"Books Of Yore, An online book store and more" : GERALD R. FORD, A Time To Heal, 1979 Hardcover

G E R A L D R. F O R D
A T i m e T o H e a l

Harper & Row, Publishers
1979

1st Edition, 83rd Printing

A Time to Heal is at once the autobiography of a political career and the human story of a dedicated but unassuming man propelled by history into taking on the immense burdens of the Presidency. This is a refreshingly unpretentious yet vivid book. Jerry Ford simply tells it as it was: the journey from modest Midwestern beginnings to the White House - the tough choices, the personal sacrifices, the joys of success, the mistakes, the rousing partisan batlles, the moments of terror during attemptes assassinations, the times of fear when his beloved wife faced cancer.

No less revealing is Ford's account of his controversial decision to pardon Richard Nixon. And we witness every step of the bizarre behind-the-scenes negotiations between Washington and San Clemente - between a new and a fallen President.

These pages also offer us an intimate portrait of Gerald Ford's early years: the crushing experience at age sixteen when his natural father - a man Ford had never known - pays a surprise visit; the hard times the family had to face; the fierce competition and exultation of the football field. There is also his struggle to be accepted by the Yale Law School, his love affair with a Cosmopolitan model, the young naval officer's brush with death in the Pacific. And, of course, his pursuit of glamorous, strong-minded Betty Bloomer.

Ford brings alive his political battles during his years in Congress, his lively run-ins with President Johnson, his service on the Warren Commission, and his long hours as House Minority Leader. But in large measure, A Time to Heal deals with Ford's Presidency. It is a dramatic, forthright and firsthand account of a decent man's efforts to knit together a nation fragmented by Watergate and a White House staff often contentious and badly bruised by the legacy of the Nixon years.

There are light moments as well, of family fun, irreverence, pleasure and warmth. To those who know him, Gerald Ford is a robust, uninhibited personality whose vigor, generosity of spirit and love of his country are uniquely inspiring. Readers of A Time to Heal will come to know Gerald Ford as, until now, only his intimate friends and family have known him.

Destination: United States