In this, the unfortunate era of Donald J. Trump, it is important to recall that in days gone by there were indeed Republican Presidents who went out of their way to demonstrate they were fans of Canada and Canadians. One of these, of course, was the 38th American President, Gerald Ford of Michigan. Born on this date in 1913, he went on to serve with distinction in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Vice President, and as President from 1974 to 1977.
Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister throughout the Ford Presidency and later celebrated Ford in his writings upon leaving office. Trudeau reminded his readers that it was Ford who championed Canada’s entry into what is now the G-7 group of nations. Trudeau also noted that under Ford, there were few if any major irritants in the all-important Canada-U.S. relationship.
In 2001, when I was a reporter at the Kingston Whig-Standard, I had the honour of interviewing Ford about his relationship with Trudeau and Canada. It remains one of the highlights of my career. So it is a great personal pleasure to send up to the Oval Office in the sky birthday greetings to the late President.
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.