Gerald Ford visited Santa Maria to support his ‘personal friend’ in Congress campaign
By my count, San Luis Obispo County has had had eight confirmed visits by former, future or seated U.S. presidents. Arriving by rail were William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush.
Taft and Franklin Roosevelt may have slept through their visits, as they passed through the county overnight. Coolidge was retired and on vacation to Hearst Castle, back then media mogul William Randolph Hearst was still living in it.
The other two were the only Californians elected president, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
There have been several nearby visits. John F. Kennedy visited Vandenberg AFB in 1962 to see a missile launch. Bill Clinton came to Monterey County to dedicate Cal State Monterey with Leon Panetta.
Jimmy Carter visited farms near Fresno.
Perhaps the closest was former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who visited Santa Maria in support of a Republican running for a U.S. Congress seat against Lois Capps.
It was a special election to fill the seat held by Walter Capps, who had died of a heart attack.
The special election eventually went to a runoff, with Lois Capps winning the election.
Gerald Ford was the man who became president without having run for president or vice president.
Richard Nixon appointed Ford as a replacement for his corrupt vice president Spiro Agnew, who had resigned.
Nixon himself later resigned when the Watergate impeachment scandal made it likely he would be the first president removed by Congress.
During his vice presidential confirmation hearing, Ford was asked if he would pardon Nixon. “I don’t think the American people would stand for it,” historian Michael Beschloss recently quoted Ford as saying.
Ford’s answer was evasive and the prediction was correct. Ford’s pardon of Nixon helped Carter win the next presidential election.
Ford’s reputation for openness included being the first incumbent president to agree to public debates with his challenger, Carter.
Ford survived two assassination attempts in 1975, one by a member of the Manson Family.
His reputation for pratfalls was parodied on a new television show — “Saturday Night Live” — by comic Chevy Chase.
Gerald’s wife, Betty Ford, founded a center to treat addiction after her treatment for chemical dependency and her advocacy earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Firestone and Ford families had been friends for many years and Ford’s endorsement of Brooks Firestone was an attempt by national Republicans to unite the party around one candidate.
Brooks Firestone’s son Adam and son-in-law David Walker would later found Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles.
David Wilcox wrote this story, published on Dec. 2, 1997:
Gerald Ford endorses Firestone for Congress
Assemblyman Brooks Firestone called in a favor from an old family friend Monday, picking up the endorsement of former President Gerald Ford in his congressional campaign.
Ford’s speech previewed what promises to become a Republican theme during the 1998 campaign, warning that President Bill Clinton will push a more liberal agenda in his final two years if Democrats manage to regain control of Congress.
The GOP takeover of the House in 1994 pushed Clinton to abandon the Democrat’s liberal wing, said Ford, and move to the political center.
“I can assure you that if the Democrats gain control of the House and Senate you won’t see a moderate Democrat in the White House,” Ford said in a speech to about 375 people who paid $25 each to attend a luncheon at the Santa Maria Hilton.
Ford, referring to a crop of special elections last month that saw Republicans of all stripes win, said Firestone’s moderate brand of politics best fits the 22nd District.
“Our party has to be big enough and broad enough to include people of different perspectives within that party.”
Firestone is a supporter of abortion rights and conservatives such as his remaining GOP opponent Tom Bordanaro say he is too liberal.
Ford headlined the fundraiser, but Monday’s loudest ovation came for Mike Stoker who announced he was withdrawing from the race.
Firestone said later that he learned Friday of Stoker’s decision and said it was made at Monday’s event because Santa Maria is Stoker’s hometown.
Ford, who served a quarter century in the House of Representatives before becoming Richard Nixon’s vice president, said Firestone would bring a mix of business acumen and political know how to Congress.
“He has the kind of qualities that would do a first-class job in the House of Representatives,” he told an audience that punctuated his remarks occasionally with polite applause.
At a press conference later, Ford sidestepped a question asking him to distinguish Firestone from fellow Republican Assemblyman Bordonaro, who also touts his legislative experience and business background.
“I didn’t come up here to be critical” of other candidates, Ford said.
For his part, Bordonaro’s campaign issued a statement suggesting Ford’s endorsement of his opponent only underscores the differences between the candidates.
“I prefer my strong local support over the endorsement of a former president who doesn’t even live on our Central Coast. I come from blue collar roots and common values — I don’t have the luxury of hobnobbing with celebrities from Palm Springs.”
Some local Republican activists have complained about Firestone being the choice of outsiders including Ford. But the former president dismissed talk of influence peddling on his part.
“In this case, I have a longtime personal friendship with the Firestone family,” Ford said during a brief press conference after the lunch. “I was calling as a personal friend, not a politician.”
Ford slipped once and called Firestone “Bruce” during his speech. Ford appointed Brooks’ father, Bruce, as his ambassador to Belgium during his administration.
Editor’s note: A Photos From the Vault column that ran Oct. 10 and 12 included a list of women who were first elected and appointed for offices that served San Luis Obispo County.
