(Okoboji)— Steve Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford, was the keynote speaker this (Fri.) morning for the annual healthcare conference at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center put on by Iowa Lakes and Northwest Iowa Community Colleges. Among the topics he addressed at a press conference was that of his mother and her battles with breast cancer and alcoholism….(click here for comment.) “During dad’s time as a congressman before he became President, I mean she was the one that you know, dad was on the road 125, 150 days a year as the House Minority Leader, as head of the Republican party and the Congres, and travelling, and mom was the one that was home raising us kids, getting us to our dentist appointments and school and football practice and so it was really when he go to the presidency that the kids were kind of gone and she had a chance to kind of blossom and I think those two issues, breast cancer and alcoholism could have taken her one way or the other way and she chose to blossom.”
And while his mother was alcoholic, Ford says he too was an alcoholic and has been sober now for 19 years.
Ford also took some time to look back on what it was like to suddenly be thrust into the spotlight when his dad suddenly became President after the resignation of Richard Nixon…(click here for comment.) “He was the first man to become President of the United States that did not go through a general election. He was appointed Vice President and then assumed the Presidency after Nixon resigned. So that probably will never happen again and thank God our forefathers had devised a way for there to be a peaceful transition of power. You know, most countries if you had somebody become President of your country without an election, most countries you’d see troops out on the street. Not America. It worked and it worked well. It was a tough transition, but. When we first moved in to the White House I mean for me, I was an 18-year-old kid so it was like moving into a museum. Everything came from Lincoln or Jefferson; you couldn’t put your feet up on the table. That was my perspective as a 18-year-old kid. I don’t think at time I understood or knew how big a thing this was. At 18-years-old all of a sudden I’ve got 10 secret service guys. Not really the group you hope to hang out with at 18-years-old, but that was my perspective.”
Ford also reflected on his tv and film career and whether or not he felt the fact that his dad was a president either helped or hindered his career…(click here for comment.) “When I got involved in the tv and film business, I early on spent eight years on a soap opera, “The Young and The Restless” for CBS, it was news for about two days. I don’t think it sells any tickets and after you get through the first day or two of, you know, former President’s son is on a soap opera now, you know for the next eight years I would work there it was work. That was my craft, that wasn’t what I was trying to do. So I don’t think it sold many tickets and once you got over the initial thing. I went on to work, gosh, 30 plus movies, movies like “Black Hawk Down”, “Transformers”, “Harry Met Sally”, so it’s been a long road for me in the t.v. and film business and I’ve been very blessed to have nice little parts in big movies.”
Asked whether or not he has any political aspirations, Ford says he absolutely does not…(click here for comment.) “Listen, I grew up in a political family and I’ll never forget what dad told us. He said, you know, politics, it’s truly about being a public servant. And if it’s not in your blood to be a public servant for the right reasons where you want to help people, you shouldn’t do it. You can’t do it for fame, glory or money or any of those kinds of things. You need to be a public servant if you love helping people. It was certainly in my dad’s blood, it’s not in mine. So I wouldn’t choose that as a vocation.”
Ford added he spends his time these days on the speaking circuit talking about his and his mother’s battles with alcoholism and how they managed to overcome it, as well as serving as chairman of his father’s foundation.
