GORDON E. VANDER TILL PAPERS, (1959-60) 1968-76

The Gordon Vander Till Papers consist of files from Gerald R. Ford's Grand Rapids office. Vander Till was the office director from 1969-74. The initial gift of papers was opened to research in May 1985. An accretion of papers was received and opened in February 1994.

The largest portion of these papers relates to Ford's 1970 and 1972 congressional election campaigns. Correspondence, memoranda, clippings, advertising copy and schedules, financial information, and voter statistics are included. Folders for the 1972 campaign contain such items as a Grand Rapids office staff report on the 1970 election, Ford's voting record on environmental issues, and material from the Republican State Central and National Committees.

A few Jack Stiles White House files are included and contain correspondence and memoranda relating to Portrait of the Assassin and a proposed television docudrama based on the book, President Ford's papers, and a Ford song. Stiles was a Grand Rapids associate of Ford who served as a part-time consultant at the White House from October 1974 until he joined the President Ford Committee staff in September 1975.

The papers received in 1994 were generated by the Ford for Vice President Committee, a Grand Rapids organization formed to promote the selection of Representative Ford as Richard Nixon's running mate in 1960. The committee contacted Michigan delegates to the national convention who in turn contacted delegates from other states in an effort to make Ford better known nationally and to promote him as the vice presidential nominee.

Several items, 1959-74, have been transferred to the audiovisual collection. Among these are phonograph records of a 1959 interview with Gerald Ford and a Ford song; a film, Operation Abolition, ca 1964; a 1974 White House photograph; and ten audiotapes, including one of a 1965 speech by Ford. A more detailed description of these items is in box 2. Numerous photographs from the 1960s that were received with the accretion of papers have also been transferred to the audiovisual department.

Additional accretions to the collection were received in 2011 and 2012, and opened to research in August 2012. These accretions consist of materials related to the 1968 Nixon campaign activities in Michigan, and an assortment of materials primarily related to Gerald Ford’s Grand Rapids congressional district office. These materials include: an audio recording of a television program featuring the 1972 Michigan Fifth Congressional District Democratic primary election candidates; Ralph Nader’s Congress Project assessment of Gerald Ford’s record; opposition and Ford campaign materials; and records relating to Vice President Ford’s homecoming in 1974.

Related Materials (August 2012)
The most significant collections for research on Ford's congressional career are the Ford Congressional Papers, Ford Scrapbooks, and the Robert Hartmann Papers. The Ford Scrapbooks contain material relating specifically to the 1960 effort to secure the vice presidential nomination. A few pages of material on this topic may also be found in Composite General Accessions, Wallace Strobel Papers. Strobel was a Michigan delegate to the Republican National Convention and a Ford supporter. Materials on this topic may also be found in the papers of several Grand Rapids area political figures that are at the Bentley Historical Library.