unprecedented book: illuminating, entertaining, surprising, heartwarming, and, in many ways, historic.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 An underappreciated Leader November 21, 2008
Scott A. Kallick (Pittsburgh)
Gerald Ford left history a gift with this book. He developed a strong rapport with Thomas DeFrank when the author was a part of the White House Press Corps during the remarkable transition when Richard Nixon relinquished his presidency. He made DeFrank his confidant with the promise that the author would wait to share them until Ford had passed away. We are the richer for this.
Ford had one of the shortest honeymoons with the American public (aside from Abraham Lincoln) in history, caused by his pardon of the former Commander and Chief after one month in office. Ford explained that Government had stopped during this crisis, and the Nation could not heal until it had begun to move on. History has vindicated this decision.
Ford was a man of exceeding decency. He also understood executive Government as well as any President in history. He made decisions fearlessly and had a loyal team of staff members behind him.
His presidency set our country back on course, and his accessibility, and use of executive powers set the tone for the Presidencies up to George W Bush.
Ford was a Moderate, and he became increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the Republican Party, as the soul of the party moved ever more rightward.
Although his political instincts were excellent, he was hindered by his association with Richard Nixon, and his pardon of same, and he narrowly lost the Presidency to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.
This book is a window to his private thoughts about the men who succeeded him, the Presidency itself, and many of the crucial events of his times. Ford was the first man to turn his ex-Presidency into a business, and became a huge earner via authoring memoirs, and accepting speaking engagements.
The opinion of the Ford Administration continues to be revised upward in reassessment, as his use of the veto in the face of overwhelming Democratic control in both the House and Senate kept the Country on a moderate course. His final (forced) withdrawal of troops from Viet Nam was done with dignity and bravery, and his dealings with Russia at the end of the Cold War were done from strength.
He was able to laugh at himself, and with Chevy Chase, when lambasted on Saturday Night Live, and became a temperate advisor to future presidents.
A must read for any American Historian.
 A dull book about a dull leader November 2, 2008
Election Junkie 08 (New jersey)
With all the trials and tribulations that all humans confront, there is little, if any, information in this book about President Ford's personal battles. His wife's very public struggles are barely mentioned, and President Ford's personal troubles are not here.
What we do have are a series of President Ford's mentally-scripted pablum designed for the reporter's notebook. In an effort to financially capitalize on the critical factor of timing, the author has seemingly thrown together a series of sound bites into weakly-organized chapters.
It is a very disappointing read!
 A lot lacking September 30, 2008
A. Kamilla Quast (Cambridge, Ma)
Write it when I'm gone caught my eye in the bookstore and i was drawn in by the very well written introduction and the first interview that prompted De Frank's and President Fords relationship. Unfortunately due to over writing by De Frank he proceeds to ruin the entire book by breaking up 30 years of interviews into nice categories. Instead of a chapter devoted to talks in 1993 per say the chapters are devoted to subject matter and have quote after quote from 30 years of interviews which makes the book frustratingly hard to read. That said there is a a lot of personal insight into President Ford's life and thoughts, which were fascinating to read and worth picking the book up, just be prepared for some minor confusion in the chapters.
Good Ford memories September 2, 2008
William D. Tompkins (New York, New York USA)
A very good book of Ford related memories. Excellent photos inside. The passages read very smoothly here.
Revealing & Touching Tribute to Our 38th President! July 30, 2008
Michael OConnor (Wausau, WI USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Like many baby boomers,I was grateful Gerald R. Ford was there when the nation needed him. After the god-awful Watergate mess revealed a President at his worst, it was comforting to have Ford, a man widely liked and respected, assume the Presidency. Ford's reputation as an earnest, unpretentious and decent individual able to laugh at himself survived and even thrived in subsequent years when compared to those who followed him into the White House. That image is borne out in WRITE IT WHEN I'M GONE, Thomas DeFrank's touching memoir based on years of private interviews with Ford. DeFrank's book gives us a much deeper and illuminating portrait of both the man and the politician.
While Ford's take on the American political scene from the 1970s on made for interesting reading and confirms him as an astute analyst, I was much more taken with the insights on the man. Though he loved politics and was an ardent spokesman for the Republican Party, Ford's values and innate courtesy caused him to be circumspect in his public comments. Unlike today's slash-and-burn politicians, Ford viewed his Democratic colleagues as friendly adversaries worthy of respect. If he had critical or harsh views of others, he kept them largely to himself...that is until he talked with DeFrank.
Over the course of the book's 250 pages, I grew to like and admire Ford far more than I had in the past; the Nixon Pardon still rankles! DeFrank shows us a normal guy who loved to laugh and toss down a few with the boys; a genuine and genuinely kind man who never lost the common touch; a straightforward, old-fashioned ex-football jock appalled by the underhanded machinations of various politicos; a devoted family man who never cheated on his wife. Yet Ford has his moments of anger and pique as documented in the book. Likewise DeFrank doesn't shy away from some questionable aspects of Ford's life such as his merchandising of himself after he left the Presidency. After all is said and done though, you like Jerry Ford; reading of the decline of such a gregarious, active individual in the closing chapters is hard. He was a good man.
Though I enjoyed DeFrank's book, I thought it could have been more tightly edited. Various redundancies occurred throughout the book.
Whether you're a Jerry Ford fan or not, you'll want to read WRITE IT WHEN I'M GONE. It offers an unvarnished look at the unique life of a kind and decent man who gave America hope and stability during the worst of times. Historians will have the final say on Gerald R. Ford but, for me, I can only echo DeFrank's closing line: 'Thank You, Mr. President.'
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