Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
On a podium at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum on Saturday, the pages in an unlined guest book held words of thanks, remembrance and regret:
"His gentle strength helped heal our country."
"What a wonderful opportunity to meet you and Mrs. Ford on 3 occasions in Washington."
"Our condolences to his family upon this sad occasion."
"Rock on, Jerry! May God be with you and your wife."
"My sincerest sympathy for the loss of such a wonderful leader and man."
After Ford's death last week, the Carter Library set up the book with a photo of Ford in the lobby for visitors to sign and offer condolences to Ford's family. By midday Saturday, roughly 300 signatures filled its pages with tributes to the 38th president.
Those who left their names hailed from California to Connecticut, and many places in between.
Stephanie Taylor and Jon Thacker, both park rangers, came over from the National Park Service's Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site to sign the book.
Ford served as a seasonal park ranger at Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1936. When in office, he added 18 new areas to the national park system.
"He did a lot for the park service," Taylor said. "He has a special connection that way for us."
Jack Metropol, 43, of Atlanta signed, too. He said he was young and didn't pay much attention to Ford when he served in office.
"Now, I'm learning more about it," said Metropol, who brought a sister visiting from Texas to the Carter Library. "I can certainly appreciate what he did to bring the nation back together."
After leaving their names in the book, Richard and Veronica Wilkison of Glastonbury, Conn., recalled the turmoil Ford faced. He had landed unexpectedly in the Oval Office when former President Richard Nixon resigned because of the Watergate scandal. The economy was in bad shape and the national mood was low.
"It was a very difficult time," she said.
Most visitors who wrote in the book only left their signature, but some penned notes conveying sympathy, admiration or, in at least one case, a defense of Ford.
"President Ford made a very difficult decision in pardoning Nixon, but it was the right decision for the country," one woman wrote.
With the book, the Carter Library also displayed a statement from former President Jimmy Carter, who defeated Ford in 1976, and his wife, Rosalynn. Carter called Ford "a man of highest integrity" who "wisely chose the path of healing during a deeply divisive time."
Tandra Powell, a volunteer for the church group Carroll County Outreach Ministry, said she emphasized the historic significance of Ford's passing to the children she accompanied on a field trip to the Carter Library on Saturday. Many signed the book.
"I told them this is a momentous occasion," she said.
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
