| Jerald F. ter Horst AKA Jerald Franklin ter Horst Born: 11-Jul-1922
Birthplace: Grand Rapids, MI
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Government Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Gerald Ford's short-term press secretary Military service: U.S. Marine Corps (1943-46, 1951-52) From 1946-51 Jerald F. ter Horst was a reporter for the Grand Rapids Press, and from 1953-81 he was a reporter, Washington bureau chief, and eventually a columnist for the Detroit News -- except for one month in 1974, when he was the White House Press Secretary. Congressman Gerald Ford had been appointed Vice President in December 1973, when Spiro T. Agnew resigned in disgrace. When Richard M. Nixon resigned the Presidency, Ford was sworn in on 9 August 1974. Ter Horst had covered Ford's political career for years, Ford knew him, trusted him, and hired him as his press secretary. It was Ford's first appointment.
For the next four weeks, ter Horst attended White House staff meetings and held press conferences daily. Then, on 8 September 1974, Ford declared that "Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough and will continue to suffer, no matter what I do, no matter what we, as a great and good nation, can do together to make his goal of peace come true." With a stroke of his pen, Ford granted Nixon a "full, free, and absolute pardon" for any crimes he "committed or may have committed" while President. Unwilling to defend Ford's pardon, ter Horst resigned in protest. "I stayed up most of that night", he said, "just formulating a three-paragraph letter of resignation." For his act of conscience, ter Horst was reviled by some, but others hailed him the last honest man in politics.
Ron Nessen was appointed to succeed him as Ford's press secretary, and ter Horst went back to work at the Detroit News. He authored a biography titled Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency, and co-authored a non-fiction book about the presidential plane, Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One. Ter Horst now serves on the Advisory Council for the National Press Foundation.
In his honor, the Jerald F. ter Horst Award for Excellence in Political Reporting is now presented annually by George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and School of Media and Public Affairs.
University: BA, University of Michigan (1947)
White House Press Secretary 1974
The Detroit News
Watergate Scandal
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Gridiron Club
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