PRESENTATION COPY: SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF PRESIDENT FORD'S VISION FOR AMERICA, HIS JULY 14, 1980 ADDRESS TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION THAT NOMINATED REAGAN AS PRESIDENT

FORD, Gerald R. A Vision for America. Northridge, California: Lord John Press, 1980. Slim octavo, original navy cloth. $500.

Signed limited first edition, unnumbered presentation copy from an edition of 500 copies signed at the colophon by President Gerald Ford—“a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts” (President George W. Bush).

President Gerald Ford, who assumed office at the resignation of President Nixon in 1974, delivered this speech to the 1980 Republican National Convention on July 14, shortly before Ronald Reagan accepted the party's nomination for president. Not long before Ford delivered this Vision for America to the convention, he had been approached by Reagan to be his running mate. "For hours representatives of the two men, with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger acting for Ford, negotiated the outlines of a possible Reagan-Ford Administration… But the negotiators were unable to reach a formula that satisfied Ford's desire to be more than a traditional vice president while also giving Reagan a free hand to govern as chief executive. Ford nevertheless worked on the 1980 campaign trail for Reagan and his running mate, George Bush" (New York Times). In this speech Ford tells his fellow Republicans: "when you field the team for Governor Reagan, count me in… We're going to live up to America's greatness. America must lead again, and with your help it will." At President Ford's death in 2006, President George W. Bush honored him as "a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts" (New York Times). With frontispiece portrait; without scarce slipcase. Also issued in leather-textured cloth binding, no priority established.

Contents very crisp and fresh; spine slightly toned. An about-fine signed presentation copy.