Posted Saturday, December 30, 2006

[Note: This story originally appeared on the editorial page of the Grand Rapids Press on December 30, 2006.]

By President Peter Mitchell, '67

Gerald R. Ford, while serving as Minority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave the Commencement Address when I graduated from Albion College in 1967.  Thirty years later, when I returned to my alma mater as President, I was privileged to be with him when he recorded a video greeting for my inauguration.  In both cases, his message was straightforward, use your excellent liberal arts education to make the world a better place.  That message captures his legacy, not merely for my four hundred classmates and the campus community, but for history.

As I listened to and read the various commentaries about the Ford Legacy, one important quality of character was conspicuously absent.  Yes, words like decent, Midwest values, courageous, healer, binder of wounds, internationalist, devoted husband, family man, and gracious describe our 38^th President.  But as a liberal arts college president, I was disappointed that the alignment of his keen intellect with his deep and abiding values was not emphasized. 

Ford’s genuine warmth and unpretentious demeanor overshadowed a very bright mind and an uncanny knack for processing enormous amounts of information in order to arrive at a well-grounded and sound decision.  Gerald R. Ford embodied the liberal arts tradition of critical thinking, assimilating divergent opinions into a coherent perspective, problem solving, integrating theory with practice, aligning values with actions, and communicating with clarity. 

Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes’ observation, “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity” describes the breadth and depth of President Ford’s intellect.  This ability to articulate a complex rationale in such a way that it appeared to be a simple and logical decision was most evident in his pardon of President Nixon, an act that superficial assessments viewed with disdain, yet in retrospect was recorded by historians as an act of brilliance.

A decade after I graduated, the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service was established on the Albion College campus, in honor of his service on the College’s Board of Trustees.   The mission of the Ford Institute is to “develop leaders who understand the dynamics and complexities of our world and the ability to advocate for the better good.”  That mission highlights President Ford’s special ability to pierce through the complexities of issues, understand what must be done, and then exercise the courage and force of will to act with integrity and compassion.

Albion’s Ford Institute studies the Ford Presidency.  The most impressive insights gained from talking to those who worked with President Ford were his alignment of intellect with core values and his remarkable capacity to see the best in people. 

The Talmudic teaching, “the highest form of wisdom is kindness,” epitomizes the impact Mr. Ford had upon the many lives that he touched.  Certainly, the words kind and kindness have been invoked by several pundits in describing the Ford Legacy.  However, like Justice Holmes’ observation, there is a profound quality to the simplicity of Gerald R. Ford’s kindness, a mature and optimistic merging of faith and reason. 

The Ford Legacy challenges us to advocate for the public good, to align our intellect with our values, to seek the simplicity on the other side of complexity, to look for the best in those we encounter, and to exercise kindness as the highest form of wisdom.

Dr. Peter T. Mitchell is serving in his tenth year as the Fourteenth President of Albion College.

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