Search Results for: nixon
16 Frames
![President Richard Nixon leaves White House After Resigning WASHINGTON - AUGUST 9: President Richard Nixon waves goodbye as he boards a helicopter to leave from the South Lawn of the White House after resigning the presidency, August 9, 1974, in Washington, DC. In the first and last frames of this contact sheet Vice President Gerald R. Ford and Mrs. Ford say good bye. Ford was sworn in as president minutes later. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-240-double2.jpg)
![President Richard Nixon leaves White House After Resigning WASHINGTON - AUGUST 9: President Richard Nixon waves goodbye as he boards a helicopter to leave from the South Lawn of the White House after resigning the presidency, August 9, 1974, in Washington, DC. In the first and last frames of this contact sheet Vice President Gerald R. Ford and Mrs. Ford say good bye. Ford was sworn in as president minutes later. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-240-double1.jpg)
16 Frames
My job is to be there when history is made. August 9, 1974 was one of the biggest days, an historic twofer -- one president quit, and another was sworn in to replace him.
I was on the South Lawn of the White House crowded onto a photo stand with the rest of the press corps when President Richard Nixon, accompanied by his wife Patricia, and Vice President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford, walked out of the White House to the white-topped presidential helicopter that would carry him away into political exile.
The night before that fateful Friday, President Nixon went on television to announce that he was going to resign over the events of Watergate. Had he not decided to leave voluntarily he would have been impeached in the House and then convicted and removed from office by the Senate for his transgressions. He was the first and only president to resign. Even though we are now 46 years past that event, I still feel the shock from the moment. When I think about it, the event plays before me in slow motion.
There are sixteen frames that I made of Nixon climbing up the six steps of Army One until he ducked inside. At the time I thought the best image of that sequence was the second one, frame 12, where he gave a snappy wave, arm at a 45-degree angle over his head, and lips pursed. It definitely was dramatic, serious, and carried the weight of the moment.
History is a process of steeping. Sometimes the true flavor of a moment doesn’t emerge quickly. In this case it took more than 45 years. I recently came to the conclusion that the frame before the wave, No. 11, carries the most impact. Nixon’s look, captured in 1/500th of a second, as he glanced up at the South Portico of the White House for the last time, caught his flash of bitter realization. The game was over, he had lost, and would never see the place again as President of the United States. I can’t imagine the pain he must have been feeling at the moment, and even though it appears he’s trying to mask the feeling, it is palpable.
![01_Nixon-Goodbye-001 Nixon Bids Farewell Proofsheet August 9, 1974. Washington DC. -- President Richard Nixon on the steps of the presidential helicopter giving his final wave to the White House.](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-001-scaled.jpg)
![Nixon 003 Nixon 003](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Nixon-003_1.jpg)
In the remainder of those 16 frames, what happened after that ricochet reflection was the hard tack back to reality. The grim wave expanded into a double “V” campaign-like moment that attempted to reclaim the glory days. His upbeat gesture was spurred by the White House staff who gathered on the South Lawn to see their disgraced leader off. They cheered him. But it wasn’t a campaign rally, rather it was one of the darker days in presidential history.
In less than 12 seconds from start to finish it was over. Sixteen frames, numbers 11 to 26, duly recorded for posterity. Frame 26 shows him ducking to enter the helicopter.
The next two photos, frames 27 and 28 show Vice President Gerald R. Ford, the man who would shortly become president, and Mrs. Ford, give Nixon one last wave goodbye through the window. They then turn and solemnly walk away.
![President Richard Nixon leaves White House After Resigning WASHINGTON - AUGUST 9: President Richard Nixon waves goodbye as he boards a helicopter to leave from the South Lawn of the White House after resigning the presidency, August 9, 1974, in Washington, DC. In the first and last frames of this contact sheet Vice President Gerald R. Ford and Mrs. Ford say good bye. Ford was sworn in as president minutes later. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-240_Fords.jpg)
Later that evening the new president would offer me the position as his chief White House photographer. Because my job is about history, and documenting those who make it, I took him up on it!
In the Room When Ford Pardoned Nixon
The following post contains several unpublished photos that I took of President Ford before, during, and after the pardon of Richard Nixon forty years ago today.
Sunday, September 8, 1974 started off in a fairly routine fashion for President Gerald R. Ford. He attended St. John's church just across Lafayette Square from the White House, then returned to the White House. What happened after that insured that he would not get a term in his own right as President of the United States. He pardoned Richard Nixon.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0619a-6A-600-dpi-from-neg.jpg)
President Ford leaves St. John's church on his way back to the White House to sign the Nixon pardon.
Before he publicly announced the pardon President Ford made a series of telephone calls to inform the leaders of the House and Senate what he was going to do. He phoned, (in this order), Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill, Attorney General William Saxbe, House Majority Whip John McFall, Vice President-designate Nelson Rockefeller, and Senator Barry Goldwater.
Head speechwriter Robert Hartmann and I were the only ones with President Ford in his private hideaway next to the oval office as he prepared to make the fateful announcement. The president sat by himself and looked over the proclamation. He didn't say anything to either of us. The decision was made, he was ready, and moments later he stood up, a look of resolution on his face, and said, "Let's go."
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/GF_BeforePardon-2.jpg)
President Ford looks over Nixon pardon document in his private office before publicly signing it a few minutes later
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/GF_BeforePardon2.jpg)
President Ford with speechwriter Robert Hartmann seconds before entering the oval office to sign the pardon of former President Nixon
At 11:16 am in the oval office, President Ford reads the announcement before signing the pardon. At the end of his talk he said,
". . . I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth."
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0619-26A.jpg)
Sitting behind his desk in the oval office, President Gerald R. Ford prepares to read the text of the Nixon pardon
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0619-27A1.jpg)
President Ford reads the text of the pardon in front of a lone television camera on Sunday morning, September 8, 1974.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0619-35AT.jpg)
Phil Buchen, President Ford's chief legal counselor and old law partner from Grand Rapids, watches the proceedings.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0620-30.jpg)
President Ford signs the paper pardoning former President Richard Nixon
(Yes, I shot this one in color...)
Moments after signing the pardon, President Ford walked down the hallway to the office of Bill Timmons who was head of legislative affairs. Timmons was there fielding calls from members of Congress about the pardon, along with Ford's (and Nixon's) chief of staff Alexander Haig, White House counselor Jack Marsh, and Hartmann. What I found shocking was that almost everyone who called in that morning privately told the president that he had done the right thing, but publicly went out and lambasted him. At that point I had quite a bit to learn about real politics. As usual President Ford took it all in stride, but definitely felt the pressure.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0626-blog.jpg)
President Ford gets reaction from Congress in the office of his legislative affairs assistant. (L-R) Robert Hartmann, Bill Timmons, the President, Al Haig, Jack Marsh.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A0628-04A1.jpg)
Photographing ironic moments is my strong suit, and this photo of President Ford under a picture of himself as vice president and Nixon as president minutes after the pardon is right up there in the heavy irony category.
(L-R) Bob Hartmann, Al Haig, Bill Timmons, the president, and Jack Marsh.
President Ford's approval rating plummeted from 71 to 37 after the Nixon pardon, and he wasn't able to politically recover in order to win a term in his own right. There was a lot of piling on among his fellow pols. Sen. Teddy Kennedy in a speech in Los Angeles after the pardon said, "So we operate under a system of equal justice under the law? Or is there one system for the average citizen, and another for the high and mighty." Ouch. Unfortunately that pretty well reflected what the majority of Americans thought at the time, and Ford's popularity was in the cellar.
By 2001 Senator Kennedy had changed his tune, and along with Caroline Kennedy presented President Ford with the JFK Profile in Courage Award.”‹ The award was created in 1989 by members of President Kennedy's family to honor the fallen president and to recognize and celebrate the quality of political courage that he admired most. "For the scientist, the moment is the Nobel or the Lasker; for the journalist, the Pulitzer; the actor, the Oscar. For those in government, it is the Kennedy." Governor Lowell Weicker
Sen. Kennedy said, "Unlike many of us at the time, President Ford recognized that the nation had to move forward, and could not do so if there was a continuing effort to prosecute former President Nixon. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us."
Caroline Kennedy, now the ambassador to Japan, while presenting the award to President Ford said, "For more than a quarter century, Gerald Ford proved to the people of Michigan, the Congress, and our nation that politics can be a noble profession. As President, he made a controversial decision of conscience to pardon former president Nixon and end the national trauma of Watergate. In doing so, he placed his love of country ahead of his own political future."
President Ford told me later that the Profile in Courage Award was one of the most important things that ever happened to him. He was very emotional when he talked about it, and a tear ran down his cheek as he recounted the experience.
”‹
Forty Years Ago Today–Nixon’s Farewell
Column 1
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-240aaa.jpg)
Nixon looks at White House for last time as president before boarding helicopter.
Column 2
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-240a.jpg)
Nixon departs after resigning, contact sheet
Nixon resigning, and leaving the White House forty years ago today, was one of the top five stories that I've covered in my career as a photographer. The others, in no particular order, are Vietnam, Jonestown, Sadat's trip to Israel, and the Reagan/Gorbachev Summit in Geneva. There have been plenty of others!
When I revisited this sequence of photos of Nixon on the steps of Army One, the presidential helicopter, I had always keyed on fame #12 as "the moment." A grim Nixon, lips pursed, arm bent as he gave a sharp wave goodbye, was leaving The White House in disgrace. It was a frame that I had always thought said it all. But not really. Forty years later, and after much consideration, I think the most telling photo is frame #11, where Nixon, having just started up the steps, turns and looks back at a scene he will never see again as president--the South Portico of the White House looming before him. His face reflected that split second of pain, humiliation, and loss. He then gave a curt wave. Moments later, and you had to be there to see and hear the rest of what prompted his actions, the crowd who had gathered on the lawn to see him off, comprised mainly of loyal White House staffers, started cheering and applauding. Nixon reacted in the manner of the old campaigner, with arms waving, and fingers outstretched with the "V" for victory sign. A smile lit up his face. But it wasn't a campaign event, but it was the last stop of the Nixon presidency. That smile soon disappeared, along with the 37th president, who lifted off from the South Lawn as Gerald R. Ford, the next president, watched from below the South Portico..
”‹
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/626_Gerald-Ford-120a.jpg)
Vice President Gerald R. Ford, with wife Betty and David and Julie Eisenhower, watch President Nixon depart after resigning. A few minutes later, at high noon, Ford became the 38th President of the United States.
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The Red Badges of Coverage. What you needed to be inside the @gopconvention I have variations of these going back to 1976, a good collection that is in my archive at the @cntrforcreativephoto in Tucson. These will be on their way to the CCP right after the @demconvention in Chicago. Thanks to my friends at @politico for another adventure among politicians. @improvambassador nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @wapokp @jackimages @bobmcneelyphoto @jmartnyt @byadamwren @daniellippman @emcmen
At the conclusion of the @gopconvention is reality. Ivanka and Jared stand apart. Melania thinking of being somewhere else. JD trying to think of something to say that won’t get him hanged. A lone #milwaukee balloon glides by. That’s my take. What do you think? On assignment for @politico Will also be going to @demconvention stay tuned, should be wild… @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @petesouza @allie.plepler @whipplc @mikebarnicle @wapokp @utnicky
With David Eisenhower, Director of the Institute for Public Service at the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School today in Milwaukee where we were on a panel with @karlrove and @politico writer @jmartnyt moderated by @usc_cclp Geoff Cowan talking about “Why History Matters.” Last time I saw David was 50 years ago on the South Lawn of the White House waving goodbye to his father-in-law President Richard Nixon who had just resigned, August 9, 1974. We both had hair then! @cntrforcreativephoto @geoffreybaum @karlrove @petesouza @improvambassador @nickkennerly @politicomag @wapokp
Flew into #milwaukee yesterday to be on the scene for the @gopconvention You can see the convention center where it will be held at the top. Here for @politico @politicomag Should be interesting! @cntrforcreativephoto @jmartnyt @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @mikebarnicle @wapokp @francis_chung_photo
It’s my great honor to be named as the seventh trustee of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust that was founded by its first trustee Ansel Adams in 1976. We are the keepers of the Ansel flame and defenders of his legacy and copyright. Photo by @lynngoldsmith in Carmel, 1975. The announcement link is in my profile. @cntrforcreativephoto @beckysenf @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @petesouza @allie.plepler @wapokp
35 years ago today, July 5, 1989, the first episode of @seinfeldtv ran on NBC. I took this photo during my documentation of the final days of the show in 1998. Jerry Seinfeld, George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards). What a blast with such a talented group! @jerryseinfeld @officialjld @jalexander1959 @cntrforcreativephoto @davidhmandel @pmehl5 @hallmonitor @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @chao_time @helenhunt @jeffreynordling @bryancranston @wapokp @mikebarnicle @politico @canonusa #canonusa
You know what bugs me most about the cacophony of 4th of July fireworks other than scaring little kids and animals? Most people don’t even know why they’re blowing shit up. @mikebarnicle @jon.meacham @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @petesouza @wapokp @alanmsiegel @bobmcneelyphoto #4thofjuly
Joe Cool. @joebiden raises a glass of lemonade on the South Lawn of the White House two years ago, July 4th, 2021. Thanks to @schultzinit for inviting me and @bobmcneelyphoto, a pair of White House chief photographer relics, over to our old workplace. Cheers Mr. President, this year`s a rough one. @jackimages @cntrforcreativephoto @mikebarnicle @petesouza @improvambassador @batmanvt
Lovebird on the 4th of July. Caught this #allenshummingbird stretching his neck this morning showing off its 💕! Made with @canonusa R5 with RF100-500 at 500mm. #canonusa @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @petesouza @raulroa @utnicky @johnrodphotography @chao_time @helenhunt @wapokp
Good Men In Black. These Supreme Court justices, in a photo I took at former Chief Justice Earl Warren’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery on July 11, 1974, ruled against President Nixon’s claim of immunity in the Watergate tapes case two weeks later. The Court acknowledged that the principle of executive privilege did exist, but rejected Nixon`s claim, “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.” Their decision was unanimous, (with Justice Rehnquist recusing due to a prior role in the Nixon administration). They ruled against the president saying he didn’t have "absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances." Nixon was ordered to surrender the tapes on July 24, 1974, and resigned 16 days later. Chief Justice Warren Burger leads Justices William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, Byron White, Lewis Powell, Harry Blackmun, and William Rehnquist. @cntrforcreativephoto @improvambassador @nickkennerly @j_kennerly @katiemeitayy @wapokp @jon.meacham @beschlossdc1776 @pulitzerprizes @danabashcnn jaketapper @spencergarrett1 @helenhunt @jeffreynordling @petesouza
Kennerly Commencement Address at U of Arizona
David Hume Kennerly’s address to the Commencement and SBS Convocation, 2021 graduating class of the School of Social Sciences & Behavioral Sciences, “The People College” at the University of Arizona, Tucson, December 17, 2021
What an amazing group!
Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2021. You have survived and triumphed over our ongoing Covid nightmare, and from the looks of it have not only emerged intact, but raring to get on to the next step.
I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for University of Arizona president Dr. Robert Robbins the driving force behind the university’s acquisition of my archive for the Center for Creative Photography, the CCP. I’m assuming that also makes me an official Wildcat, but I don’t want to be presumptuous. Your most excellent leader Dean John Paul Jones III has become a dear friend and invited me to speak today. Depending on how this goes you may or may not want to thank him.
It’s a real pleasure to speak to you. I’ve had my fair share of significant moments, but none of them include a college graduation, so each of you has already surpassed my academic achievements!
My dear friend Ansel Adams was co-founder of the CCP, I hope you know that his archive is right here on campus. I was privileged to take his portrait for the cover of TIME.
![ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LICENSING AND PERMISSIONS FOR SPECIFIC USE MUST BE OBTAINED FROM COPYRIGHT OWNER. Files provided by the Center for Creative Photography are for a single specific use as licensed and must be deleted post-production of that specific use. Ansel Adams on cover of TIME Magazine, September 3, 1979](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_01.jpg)
He is the first and only photographer to be featured there. Ansel was also a philosopher. He said, “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, and the people you have loved.”
I thought I would share this with you because Ansel’s words apply not only to photography, but to life.
After graduating from high school in 1965 the world was changing in ways I couldn’t imagine.
![ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LICENSING AND PERMISSIONS FOR SPECIFIC USE MUST BE OBTAINED FROM COPYRIGHT OWNER. Files provided by the Center for Creative Photography are for a single specific use as licensed and must be deleted post-production of that specific u Cops fight off protestors at San Francisco State College, 1968.](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_02-scaled.jpg)
I felt compelled to tell my generation’s story with my weapon of choice--a 35mm camera. That desire to document turned into a life-long journey that has (so far) produced hundreds of thousands of photos. I’ve photographed 11 presidents, traveled to more than 100 countries, been in several wars, saw the horror of Jonestown, and have produced movies and documentaries.
![Five Presidents In The Oval Office Five Presidents in the Oval Office, 2009. (former President George Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, former Presidents Bill Clinton & Jimmy Carter)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_03.jpg)
I’d like to pass along some wisdom from my dad, O.A. “Tunney” Kennerly who was a traveling salesman.
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_04 O.A. “Tunney” Kennerly, David Hume Kennerly’s dad, Portland, Oregon, 1967](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_04-scaled.jpg)
During his life he sold everything from plastic garden tools to automobiles. As a youngster I accompanied him around my home state of Oregon watching him sell people things they didn’t really need, or at least didn’t know they needed! One bit of advice he shared with me was, “If you want to get along with people don’t discuss politics or religion.” That advice might be more pertinent now than ever.
Observing Dad in action helped me understand his real secret. He was selling himself first. He put people at ease and made them laugh. Tunney was a genuine individual who liked his fellow humans and they liked him back. And bought his stuff.
His example helped me get behind closed doors with my camera.
![Obamas In Elevator On The Way To Ball President Barack Obama and First Lady Michell Obama, Inauguration Night, January 20, 2009](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_05-scaled.jpg)
I became very good at convincing (selling) politicians and others on the idea of letting me into their lives to document their important work and to photograph them in genuine moments.
One of my earliest assignments as a 19-year-old cub newspaper photographer was covering Sen. Robert Kennedy’s visit to Portland. I set off on that mission with words from the managing editor ringing in my ears, “Don’t screw it up, kid.”
![Robet Kennedy In Portland Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Kennerly, Portland, Oregon, 1966](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_06.jpg)
I arrived at the Portland Labor Hall where Kennedy was going to speak. It was so crowded I couldn’t get in. But I had to or possibly lose my job. I spotted a photographer who was travelling with Kennedy. I asked him, ‘How do you get through all these people?’
He was Bill Eppridge of LIFE Magazine, one of the world’s best. Sensing my panic he said, “Grab onto my coat.” He zigzagged through the crowd and deposited me right up on the stage. He added, “This is the best angle.”
![ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LICENSING AND PERMISSIONS FOR SPECIFIC USE MUST BE OBTAINED FROM COPYRIGHT OWNER. Files provided by the Center for Creative Photography are for a single specific use as licensed and must be deleted post-production of that specific use. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Portland Labor Hall, 1966](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_07.jpg)
It was also a career saver! This image that I made of Kennedy is still one of my most meaningful pictures.
Afterwards I followed the senator and his entourage out to the airport. RFK plunged into the cheering crowd then he dashed up the airplane’s steps.
![ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LICENSING AND PERMISSIONS FOR SPECIFIC USE MUST BE OBTAINED FROM COPYRIGHT OWNER. Files provided by the Center for Creative Photography are for a single specific use as licensed and must be deleted post-production of that specific use. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in crowd at Portland Airport, 1966](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_08-scaled.jpg)
But that’s not what rang my bell. THE moment, the one that’s so clear to me even now, was when Bill Eppridge followed Kennedy, stood on the top of the plane’s stairs then spotted me in the crowd. He flashed me a wink and a smile then turned and disappeared inside the plane. The door closed behind him, and the aircraft taxied out and took off into the night.
I was overwhelmed with emotion. Why? I wanted to be on that plane, to go where history was being made and to photograph the people making it. My path was suddenly clear. I would run away and join the political circus. (Full circle note: I was right here on campus with him in 1968 when he made a campaign stop).
We’re all here because someone pointed us in the right direction. Somebody cleared away obstacles--or let us hang onto their coat. You haven’t had to walk alone. With luck you’ll run into compassionate and inspiring people like Bill Eppridge who will bless you with their drive, expertise, and most of all kindness.
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_09 Kennerly and Bill Eppridge, Jefferson, New York, 2012](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_09.jpg)
A few months before Bill died I was able to thank him for helping me find my way. It’s hard to express how important that was for me.
As I was coming up through the ranks of photographers I had no idea what decades of my pictures might reveal. I never thought I would make it this far, and there were so many times when I almost didn’t. Overcoming fear to do my job was essential, but trust me, it didn’t make me less scared on occasion!
![Kennerly Under Fire in Vietnam Kennerly under fire, Chon Thanh, S. Vietnam, 1972](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_10.jpg)
Getting the shot and telling the story is what drives me. An example is a picture that I took in Vietnam of a lone soldier carefully picking his way across a devastated hillside.
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_11 Lone Soldier above A Shau Valley, S. Vietnam, 1971
One of the photos from David Hume Kennerly's portfolio that won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Photography. The Pulitzer committee described this image as showing, Òthe loneliness and desolation of warÓ. " A Shau Valley, South Vietnam](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_11-scaled.jpg)
I saw him coming from across the way and moved to position where I could frame him through some shattered trees if he stayed on his path. I prayed he would hold that course. He did. That photo became the centerpiece of my Pulitzer Prize-winning portfolio of pictures I took in 1971.
So be patient. Wait for it. Think ahead. And most important don’t give up. You never know what might come next!
Another Tunney Kennerly saying was, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” People can’t read your mind. They don’t know what you want. It’s a tough choice because you might rightfully believe that an opportunity could disappear if you push too hard for it. So what? Take a chance. Even if the person you’re talking to is the President of the United States!
![Nixon Waves Farewell After Resigning Presidency President Richard Nixon waves goodbye from his helicopter after resigning, August 9, 1974](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_12.jpg)
![President Gerald R. Ford Retrospective Gerald R. Ford Sworn in as President, East Room of the White House, August 9, 1974](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_13.jpg)
I was on the South Lawn of the White House lawn as Richard Nixon departed in disgrace after resigning the presidency. He was the first and last president to do that.
Two hours later Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the nation’s 38th president.
I had covered him for TIME Magazine while he was the vice president, and then watched him go right into presidential history.
![ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LICENSING AND PERMISSIONS FOR SPECIFIC USE MUST BE OBTAINED FROM COPYRIGHT OWNER. Files provided by the Center for Creative Photography are for a single specific use as licensed and must be deleted post-production of that specific use. Kennerly’s TIME Magazine cover of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States of America](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_14.jpg)
I got along well with the vice president. He liked me and my pictures. I suspected he might ask me to become his chief photographer, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted the job.
Nixon’s photographer’s legacy was a rough road. He had extremely limited access to his boss, and his photographs showed it. History was not well-served and even though it wasn’t his fault he missed critical moments. There are few photos that show Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War and the Watergate cover-up that brought him down. I could not and would not work under those restrictive conditions.
That night President Ford and I sat in his living room. He popped the question.
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_15 Cover of Kennerly’s book, “Extraordinary Circumstances”](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_15-scaled.jpg)
Would I like to be his personal photographer?
I told him I had misgivings and why. Then looked him right in the eye and said, “Mr. President, I would love to take the job, it would be an honor, but I have two conditions: I report directly to you AND have total access to everything going on in the White House.” (To this day I still can’t believe those words came out of my mouth). President Ford appeared slightly flummoxed and stopped smoking his pipe. I thought, “OK, I blew that one.” Then he laughed, and said, “You don’t want Air Force One on the weekends?”
Hallelujah! I hadn’t blown it.
![President Gerald R. Ford Retrospective Kennerly and President Ford walk along the White House Colonnade, 1975](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_16.jpg)
I didn’t have to call my parents to tell them that the president offered me a job but I told him to shove it. Ford understood that my wanting to always be “in the room” came from my desire to document his presidency from all angles – to create a visual record for history and that I didn’t want to miss anything.
The Ford presidency was one of my most rewarding and exciting assignments.
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_17 Gerald R. Ford in the Oval Office after becoming president, 1974](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_17-scaled.jpg)
I faithfully, objectively, and I hope accurately, documented every moment of history that I could – and history happened 24/7 for the next two-and-a-half years. And yes, I spent hundreds of hours on Air Force One—but only when the president was on board!
![04-001.jpg Kennerly in the doorway of Air Force one, Portland, Oregon, 1974 (photo by Stanford Smith)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_18-scaled.jpg)
Documenting history since the 60s has given me a unique perspective of our proud and imperfect nation. We are a place of heroes, villains, and those in between. But I remain an optimist.
No matter how powerful the lens, one person can’t capture it all. I believe my life's work can inspire confidence in our ability to improve as a people. It can also be a sobering reminder of how often we screw things up.
With luck my pictures will motivate a new and diverse generation (you) to be passionate chroniclers and not impartial observers (unless you’re a journalist, of course!) of our collective experience.
You can all participate in this idea. Whether you’re receiving degrees in American Indian Studies, Anthropology, Geography, History, Law, or any field, you can document your own point of view. There are social media vehicles to do that but more important, keep notes about your work and your unique perspective of the world around you. You’re seeing history every single day, so don’t let it slip away. And by all means, supplement those observations with photos!
The best line in any graduation speech is, “And in conclusion.” Here it is:
A long list of people helped and trusted me along the way. The same goes for you. Look around. You’ll see family, friends, professors, and employers. Thank them for helping you to become the person you are, and for shaping the person you will become. We are all in this together. We’re not flying solo.
Good luck and love to the 2021 graduates of The People College of the University of Arizona. You now have the Wildcat wind at your back, and an incredible journey ahead.
I’m leaving you with one of my favorite photos. I took this on assignment for Bank of America. It even went viral!
![2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_19 First Lady Michelle Obama hugs former President George W. Bush at the opening of the National African Museum of History and Culture, 2016](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_Kennerly_AZSpeech_Blog_19.jpg)
This is First Lady Michelle Obama hugging former President George W. Bush at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and personifies an optimistic note on how we can get along, no matter what gender, color, or political party. I hope it sums up how you feel today.
I love the University of Arizona’s motto: Bear Down!
![image A scholarly cat watches Kennerly's commencement address. (Photo by John Rodrigues).](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/image.jpeg)
![IMG_5631 A selfie in Centennial Hall after commencement address to University of Arizona’s “The People College.”](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_5631-scaled.jpg)
On this day 42 years ago… August 9th
I remember August 9, 1974 less as the day President Richard Nixon left the presidency, but as the day Gerald R. Ford assumed it.
The morning started on the South Lawn of the White House where I was assigned by TIME Magazine to photograph one of the most dramatic events in U.S. history. This was the first time any U.S. president had resigned, and the national was reeling. From the moment Nixon stepped onto the first step of his helicopter, glanced up for the last time at the Truman Balcony, waved his arms with the familiar “V” sign, then disappeared inside Marine One, only ten seconds had elapsed. I caught every one of them. As the film ratcheted through my camera I only had one thought on my mind, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing, and I don’t want to miss a moment of the spectacle.” I didn’t. In fact with my motor drive cranking I freeze-framed 17 exposures of the historic scene.
![](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/01_Nixon-Goodbye-001.jpg)
As Nixon’s helicopter lifted off I trained my lens on Vice President and Mrs. Ford. They stood next to David and Julie Eisenhower, Nixon’s daughter and son-in- law as they watched him recede into the distance. A White House butler completed the tableau.
![Ford Inaugurated WASHINGTON, D.C. -- AUG 9: A somber President Gerald R. Ford addresses the nation from the East Room in the White House shortly after being sworn in as the nation's 38th Chief Executive after the resignation of Richard Nixon, August 9, 1974. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/DK080974_FordInaug2a-681x1024.jpg)
A short time later, at high noon in the East Room of the White House, Gerald R. Ford was sworn as the 38 th President of the United States by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. President Ford then declared our long national nightmare over. I caught that moment. He looked not only grim, but also resolved to deal with what lay ahead.
That evening I was invited to the Ford’s modest home in Alexandria. After the other guests left the president wanted to talk to me about becoming his chief White House photographer. The next day I became the third civilian to ever have that job.
Archive Deck 8
HISTORY CAPTURED - HIGHLIGHTS
![489_Miles-Davis-120 489_Miles-Davis-120](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/489_Miles-Davis-120.jpg)
1960s
OREGON JOURNAL, UPI First published photo in 1962 in the Roseburg High School “Orange R” school newspaper. The Pendleton Roundup; Tyghe Valley Indian Rodeo; Tigard shootout; The Supremes; Miles Davis in Portland; The Rolling Stones in Portland on their first U.S. tour; Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) playing during his first year at UCLA; USC star O.J. Simpson after winning the Heisman Trophy; Igor Stravinsky; police with guns drawn at San Francisco State College; anti-war demonstrations, escaped prisoner from San Quentin gunned down by police; 1968 U.S. presidential campaign candidates Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Gene McCarthy; Ambassador Hotel the night Sen. Robert Kennedy was assassinated; Congressman Adam Clayton Powell’s anti-war speech; Hugh Hefner surrounded by Playmates; pitchers Denny McLain and Bob Gibson during their 1968 Cy Young-winning seasons; U.S. Open tennis championships at Forest Hills; Eisenhower’s funeral; Mickey Mantle Day; Mets winning the ’69 World Series; construction of the World Trade Center.
![01_Vietnam-Soldier 01_Vietnam-Soldier](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/01_Vietnam-Soldier.jpg)
1970s
TIME, LIFE, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHER President Nixon made Kennerly a martini at the White House on Christmas Eve 1970. First ride on Air Force One at 23. Ringside at Ali-Frazier fight, Madison Square Garden. Vietnam for UPI; war between India and Pakistan; 1972 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Feature Photography; one of first Americans to enter PRC; release of the last American POWs in Hanoi; resignation of Richard Nixon; Gerald R. Ford’s Chief White House photographer; special mission to Vietnam and Cambodia right before those countries fell to the Communists; Kissinger’s last Mideast shuttle; in the room as President Ford ended US involvement in Vietnam; 1976 presidential campaign; Sadat’s historic trip to Israel for TIME; Camp David Summit; Northern Ireland hostilities; Osiris nuclear reactor being built outside of Baghdad that was later blown up by the Israelis; Havana for Fidel Castro; Jonestown mass murder and suicides; Exhibition at the Lunn Gallery in Washington, attended by Ansel Adams and Yousef Karsh.
![5779 5779](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5779.png)
1980s
TIME, FREELANCE War in El Salvador; 1980 presidential election; Reagan White House for TIME; Kennerly’s autobiography Shooter published; return of American Iran hostages to U.S.; Sandra Day O’Conner sworn in as first female justice of the Supreme Court; Morocco’s war with Polisario; U.S. Marines in Beirut; on patrol with PFLP fighters in hills above Beirut; funeral of assassinated politician Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino in Manila; 1984 Olympics; America’s Cup in Australia; 1984 presidential election; exclusive coverage of Reagan/Gorbachev “Fireside Summit” in Geneva; A Day in the Life of America; won Overseas Press Club Award for Reagan/Gorbachev coverage; A Day in the Life of the Soviet Union; with Pope John Paul II on his plane to Italy; 1988 presidential election; Emmy nomination for NBC movie, The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story, writer/exec producer of NBC movie Shooter starring Helen Hunt (Emmy winner for Best Cinematography); Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City for A Day in the Life of China.
![5766 5766](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5766.png)
1990s
LIFE, FREELANCE, NEWSWEEK, GEORGE MAGAZINE, ABC Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Colin Powell in Saudi Arabia in prelude to Desert Storm; five presidents at Reagan Library; 1992 presidential campaign; the Oval Office as it transitions from Bush to Clinton; Nixon’s funeral; 1994 Olympics in Norway; book Photo Op published; exhibition of work at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon and Cannon House Office Building Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol; 1996 presidential campaign; Bill Clinton presidential coverage; Pyongyang, North Korea; Sen. John Glenn’s preparation for space shuttle flight as the oldest astronaut; the launch of SDS-95; Pope John Paul II’s trip to Cuba; Clinton impeachment story; the last two Seinfeld episodes exclusive for Newsweek; Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld published; Clinton’s Senate trial; King Hussein funeral in Jordan; Kosovo war; inside coverage at NATO HQ with Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark; Macedonia; French aircraft carrier in Mediterranean; Northridge earthquake; People’s Republic of China’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
![5753 5753](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5753.png)
2000s
NEWSWEEK, DER SPEIGEL, PARIS MATCH, NBC 2000 presidential campaign; inside photos at governor’s mansion election night in Austin with the Bushes; Picture-a-Day in the year 2000 project; retrospective show at Visa Pour l’Image, Perpignan, France; Slovenia Summit with Presidents Bush and Putin; 9/11 attack on Pentagon; to Afghanistan to photograph that conflict; exec producer of ABC’s Profiles from the Front Lines about U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan; Photo du Jour published; exhibition of Photo du Jour at the Smithsonian Arts & Industry Building; inside the Pentagon at the start of the Iraq War; secret trip to Iraq with Secretary of Defense; 2004 presidential campaign; Rumsfeld’s trip to Abu Ghraib; named “one of the one hundred most important people in photography,” by American Photo Magazine; Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford published; 2008 presidential campaign; becomes trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation; producer, chief photographer, Barack Obama: The Official Inaugural Book; five Presidents Obama.
![5791 5791](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5791.png)
2010s
FREELANCE, DER SPIEGEL, POLITICO, CNN Ramadi and Karbala in Iraq; Iceland, Costa Rica and France for Backroads; Girl Scouts photos appear on millions of cookie boxes; New Orleans for post Katrina coverage; featured speaker at the Aspen Ideas Festival; 2012 presidential campaign; Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan; Betty Ford funeral; Haiti, Northern Ireland, London, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Poland, South Africa, Swaziland, Japan, for Vital Voices; TEDxBend speaker; producer, Discovery Channel’s The Presidents’ Gatekeepers about White House chiefs of staff; President Obama’s second Inauguration; David Hume Kennerly on the iPhone published; King Abdullah II meeting with President Obama; commencement address and honorary doctorate, Lake Erie College; executive producer, CBS/Showtime documentary The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs; featured speaker at the annual Bank of America board meeting; recipient of 2015 Lucie Award for Achievement in Photojournalism, presented at Carnegie Hall; 2016 presidential campaign; Bernie v. Hillary CNN Debate, Brooklyn.
The First Lady
Showtime recently announced that The First Lady series is cancelled. Mercifully it only had one season. This will spare other former presidential wives from the historical malpractice visited upon the three women portrayed in the show by creator Aaron Cooley. It will, however, be a crushing disappointment for those waiting for the Jacqueline Kennedy and Melania Trump stories.
I didn’t know that much about Eleanor Roosevelt, and even though I photographed Michelle Obama a few times, had no clue about the innerworkings of her world. Based on this show I’m sure I still don’t.
But I ‘m very well acquainted with Gerald R. Ford and his family thanks to a close friendship with the president, Mrs. Ford, and their children. I was the chief White House photographer with upstairs/downstairs access to the East and West Wings and everywhere in between. I probably spent more time with Mrs. Ford than anyone outside of her family. In this contorted version of Betty Ford’s life she was shown navigating their Alexandria home then later the White House in a cliche-infused-alcoholic haze. Nope, that’s not how it happened. If you want to know the real story read Mrs. Ford's book, "The Times of My Life." She didn't shy away from discussing her battle with pain killers and alcohol, quite the opposite, but she wasn't prancing around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue plastered.
![02_FirstLady_ Betty Ford played by Michelle Pfeiffer (Photo by Murray Close/Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/02_FirstLady_.jpg)
In their Hollywood imagination Cooley & Co. also drummed up a scenario where Mrs. Ford lectured her husband in their bedroom after he pardoned Richard Nixon. In a fiery and astonishing scene Mrs. Ford says, “You let him off without consequences for his actions. You know that makes us look complicit, that we are part of the coverup.” That was huge. You go strong woman! Give that presidential mate a piece of your first lady’s mind. Great stuff. Except it was 100% false. She in fact was sympathetic to the Nixons who were old family friends. Mrs. Ford was an empathetic human being who felt a deep sadness for former first wife Patricia Nixon. Betty Ford thought her husband had done the right thing, and wholeheartedly supported his decision. But hell, that’s not good television.
When The First Lady team was conjuring up this fantasy, neither creator Cooley nor any of his nine executive producers reached out to the Ford children or anyone else who knew them for input. They didn’t get in touch with me either and I was portrayed in an episode. One of the kids asked me why they didn’t call them for information. I said that they were going to make the show they had in mind and didn't want facts to get in the way of what turned out to be a subpar story badly and erroneously told.
I understand this wasn’t a documentary purporting to tell the real story and I didn’t expect that standard of accuracy. When Viola Davis, who played Michelle Obama in the series, was being interviewed by Leslie Stahl on CBS Sunday Morning she was questioned about the truth of a scene with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel talking condescendingly to Mrs. Obama. Ms. Davis, who was also an executive producer of the project said, “With Rahm we took some liberties for dramatic purposes.” Indeed they did, and not only with Rahm. No White House chief of staff with half a brain would have done anything like that. Except for Ronald Reagan’s chief Donald Regan, who hung up the phone on First Lady Nancy and was fired shortly after. As Jim Baker who had been Reagan’s previous chief put it, “Hell, that wasn’t a firing offense, it was a hanging offense.”
![03_FirstLady_ Michelle Pfeiffer is Betty Ford, Viola Davis is Michelle Obama, Gillian Anderson is Eleanor Roosevelt (Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/03_FirstLady_.jpg)
“Taking liberties” should not be grabbing history by the short hairs and tossing it kicking and screaming off the cliff. There is a professional responsibility in keeping historical drama within a realistic framework, unless of course you are Monty Python. It should have been designated a “fiction based on real characters” and a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode added that said:
The producers of The First Lady apparently had no idea what really went on with these ladies so they just made up the “facts.”
Another fabrication in this saga was portraying Don Rumsfeld, the president's White House chief of staff, and his deputy Dick Cheney as the requisite bad guys out to suppress the president’s “plucky wife” Betty Ford. Nope. Not the way it went down. In one overblown scene, Rumsfeld storms aboard Mrs. Ford's plane before she was about to take off to Atlanta for the funeral of Martin Luther King's mother. In a vaguely racist statement Rumsfeld told her what a bad idea it was for her to do that. Dammit, "I'm Jerry's chief of staff!" Nope. That scene never happened either. At the time, Mrs. Ford was the wife of Vice President Ford, and Rumsfeld was in Europe serving as Nixon’s U.S. Ambassador to NATO. Oops. Great alibi though. He didn't become chief until six weeks after Ford became president. Plus Rumsfeld didn’t call him Jerry after Ford became the chief executive. It was always "Mr. President." Same with Cheney. Same with me. Same with most people.
In another four-Pinocchio moment, the downer boys, Rumsfeld and Cheney, showed up in the Family Residence of the White House on Christmas Eve, 1975. In this depiction the Fords were in the middle of a nice, quiet, private holiday dinner. The downer duo’s mission was to admonish Mrs. Ford for another outspoken moment that they felt was going to hurt “Jerry’s” presidential campaign. Kind of unimaginable that anyone would do something like that on Christmas. They didn't. The Fords weren't even in the White House that night, they were in Vail. I was with them having dinner. Guess what? Neither Cheney nor Rumsfeld interrupted them there either. Another reason why not? Donald Rumsfeld had become Secretary of Defense, was no longer chief of staff, and was running the Pentagon, not trying to screw with Betty Ford's life. Details, details.
![rums-cheney-shotime The requisite bad guys. Rhys Wakefield as Dick Cheney and Derek Cecil as Donald Rumsfeld (Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/rums-cheney-shotime.jpg)
A fine young actor Cody Pressley played my character. His scene was based on what happened the day before the Fords left office on January 19, 1977. In real life Mrs. Ford was in the West Wing saying her goodbyes to the staff. We passed the empty Cabinet Room. She peeked in, looked at me with her trademark mischievous grin and said, "You know, I've always wanted to dance on the Cabinet Room table." The former Martha Graham dancer kicked off her shoes, jumped up on the table, and struck a pose that captured her irrepressible personality. She was also symbolically planting the feminist flag right in the middle of a predominantly white male domain. Nothing against Cody, but they had him carrying one of his cameras bandolier-style in a way you couldn’t quickly take a picture. It might work for tourists from Omaha, but not pros in the White House. He was also dressed in a light-colored turtleneck and not wearing a coat and tie. A photo of me and Mrs. Ford from that day by Eddie Adams would have helped the wardrobe department get it right.
![05_FirstLady_ Cody Pressley plays me in "The First Lady" (Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/05_FirstLady_-scaled.jpg)
Mrs. Ford had given up dancing professionally long ago, but the producers of The First Lady took care of that. Michelle Pfeiffer, who portrayed Mrs. Ford, (Ms. Pfeiffer is the one thing Mrs. Ford would have liked about this series), started dancing around the table. Cody (as me) is taking pictures. President Ford walks into the Room and is “shocked” by the scene but thinks it’s funny. He exits. Two problems. The president didn’t find out about it until 15 years later when I showed him the picture. He exclaimed to his wife, “Betty, you never told me you did that!” She jokingly said, “There a lot of things I never told you, Jerry.”
![06_FirstLady_ Aaron Eckhart plays President Ford (Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/06_FirstLady_.jpg)
The second problem is that their version played out in the Roosevelt Room. Another unforced error. All they had to do was look at my relatively well-known photograph of the moment to at least get that right, but hey, that would have involved paying a researcher.
![08_FirstLady_ Michelle Pfeiffer on The Roosevelt Room table (Showtime)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08_FirstLady_.jpg)
![First Lady Betty Ford on the cabinet room table Betty Ford on The Cabinet Room Table (Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/09_FirstLady_.jpg)
The danger here is that many people who saw this thing will believe that this was how things happened and that they now know the real Betty Ford. They will not. My advice to those who really care about history is to read about the people who made it in their own words or in the words of trusted historians.
The First Lady wasn’t picked up for another season because it was fatally flawed historically, but for the ultimate sin in the entertainment world. It sucked, and toward the end people quit watching it. If you’re making shit up, at least make it interesting. And don’t pretend it’s based on real life.
![10_FirstLady_ Mrs. Ford and I in The Cabinet Room right after the shoot. Unlike the actor in the scene I'm wearing a coat and tie! (Eddie Adams)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/10_FirstLady_.jpg)
![First Lady Betty Ford on the cabinet room table The Real Betty Ford on The Cabinet Room Table (Kennerly)](https://kennerly.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/11_FirstLady_.jpg)
A0628-04A
WASHINGTON– SEPT 8:President Ford in Bill Timmon’s office at the White House moments after pardoning Richard Nixon, Sept. 8, 1974 (David Hume Kennerly)