The Book, the Man, and the Venue — Gerald Ford
Book Review — "Gerald R. Ford: The American Presidents Series" by Douglas Brinkley
Welcome back to “The Book, the Man, and the Venue,” my weekly newsletter that aims to shed light on every U.S. president in a way that is engaging, informative, and hopefully, fun!
Every Monday, I’ll be releasing a new article in which I chronicle my journey through one biography for each U.S. President. Each post will consist of three parts: I’ll offer a brief review of the biography (the Book), share reflections on the president’s character and legacy (the Man), and choose a location where I would spend time with the president if they were alive today (the Venue).
Hopefully, you will find the content both enriching and enjoyable, and if you like what you read, please consider checking out my other articles (and subscribing if you don’t already)!
Without further ado: Gerald Ford
The Book
Despite sitting in the Oval Office for only 895 days, Gerald Ford had a relatively busy stint as president. From a national economic crisis to the fall of Saigon, and of course, the decision to grant Richard Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon,” Ford faced numerous challenges that required steady leadership and decisive action. And yet, in some ways, Ford represented exactly what the country needed following the presidency of LBJ and Richard Nixon. He was a man of integrity, decency, and honor, who did what he believed was right regardless of the political outcome. While these values may have cost him any chance at reelection, they were probably the only thing that could’ve helped the nation heal after such a decade of chaos.
Back to the American Presidents Series (APS) with Douglas Brinkley’s “Gerald R. Ford”, my time with Ford’s biography proceeded almost exactly as I expected. Not intended for readers who are already informed on 1970s politics, Brinkley’s book provides a concise and high-level review of the 38th president’s life with some additional context sprinkled in to keep the reader engaged.
Among the highlights of Brinkley’s work are its exploration of Ford’s relationships with Nixon and Carter and its detailed account of Operation Frequent Wind. While I was slightly surprised by the amount of detail Brinkley devoted to Hank Meijer’s discovery of the Saigon escape ladder, I found it a fascinating and unexpected inclusion in a book of this length. Further, Brinkley’s evaluation of Ford’s character is both cogent and well-articulated. While Ford is not the most complex figure to have occupied the Oval Office, Brinkley’s depiction of the president’s Midwestern values helped to underscore his preference for a more tolerant, compassionate version of moderate conservatism.
Although I’m going to sound like a broken record here, there were moments where the APS fell short. Lost are the anecdotes from Ford’s childhood where he meets his biological father for the time, and the interpersonal dynamics between Ford and his cabinet – particularly Kissinger and Rumsfeld – are only cursorily mentioned throughout the story. As an example, the author barely discusses the Halloween Massacre and its ramifications, leaving the impression that Rumsfeld’s political maneuvering was a tale of great cunning omitted for the sake of brevity.
Alas, none of these qualms were unexpected – the book is only 160 pages after all – but I still felt as if there were many interesting details left unexplored that could have brought the novel to another level.
Nonetheless, Brinkley’s book is quite solid. Well-written and easy to follow, it is a great place to start – but certainly not end – for those interested in a president who brought respect to an office in a time where it was desperately needed.
Rating: 6.0/10
The Man
This week’s “The Man” section is going to be a little different. Given Gerald Ford’s history playing football at the University of Michigan (he was backup center on the national championship teams of 1932 and 1933, and starting center / team MVP in 1934), I figured this is the perfect time to do a State of the Union on Michigan football.
Full disclaimer: if you are here for the history lessons, you can probably log off for the week. This one is purely for my own enjoyment.
I’ve read a lot online about Sherrone Moore’s first year as Michigan’s head coach. Based on the general narrative I’ve seen, it seems to me that most Michigan fans seem cautiously optimistic about the program’s direction. And honestly, there’s plenty of reason for that optimism: back-to-back wins over Ohio State and Alabama to end the year, plus some real momentum on the NIL front (about damn time, Warde Manuel, but I digress). But, as someone who follows the program pretty closely, I am here to ask the question: are we sure???
Coaching Development
Not to compare Sherrone Moore to his predecessor, but one of Jim Harbaugh’s most underrated skills as a Head Coach was his ability to attract top coaching talent (like Moses, he went down leaning on his staff). And sure, he had some built-in advantages – like the Ravens pipeline – but his eye for coaching talent was truly exceptional (e.g., Mike Macdonald, Jesse Minter, Mike Elston, Steve Clinkscale, etc.). After one year of Coach Moore’s tenure, I’m just not so sure he’s in the same league. Let’s go position-by-position (highlighting the ones in bold that are particularly concerning):
OC / QB - Kirk Campbell: Sherrone has already already addressed this one, but it’s baffling that Michigan didn’t aggressively shop the portal after seeing who we had left in last year’s QB room.
RB – Tony Alford: This one is a push. Can’t blame Donovan’s struggles on him, and Mullings had a great year (plus Marshall looks like a Dude). But the lack of 2-RB sets were frustrating.
WR – Ron Bellamy: I’m actually sympathetic here. Bellamy was a pretty good safeties coach and recruiting WR’s to play for Michigan is tough. Plus his ties to the area make him a valuable asset. Will give him a pass for now (he was also a Harbaugh guy).
TE – Steve Casula: Optimistic here. Klein improved significantly, and Hogan Hansen looks like he could be a Dude.
OL – Grant Newsome / Sherrone: Super disappointing. Outside of the Zinter / Keegan years – which were really Ed Warriner’s guys – Sherrone’s O-Line recruits have not been very good (Raheem Anderson, Tristan Bounds, Greg Crippen, Alessandro Lorenzetti, Connor Jones, Andrew Gentry). Even this year, we only had one guy on the line who could consistently create movement (Hinton) and there were still a ton of missed assignments.
Defensive Line – Lou Esposito: The standout of the staff. He was gifted elite talent this year but still got great production from TJ Guy, Cam Brandt, and Josiah. Big positive so far.
Linebackers - BJM: Neutral here.
Corners - LaMar Morgan: Are we sure? Which members of the secondary actually improved this year? Jyaire? Zeke? Count me as doubtful (although the guy can recruit $$)
DC - Wink: Sorry, not giving credit for figuring out how to let college players line up and play. We got Don Brown here with an NFL resume. Fine, but let's not pretend like it's something it isn't.
J.B. Brown - Special Teams: ZVAAADAAAA
That is 4 out of 10 guys on the staff that I have questions about (including both first-year coordinators). I know it is too early to tell on a lot of these guys, but I’m just super bearish on Sherrone’s vision for the program and what we have done in the portal so far (more on that later).
Recruiting Philosophy / ‘25 Roster construction
Let me make this clear: I have absolutely zero problems paying players (God bless Jolin), and it’s hard not to bet on Michigan in the NIL era given how things are trending. But I’m a bit afraid we’re turning into Ole Miss North. Look at our vaunted ’25 class – how many of these guys will stick around? Bryce Underwood, Shamari Earls, Nathaniel Marshall, and Ty Haywood (assuming he commits to Michigan later today) are all players where money was clearly a (if not the) factor in their decision. And that’s not a value judgment at all (go get paid), just a realistic take on retention and how skewed the recruiting rankings are.
Also, if you look at what we’ve done so far in the portal, have we really solved any of last year’s fundamental issues? We’re still rolling with a mediocre QB situation (even Bryce, as talented as he is, will still be a true freshman), the O-line is middling, we swapped our one real passing threat for another, and we lost four potential first-round picks. Sure, you hope some young guys step up (and I think they will, especially on defense), but it’s hard to look at next year’s roster and be super optimistic – even with a cupcake schedule.
Just Beat OSU
Finally – and perhaps most importantly – I’m starting to question our ability to beat Ohio State moving forward. One of the things that annoys me about what I read online is the basic misunderstanding of why we’ve beaten OSU over the past four years. It’s not because of sign stealing, or because Ryan Day is soft (though, maybe that one has some merit), or any of the other dumb narratives out there. It’s because we’ve been fundamentally designed to beat them from a roster perspective.
Despite all the juggernauts OSU has at wide receiver, Ryan Day is committed to running the ball when he sees good numbers in the box. And for the past four years, Michigan has had the Dudes up front to win the line of scrimmage without committing extra resources.
Let’s take a look at Michigan’s DLine snap leaders for each of the last four OSU games (per MGoBlog):
‘21: Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Chris Hinton, Mazi Smith, Mike Morris
‘22: Mazi Smith, Jaylen Harrell, Kris Jenkins, Braiden McGregor, Mason Graham
‘23: Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Kris Jenkins, Josiah Stewart, Derrick Moore
‘24: Mason Graham. Kenneth Grant, Derrick Moore, Josiah Stewart, Rayshaun Benny
Just so everyone is perfectly clear, that list consists of:
4 First Round Picks (Aidan Hutchinson, Mazi Smith, Mason Graham*, Kenneth Grant*)
5 Day 2 Picks (Ojabo, Morris, Jenkins, Josiah Stewart*, Derrick Moore*)
4 Day 3 Picks / UDFAs (Hinton, Harrell, McGregor. Rayshaun Benny** [being super conservative here in terms of draft projection])
Those are 13 fucking NFL players in one position group!!
To beat Ohio State, you need to consistently stop the run with light boxes, or Ryan Day’s passing game will absolutely torch you. For four years, Michigan has managed to pull it off because we have had God’s gifts to football. But looking forward, I’m just not so sure we have the guys. And once those losses pile up, people stop looking at the roster with the glass half full.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, there is really only one question that matters: how good is Bryce Underwood?
It’s a question that will define the program over the next 3 years, and it's the one that Sherrone Moore has already bet his coaching career upon. Only time will reveal the answer to that question, and if you are a Michigan fan, it’s probably the question you feel most comfortable betting on (the kid has been the #1 guy in his class since he was in eighth grade).
But if Bryce isn’t the guy that everyone thinks he is, or at least not from the start (remember the first two years of the Drew Allar experience?), I am bearish on how long of a leash Michigan fans will have with a second year head coach who went 8-5 in his first season.
The Venue
This is as close to a no-brainer as it gets for this blog, but after that monologue, you better believe I’m taking Gerald Ford to one last game at the Big House. As a former O-lineman himself, I’m sure he’d be an avid supporter of Coach Moore – and I’d love to get his thoughts on some Babalola tape to see if the 5-star will live up to the hype during his time in the Maize and Blue!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this installment of “The Book, the Man, and the Venue.” If you have feedback about today’s issue, or thoughts about future topics, please feel free to send me a message.
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He’s back… and with some spicy profanity to mix in!
I had to google 99% of the names but I recognize KENNYY