Parallels With the 38th
Along with some friends, Beverly and I rented a vacation home in Vail, Colorado in early December of 1979, hoping to beat the holiday rush at this popular resort. On the morning of the second day of our stay, I answered a call at the house from a real estate agent, saying that Jerry Ford wanted to come by that afternoon to look at the house as a potential buyer. When I hesitated, the agent said, “I’m talking about Gerald and Betty Ford,” making it a little easier for me to agree to the intrusion.
About an hour before the scheduled visit, some Secret Service agents showed up and began walking around the property. Eventually, three of them entered the house, politely, and began something of a search of the premises. There were several other couples from Dallas visiting Vail at the time, so when word spread that the former President and First Lady were coming to our house, we suddenly had an influx of visitors. By the time the couple arrived with their agent, there were twelve Dallasites ready to greet them.
The Fords could not have been more pleasant, thanking us profusely for allowing them to come by. After they had completed their tour of the house, someone asked if they would mind having their photo taken with our group. They graciously agreed and after a few false starts, we were able to get a decent picture, shown below.
The next day, making a run by myself, something I wouldn’t ordinarily do —my partner had decided to take a lunch break — I came upon a group of skiers standing in something of a circle, in the midst of which stood a man I quickly recognized as Mr. Ford. He was standing next to his skis, which sat idly on the snow with the binding of one ski out of whack. I approached one of the men in the circle, obviously a Secret Service agent, and asked what was going on. He said for me to move along, but then added ‘unless you happen to have a Swiss Army knife in your backpack”.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” I said.
“Let me see it” he said. I showed it to him.
“Look”, he said, “our guy’s binding has broken off and we need something to screw it back in place. He will not go down in one of those meat wagons, so we have someone coming up the lift, we think, who is bringing the tool we need. One of our guys tried using a pocket knife, but it just broke off the blade. If we could use your tool, it would speed up the process greatly and I know Mr. Ford would be most grateful.”
‘Sure,” I said, “but I want to deliver it personally.”
Uncertainly, the agent replied “OK, but I’ll have to take that backpack and you will have to take off your jacket and your cap.”
‘Fine”I said, and began to strip down as requested.
So, I skied over to the former president and offered, “I think I have a tool that may help fix your binding,” and showed him the knife set.
‘That’s terrific” he said, “just give it to this guy who seems to know what to do.”
While waiting for the repairs to be made, I said to Mr. Ford, “Although I met you in person only yesterday, we actually have several things in common.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, “I remember you now. So what is our connection?”
“Jack Ruby, for one. I came to know him after you did, after you interviewed him for the Warren Commission. For a summer job in 1964, I worked as a deputy sheriff in Dallas County, serving as a jailer in the Dallas County jail. By that time, Ruby had been convicted of killing Oswald, given the death sentence and was in our jail awaiting the outcome of his appeal. During the many nights I was on duty, I had occasion to visit with Ruby on any number of subjects, including the Oswald incident.
“Those must have been some interesting conversations. Did he say anything that was noteworthy?”
“He did,” I said, “ and I’ve often wondered if what he told me was consistent with what he told you in his interview.”
“Maybe we should pursue that issue and cover those other things you say we have in common. How about you come by my house later and we can have some coffee, tea or hot chocolate after skiing.”
“That would be great,” I said.
“Good”, he said, “just check with Jason there about the time and place and, of course, you will have to give him some of your personal details.”
Jason stepped forward and said, “Sir, we will not have enough time to do the proper…..”
Ford interrupted, saying “ Don’t worry about it, I know this man, so just do the best you can and set it up for 4 pm. Betty will want to be there I’m sure, so let her know.
That afternoon, I showed up at the exact agreed-upon time, was professionally greeted by Secrete Service agents and eventually led into a nicely appointed rental mountain home where the former President greeted me warmly. He said, “I’m really anxious to hear the rest of your involvement with Jack Ruby, but first let’s cover those other things you said we have in common.”
‘Well” I said uncertainly, “ I read somewhere that you coached football at Yale while you were going to law school there. I also coached football while going to law school; that’s how I paid my way.”
‘Actually” said Ford, “I couldn’t get into Yale when I first applied because they felt my coaching would demand too much of my time and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly on my studies. A year later, when I applied again, they let me in and I coached my way through law school. I don’t think I ever knew anyone else had ever had that same experience — until now.”
“The other connection I considered was that I once played football against Michigan, your alma mater, in the Big House, back in 1963 while I was playing for SMU. We lost the game, but we apparently made an impression in doing so because Lee Iacocca from Ford Motor came into our locker room after the game and praised our team, saying he was going to name the company’s new car, scheduled for production early the next year, after our team. Our team was known as the Mustangs. The Ford sports car with that name was introduced in April of 1964, if I remember correctly.”
“Interesting” Ford said. ‘There’s more of a connection there than you would know. I was at that game, the season opener, as a guest of Iacocca and he told me before the end of the game he was going into your locker room to congratulate you guys, even though you lost. I had no idea he was going to name his car after your team, but thinking back now, it makes sense because he did mention something about a name for the car during the latter part of the game. So, let’s get back to Ruby.”
“As I mentioned on the mountain, I worked as a jailer during the summer months for several years while in college and law school. Most of my shifts at the jail were during the midnight to dawn hours and Ruby rarely slept through that time. There were many times that summer when we talked at great length through the slow nights. Sometime in August of that summer, Ruby confided in me as he had never done before, saying “I like you kid, so I want you to hear this before you go back to school and I want you to hear it from me. No one made me do it, no one told me to do it, no one paid me to do it and no one even offered it as a suggestion to me. I did it because I was angry — mad as hell. To think that some weasel, some piss-ant nobody, someone who had never accomplished a single meaningful thing in his life could hide in waiting to shoot our President in the back of the head — killing one of the greatest men of our time, or maybe any time — just enraged me beyond belief, particularly knowing there was at least a chance he might get away with it on some technicality or other. It was just so unfair and unjust I went into a rage. After I settled down a bit, I realized that, because of my particular situation and connections, I was maybe the only person in the world in a position to see that justice was done and done quickly. So I did it. That’s it.”
“Is that at all consistent with what he said to you in your interview?” I asked.
Ford responded “What he said on the record during the interview was very similar to his account to you. But when we went off the record, he begged and pleaded with Chief Justice Warren and me for enhanced personal protection because he knew he had been targeted to die in order to silence him for what he knew about the Oswald shooting of Kennedy. He wouldn’t say what he knew, but implied that he, Ruby, was part of the overall scheme. Like everyone else, you and I will never know the full story.”
Wrapping up the conversation, Ford asked, “ Am I correct in assuming you are a Republican?”