MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
November 1 – November 8, 2007 Edition
Late President Ford’s Book
Says Clinton Sought Ford’s
Help Over Sex Scandal
WASHINGTON/10/29/07-G.P. Putnam/Penguin this month has released the late former President Gerald Ford’s book, Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-The-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford. Written by Thomas DeFrank, Washington bureau chief for the New York Daily News, the book has a few surprises.
Based on talks DeFrank had with Ford beginning in 1991, the book recounts that Ford, when asked if he would testify in Clinton’s behalf at impeachment hearings, told Bill Clinton that he would not help him ward off the charges unless Clinton admitted he lied under oath about the Monica Lewinsky affair. The book quotes Clinton as saying: “I won’t do that,” Clinton said, according to Ford. “I can’t do that.”
DeFrank had agreed with Ford Ford agreed not to use the information Ford gave him until after his death. President Ford died in December, 2007.
Ford was convinced that Bill Clinton suffered from a sex addiction. In the book, Ford reveals he had strong views about the Clintons: he thought Hillary wore the pants and that Bill couldn’t keep his zipped, according to one report of the book’s contents.
“He’s sick he’s got an addiction. He needs treatment,” Ford told Thomas DeFrank.
No one in Clinton’s office would comment to the media this week.
The book also includes comments about Richard Nixon, whom ford replaced after Nixon resigned; Ronald Reagan, whom Ford beat for president in 1976; and comments about Vice President Cheney, who once served as Ford’s chief of staff.
Ford described Hillary Clinton as iron-willed, and though he wasn’t sure during 2006 interviews with DeFrank that the US was ready for a “lady president,” he said he believed Rudy Giuliani had the best chance of stopping her.
