Biographers of Gerald R. Ford

A draft of Edward and Frederick Schapsmeier’s book, Gerald R. Ford’s Date With Destiny: A Political Biography (New York: Peter Lang, 1989), with handwritten annotations by President Ford.

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    Scope and Content Note

    Political historians, Edward and Frederick Schapsmeier, have co-authored several works on politicians of the twentieth century including books on Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen, journalist Walter Lippman, and Vice-President Henry Wallace. In 1987 they drafted a biography of President Ford and submitted it to him for comments and corrections. President Ford made several emendations in pencil. They mostly reflect corrections to factual material and consist of little commentary by President Ford on the detailed events that the Schapsmeiers narrate. Some revisions were incorporated into the text and appeared in the final published version of Gerald R. Ford’s Date With Destiny: A Political Biography, published by Peter Lang Publishers in 1989.

    President Ford has commented on pages: 10, 17, 18, 19, 21, 28, 32, 34, 39, 42, 44, 48, 53, 54, 57, 77, 87, 153, 165, 240, 242, 273, 310, 317, 332, 335, 365, 376, 387, 395, 396, 398, 403, 406, 412, 413, and 421.

    Related Materials (June 2004)
    For a comparison between the original draft and the final work, a published copy of the Schapsmeiers’ Gerald R. Ford’s Date With Destiny: A Political Biography can be found in the Library holdings. In addition, the Library has three other works written by the Schapsmeiers about President Ford, A Time to Heal: Gerald Ford and Lincoln Legacy, President Gerald R. Ford’s Roots in Omaha, and Gerald R. Ford and Vietnam: His Views as House Minority Leader. Other notable biographies on the life of President Ford in the Library’s collection include President Ford’s autobiography, A Time to Heal (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1979), and James Cannon’s Time and Chance: Gerald Ford’s Appointment with History (New York: Harper Collins, 1994).

    Extent

    0.4 linear feet (ca. 700 pages)

    Record Type
    Textual
    Donor

    Edward L. Schapsmeier (accession number 2001-017)

    Last Modified Date
    Collection Type
    Access

    Open.

    Processed by

    Joshua D. Cochran, June 2004

    Biography

    Edward L. Schapsmeier

    Feb. 8, 1927 - Born, Council Bluffs, Iowa

    1949 - B.S., Concordia Teacher’s College, Seward, Nebraska

    1952 - M.S., University of Nebraska

    1954-64 - Public School Teacher, Hawthorne, California

    1964-1965 - Lecturer, University of Southern California

    1965 - Ph.D., University of Southern California

    1965-1966 - Instructor in History, Ohio State University

    1966 -? - Associate Professor, and later Professor of History, Illinois State University


    Frederick H. Schapsmeier

    Feb. 8, 1927 - Born, Council Bluffs, Iowa

    1949 - B.S., Concordia Teacher’s College, Seward, Nebraska

    1953 - M.S., University of Nebraska

    1954-1962 - Public School Teacher and Principal, Omaha, Nebraska and Glendale, California

    1963-1964 - Lecturer, University of Southern California

    1964-1965 - Assistant Professor of History, University of Southern California

    1965 - Ph.D., University of Southern California

    1965 -? - Associate Professor and later Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh