Nation: Ford for Sale

Many ex-Presidents have earned big bucks from their memoirs,TV appearances and lecture fees. But last week Gerald Ford went a step further: he endorsed a commercial product for money. At a ceremony at Philadelphia’s Franklin Mint, one of the world’s largest private manufacturers of coins, he struck the first of a series of 100 medals commemorating what are billed as “the most important events of the presidency.”

The mint signed Ford last year to select the events—which include Ford’s own Bicentennial address—and edit the accompanying texts. The ex-President’s aide, Robert Barrett, would not disclose the fee, but he did point out, “Mr. Ford believes in the free-enterprise system.” Considering some recent examples of huckstering by ex-politicians, such as the American Express endorsements by Watergate Senator Sam Ervin and onetime Vice-Presidential Candidate William (“Remember me?”) Miller. Ford’s venture might be said to have its sterling qualities. There is nothing shoddy about the product: a set of the medals in silver costs $1,950: in gold, $2,750.