GRAND RAPIDS – Join the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum June 16 and 17 as it explores the legacy of Watergate fifty years on.
The museum’s two–day event features distinguished speakers—Richard Norton Smith, Brian Lamb, Tevi Troy, Garrett Graff—who will share never–heard stories about the crisis that reverberates to this day. All the events are free.
In the middle of the night on June 17, 1972, five men were arrested and charged with breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex. These men had ties to the Committee to Re–Elect the
President (CREEP) and, following their arrest, officials within the Nixon administration orchestrated a cover–up. The
Watergate break–in sparked a series of events that, over the next 26 months, would propel an unassuming Midwesterner into the Oval Office. Our nation’s history and Gerald Ford’s life would never be the same.
Thursday, June 16
3–5:20 p.m. Showing of All the President’s Men (1976) Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that would eventually lead to President
Richard Nixon’s resignation. Museum Auditorium.
3–5:20 p.m. Showing of All the President’s Men (1976) Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that would eventually lead to President
Richard Nixon’s resignation. Museum Auditorium.
5:30–6:45 p.m. Friends of Ford Member Reception Membership information: geraldrfordfoundation.org. DeVos Learning Center at the Museum.
7 p.m. The Ironies of Watergate and Three Presidencies: Nixon, Ford, and Carter — and
Beyond, with Tevi Troy a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and a best–selling presidential historian. His latest book, Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump, was named as one of 2020’s top political books by the Wall Street Journal
Beyond, with Tevi Troy a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and a best–selling presidential historian. His latest book, Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump, was named as one of 2020’s top political books by the Wall Street Journal
8:15 p.m. Book Signing with Troy Copies of Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump will be available for purchase in the Museum store and signing following the lecture. Lecture in the Museum Auditorium. Book signing in the Museum Lobby.
Friday, June 17 5–6 p.m. Friends of Ford Member Reception
Membership information: geraldrfordfoundation.org. DeVos Learning Center at the Museum.
Membership information: geraldrfordfoundation.org. DeVos Learning Center at the Museum.
6 p.m. When Watergate Changed the World, with Garrett Graff
Graff, a distinguished magazine journalist, internationally bestselling historian, and regular TV commentator and producer, has spent nearly two decades covering politics, technology, and national security and is recognized today as one of the nation’s most prolific and wide–ranging journalists and historians.
7 p.m. The Crisis That Started It All: Watergate, with Richard Norton Smith & Brian Lamb Richard Norton Smith is a nationally recognized authority on the American presidency and a familiar face to viewers of C–SPAN, as well as The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Smith delivered the final eulogy at Gerald Ford’s Michigan funeral, a role he repeated at Betty Ford’s request when she was laid to rest beside her husband in 2011.
Smith is finishing his biography of President Ford, which will be published around Presidents’ Day 2023. Lecture in the Museum Auditorium. Book signing in the Museum Lobby. Brian Lamb is an American journalist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Laureate, and the founder, executive chairman, and now retired CEO of C–SPAN. On C–SPAN, Lamb hosted Washington Journal,
Booknotes, and Q&A. Lecture in the Museum Auditorium. Book signing in the Museum Lobby.
Booknotes, and Q&A. Lecture in the Museum Auditorium. Book signing in the Museum Lobby.
8:15 p.m. Book Signing with Garrett Graff
Copies of Watergate: A New History will be available for purchase in the Museum store and signing following this evening’s programs. Lecture in the Museum Auditorium. Book signing in the Museum Lobby.
