Area men remember Ford's style

In 1966, three young men from Southeast Missouri took a trip to Washington, D.C. They couldn't believe their luck to spend time with House Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan and other Republican leaders, including Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas.

Little did they know during a photo op in Ford's office, they were meeting a future president of the United States.

"He asked about our grades and was really interested in knowing the things going on in our lives," said Vernon Bruckerhoff, 62, of St. Mary, Mo., who was then chairman of the College Young Republicans club at Southeast Missouri State University. Bruckerhoff and brothers Tom and John Mueller toured Washington as part of a group of local young people with political interests.

Ford, the nation's 38th president, died Tuesday at the age of 93.

"At the time we didn't appreciate it, but he was just a very common type of guy who was very pleasant and generous to open up his office and his staff to us, even though we were from a thousand miles from his home district," Bruckerhoff said.

Bruckerhoff was inspired by the meeting and went on to serve eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives. Today he remembers the former president as someone who is too often overlooked.

"The lord blessed the country whenever Nixon took him as vice president," Bruckerhoff said. Ford "knew what it took to get the country turned around and was willing to sacrifice his future political aspirations to do what's right."

Bruckerhoff said he had no indication in 1966 that Ford ever wanted to run for the nation's highest office.

"He said someday he would like to be speaker of the House. That was his greatest ambition," he said.

Thomas Mueller, 57, of Cape Girardeau was a junior at Central High School at the time and still keeps a photo of himself with Ford in his study.

"That moment always stuck with me. He put his hand out and treated me like I was just as important as anyone in the world, and I wasn't even a voter at the time," he said.

"He was standing straight in posture, and there you were next to a strong fellow. You could tell when you met him you were next to a powerful fellow who played college football," Mueller said.

Playing both offense and defense, Ford led the Michigan Wolverines to national titles in 1932 and 1933.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245