Last year on September 11th, around 8 o’clock in the morning, I was dealing with a work crisis. I think it was the one where a water heater pipe exploded and soaked the floors of two commercial retail units with a few inches of water. At the same time, my kids were asking for help with some organizational mess—one or two, or maybe all of them, were missing something they needed for school—I forget what. I hadn’t had breakfast yet, nor had I gotten a chance to really get dressed for the day, and it seemed everybody was already yelling at me. We were off to a great start.
Still on the phone, trying to get matters resolved, I grabbed a frying pan to get some eggs going. That’s when I heard a little knock on the side door where I found an older gentleman dressed in a suit. My first thought was, I do not have time for this right now, assuming it was either a salesman, someone asking for a donation, or a Jehovah’s Witness. With phone in one hand and frying pan in the other, I held the door open with my foot and greeted the man as the morning sun made me squint.
George Roberts, Speaker of the New Hampshire House
“Hi,” he said, “my name is George Roberts. I used to be the Speaker of the House here in New Hampshire and I was wondering if I could talk to you about the time Gerald Ford came here forty-nine years ago.” Well, that’s a new one. I don’t know if that’s what he said verbatim, as I wasn’t prepared to document the introduction, but that’s how I remember it. He was dressed how my grandfather, Larry Larson, used to dress—like he’s either in an undershirt and slacks to watch the baseball game, or he’s in a suit to interact with humanity. I quickly forgot about breakfast, work, and my kids’ needs, and welcomed him in.
George had lots to tell. Friendly and full of stories, George spoke about a special day in 1975 when Gerald Ford, George, and a large entourage of politicians and supporters moved through the state of New Hampshire in a blitz. When they arrived in my town, Amherst, they were welcomed at my house by the Brown family—the owners at that time—for lunch. There were lots of accounts about who was present, what Secret Service had to do, and why they were there in the first place, but the best story was about President Ford and former Governor Hugh Gregg having a special meeting in “the woodshed.” More on that in a bit.
Article from the Nashua Telegraph on September 12th, 1975
A Plan to Commemorate
After a riveting conversation, George asked if he could return later that day with a group of men who were present on the 1975 occasion, to which I readily agreed. Soon after, David Oman, a former Iowa Chief of Staff and Republican Strategist, Bill Gardner, the former Secretary of State in New Hampshire, and more arrived. After some discussion, we agreed to meet again the following year on the fiftieth anniversary of Ford’s visit, to commemorate it. We all shook hands and said goodbye, with the understanding I’d hear from them again in the summer.
As promised, when August came around, Mr. Roberts gave me a call and we made plans to reconvene at the house on September 11th this year. We invited some family, local journalists, and neighbors, as well as the Brown’s daughter Sally, who still lives in town and was there at the time of the visit. Sally brought a host of pictures and letters from the President addressed to her parents and told us about what it was like for the people of Amherst to meet President Ford.
One particularly colorful episode was when the President needed to pay a visit to the bathroom, and the “women of Amherst” formed a line, showing the way. There was also a rumor that the President left a half-drunk glass of iced tea on a table, and one of the local women finished it off. Whether it was to not be wasteful, or to have shared something personally with the President, you decide.
Former Secretary of State in NH, Bill Gardner, and David Olman discussing the details of Ford’s visit.
President Ford—a Kind Man
Dean Dexter, Assistant Secretary of State in New Hampshire, recorded the reminiscences for posterity as Bill Gardner, George Roberts, and David Oman took turns speaking to the small audience that gathered. They spoke for a couple of hours, relaying events of Ford’s visit, insights about the political climate at that time, and their perspectives on him as a man and a leader. Ever since meeting Mr. Roberts and the other gentlemen, the consistent theme I heard was that they all respected President Ford very much and thought of him as a very kind and good man.
During the course of the commemoration, we learned that Ford was in New Hampshire to support Louis Wyman in his special “do-over” election—a one-time event never repeated in American history—and that Ford’s entourage covered some serious ground, starting in Keene and ending in Portsmouth. But my favorite story was when former Governor Hugh Gregg arrived at the luncheon, evidently as an uninvited guest. Gregg wanted to speak with President Ford about running his political campaign and requested an audience with the President upstairs. Secret Service said no to that, so the owner, Mr. Brown, suggested they meet in “the woodshed.”
“He’s the kind of man you’d want as a neighbor… hell-of-a-nice guy.”
—George Winthrop Brown, II, after meeting and hosting President Ford at his house for lunch.
The Woodshed
The woodshed wasn’t actually a woodshed but the attached garage where Mr. Brown stored his wood. But it was clean and easy to secure. Ford and Gregg entered while Mr. Roberts and others waited outside. As reported by Mr. Roberts, the conversation was quite contentious and loud, with some choice words getting thrown about. After a while, Gregg stormed out of the woodshed first and hurriedly left down the driveway, which was against Secret Service protocol—apparently, it’s customary for the President to leave a private room first, although I’m not totally clear on why.
After Gregg left, Roberts had a chance to catch up with the President and asked him, “Mr. President, if you don’t mind me asking, what was all that about?” Ford told him that Gregg wanted to run his campaign but wanted it to be without some of Ford’s people. When he told Gregg he wouldn’t do that, the conversation became heated. After Ford finished relaying a bit more of the conversation to Roberts, he looked up, a bit in disbelief, and said, “I just can’t believe someone would talk like that to the President of the United States.”
The infamous “woodshed.” It no longer exists, unfortunately, but this is where it “went down.”
Sounds Like Ford…
Despite the interaction, all of the men that came to speak about the Ford visit made clear that they respected Gregg as well. It was just one of those moments that happens in the middle of a political campaign, where two men who want what’s best, find themselves at odds. And I loved the quote from Ford. Everything I’ve ever read about Ford—his kindness and almost innocent-like nature—fits with this account. It just sounds like Ford, doesn’t it?
More About Ford’s Visit
For more about the details of Ford’s 1975 visit to New Hampshire, David Oman provided a write-up which you can find online at Seacoastonline or The Iowa Mercury.
The reported “iced tea incident.”