PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD - TYPED LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 253330

GERALD R. FORD
Gerald R. Ford sends a typed letter discussing the air traffic controllers' 1981 labor-management controversy.
Typed Letter signed: "Gerald R. Ford", 1p, 6¼x8½ letterhead embossed with the Presidential seal. No place, 1989 June 13. To Mr. Dennis Cooper, Monmouth, Oregon. In full: "I have received your letter of June 7, 19898 in reference to the air traffic controllers' 1981 labor-management controversy. Since I was not directly involved in this dispute, I have never 'second-guessed' the participants. I suspect, in retrospect, that errors of judgment were made by all parties, both labor and management. If this assumption is true then a better solution was possible. I have been saddened by the tragedy of many individual air controllers who were victims of this confrontation. I do hop e you have been able to rebuild your life after this regrettable labor-management dispute. Best regards,." On August 9, 1974, Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) was sworn in as the nation's 38th President following the resignation of Richard Nixon. Ford had previously served as Nixon's Vice President (December 6, 1973-August 9, 1974) following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, becoming the only man to have held both of the nation's highest offices without being elected to either. Ford, who was previously a U.S. Congressman from Michigan (1949-1973; Minority Leader, 1965-1973), lost his bid for election to a full four-year term partially as a result of his controversial pardon of his predecessor. Ford, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999, celebrated his 93rd birthday on July 14, 2006. Before his death on December 26, 2006, Ford had surpassed Ronald Reagan (who also lived to age 93) as the longest-lived former U.S. President. Mid-horizontal fold not near signature. Fine condition.