President John F. Kennedy shakes hands with teenage Bill Clinton in 1963.
#JFK100: Jack Kennedy and Jerry Ford
John F. Kennedy began his Congressional career in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1947. Two years later Gerald Ford was elected to the house, beginning a warm personal friendship between two men who would later become Presidents.
Ford described their relationship in the December 4, 1963, edition of his district newsletter Your Washington Review:
I first met Jack Kennedy in January, 1949 when I came to Congress and was assigned an office across the corridor from his on the third floor of the Old House Office Building. Frequently during the ensuing four years we walked and talked together as we went to and from the House Chamber. Although on many fundamental issues we held different viewpoints, I always respected his ability and valued his friendship.
From 1953 to 1960 while JFK served in the Senate I saw him less frequently but whenever we met he was most cordial and congenial. Following his election to the Presidency in 1960 I had several close and intimate contacts with him. In the summer of 1961 during the consideration of the controversial foreign aid authorization bill, Mr. Kennedy asked me to come to his office in the White House for a conference on the legislation. This half-hour session with the President on an important legislative problem will remain one of the highlights of my experiences in the Nation’s Capital. For thirty minutes just the two of us talked about his proposal to finance the development loan part of the mutual security program by the “backdoor-spending” method. He was friendly and extremely well informed on the technical details of our differences. Although we didn’t see eye to eye on the controversy, I well remember his fairness and kind consideration of my views.
Image: President John F. Kennedy meeting with Gerald R. Ford and other Congressmen at a Congressional Coffee Hour, 3/22/1961 (Ford Scrapbook photograph AV82-18-0908)
