The Seventh Presidential Conference

Gerald R. Ford
Restoring the Presidency

April 6-8, 1989

In cooperation with The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library,
Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Hofstra Cultural Center presented its seventh presidential conference, Gerald R. Ford: Restoring the Presidency, on April 6-8, 1989. During the conference many of the issues that confronted President Ford were discussed by members of the Ford Administration and presidential scholars.

A highlight of the conference was an address by President Gerald Ford, "Reflections: Looking Back at the Ford Presidency," on Friday, April 7. He also took part in a colloquium for high school students.

Some of the other participants at the conference included Donald H. Rumsfeld, White House Chief of Staff and Member of the President's Cabinet, 1974-1975 and Secretary of Defense, 1975-1977; Hugh Sidey, Time Magazine; Stephen H. Ambrose, Historian; Bob Woodward, The Washington Post; and Tom Brokaw, NBC News. The banquet speaker was Richard B. Cheney, White House Chief of Staff 1975-1977 and Secretary of Defense.

Panel topics included "Assuming the Presidency," "Reforming the CIA," "Humor and the Presidency," "President, Congress and Public Opinion," "Dealing With the Soviet Union," "The Fall of South Vietnam, " The Nixon Pardon," " The 1976 Election," and "The New York City Fiscal Crisis."

In addition, there was an exhibition by the Hofstra Museum of books, manuscripts, photographs and political memorabilia, Gerald R. Ford: From Chaos to Confidence: An Exhibition Documenting the Ford Presidency, in the David S. Filderman Gallery on the ninth floor of the Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library.

Conference Director:
Bernard J. Firestone
Hofstra University

After the conference papers and presentations were complied into a book, Gerald R. Ford and the Politics of Post-Watergate America, edited by Bernard J. Firestone and Alexej Ugrinsky, published by Greenwood Press 1992. The book is available as two volumes for $125. The two volumes draw together essays and transcripts of panel discussions prepared by academic political scientists and historians, as well as members of the Ford Administration.

For more information about Gerald R. Ford: Restoring the Presidency please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at (516) 463-5669.