Jerald terHorst
From The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project
Jerald Franklin terHorst (born July 11, 1922) was the first person to serve as press secretary for U.S. President Gerald Ford. terHorst served in that capacity for one month (August 9–September 6, 1974) before resigning in the wake of President Ford's announcement that he would pardon former president Richard Nixon for any possible crimes connected with the Watergate scandal. At the time, the story that circulated was that terHorst had resigned because he had been blindsided by Ford's decision, having consistently denied to reporters in his daily press briefings that Ford had any intent of issuing a pardon. Once the pardon was issued, the story went, he (terHorst) felt that any credibility that he had had with reporters had been destroyed, and that he would subsequently be unable to function satisfactorily in the position of press secretary. However, as his letter of resignation and numerous personal statements in the years following clearly demonstrate, terHorst was ultimately moved to resign because he found Ford's decision unconscionable, especially in light of the President's refusal to pardon those who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.
Before being appointed press secretary, terHorst had been a newspaper reporter from Michigan who had covered Ford's career since 1948.
His permanent successor was NBC reporter Ron Nessen, who served until the end of the Ford Administration.
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Personal
terHorst was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1922. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946. After his military service, he worked as a reporter for the Grand Rapids Press (1946-1951). He returned to active duty with the Marine Corps in 1951-1952. He then joined the Detroit News — city and state political writer (1953-1957), Washington correspondant (1958-1960), Washington Bureau Chief (1961-1974).
After his brief services as presidential press secretary, he returned to the Detroit News as a national affairs columnist (1974-1981). In 1981, he joined the Ford Motor Company as the Washington director of public affairs.
terHorst is co-author of The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One.
References
- "Jerald F terHorst, Press Secretary to the President: Files, 1974", in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Further reading
- terHorst, Jerald F. Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency, New York: Third Press, 1974. (ISBN 0893881910)
Copyright
"Original data received from Wikipedia on April 22, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen
Here."
