On a hot, drizzly Friday in August more than 51 years ago, I stood with other reporters on a temporary riser outside the East Wing of the White House. There, we watched as a disgraced Richard Nixon climbed the stairs to a presidential helicopter, turned at the doorway, extended his arms in a bizarre victory salute, and flew off into history.

A short time later, we were ushered into the East Room, where Nixon had earlier given an emotional farewell speech to his staff. Now we witnessed the swearing-in of Gerald Ford as the 38th president of the United States. In a brief, eloquent address to an overflow crowd of more than 300, Ford called for healing and reconciliation. “Let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate,” he urged.

At the end of the ceremony, Chief Justice Warre

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