Betty Ford: First Lady by Lisa McCubbin

Author:Lisa McCubbin [McCubbin, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781501164743
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2018-09-11T07:00:00+00:00

17

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Two Assassination Attempts

One year after moving into the White House, in an interview with McCall’s magazine, Betty said, “I think I have learned over the past months the positiveness of the position—which I hadn’t realized before. I have grown. I have come to realize the power of being able to help.”

Ironically, the White House, a place she’d once dreaded, is what gave her a new sense of herself. The article stated, “And while she acknowledged a loss of privacy and anonymity as first lady, the role gave her an exalted status and a chance to influence public thinking that is unparalleled for any other woman in this country.”

On Friday, September 5, Betty was upstairs in the White House, sitting at the small desk in her study and talking on the telephone, when the White House operator cut in.

“Mrs. Ford, I have an emergency call from Mr. Keiser.”

Before she could even wonder why Dick Keiser, the special agent in charge of President Ford’s Secret Service detail, would be cutting in, Keiser said, “Hello, Mrs. Ford. Not to worry. The president is all right. There was an incident in Sacramento. A woman with a gun.”

Betty was too stunned to say anything. Keiser reiterated, “The president is all right. He is in a meeting with Governor Jerry Brown now. I’ll give you more details as soon as I have them.”

As soon as his meeting with the governor was finished, Jerry called Betty. He knew the agents had already informed her, but he just wanted to reassure her he was fine.

Every president receives threats, and, at that time, President Ford was getting about a hundred per month. “But I had never worried about them because of my confidence in the professionalism of the agents guarding me,” Ford wrote. Betty was concerned, but he assured her that his confidence had not been misplaced; Larry Buendorf and the other agents had done a superb job.

Later, she would learn how quickly it happened; how close her husband came to being shot.

It was shortly before ten in the morning, and the sun was shining brightly when the president came out of the historic Senator Hotel in downtown Sacramento, California. The Secret Service had his limousine waiting, ready to transport him to the Statehouse building two blocks away.

President Ford turned to the acting agent in charge, Ernie Luzania, and said, “Ernie, it’s such a beautiful day, I’d rather walk than drive.”

“Of course, Mr. President,” Luzania said. Across the street, the police had set up rope lines, and a crowd had gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president.

“Hello, Mr. President!” people shouted, waving.

“Suddenly he darts across the street,” Agent Larry Buendorf recalled, “and, of course, we just fell into position. My position was at his left side, right next to him.”

President Ford was smiling, reaching out to the crowd with both hands, as the people clamored to have the chance to shake his hand. A petite young woman wearing a long red dress stepped forward. Just as the president stuck out his hand toward her, she reached down and pulled out a Colt .

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