Gerald Ford's presidency, though relatively brief, was dominated by significant domestic policy challenges, particularly in the economic sphere. Taking office in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War, Ford faced a nation grappling with low public confidence in institutions and a struggling economy. His administration's efforts to combat inflation and recession, alongside initiatives to reform campaign finance and address intelligence
agency abuses, defined much of his domestic agenda. These efforts often put him at odds with a newly empowered and liberal Democratic Congress.
Tackling Economic Headwinds: Inflation and Recession
Much of Ford's domestic policy focus was directed at the economy, which experienced a recession during his tenure. Initially, Ford promoted a tax increase as a measure to combat inflation. However, as economic conditions evolved, his strategy shifted, and he championed a tax cut designed to stimulate the economy. This led to him signing two tax reduction acts into law, reflecting an adaptive approach to the nation's economic woes. The economic climate was a constant battle, with Ford often finding himself in opposition to a Congress that favored different spending priorities.
Ford's economic philosophy, as he articulated it, was one of fiscal conservatism. He noted in his autobiography the contrast between his own desire to save and the Congress's inclination to spend. Despite the challenges posed by a Democratic-controlled Congress, Ford's administration saw the lowest yearly spending increases since the Eisenhower administration, a testament to his efforts to control government expenditures. This period was marked by a persistent struggle to balance economic recovery with fiscal responsibility, a task made more complex by the political landscape.
Reforming Campaign Finance and Intelligence Agencies
The aftermath of the 1972 elections brought increased pressure from good government groups, such as Common Cause, to amend campaign finance laws. In response, Congress approved amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1974. These amendments established the Federal Election Commission to oversee campaign finance regulations, introduced a system of public financing for presidential elections, limited the size of campaign contributions, and capped the amount candidates could spend on their own campaigns. Additionally, they mandated the disclosure of nearly all campaign contributions.
Ford reluctantly signed this bill into law in October 1974. However, the effectiveness of these reforms was later challenged. In the 1976 Supreme Court case *Buckley v. Valeo*, the Court overturned the cap on self-funding by political candidates, ruling that such a restriction violated freedom of speech rights. Ultimately, the campaign finance reforms of the 1970s proved largely unsuccessful in diminishing the influence of money in politics, as contributions increasingly shifted to political action committees and state and local party committees.
Another significant area of domestic concern was the conduct of intelligence agencies. Prior to Ford's presidency, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had illegally compiled files on domestic anti-war activists. Following Watergate, CIA Director William Colby initiated a report on all the CIA's domestic activities, much of which became public after investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article in December 1974. These revelations sparked public and congressional outrage, leading to calls for investigation and reform.
In response, Ford established the Rockefeller Commission, marking the first time a presidential commission was created to investigate the national security apparatus. The commission's report, submitted in June 1975, generally defended the CIA but acknowledged that it had engaged in activities that warranted criticism and should not be repeated. The press, however, criticized the commission for omitting a section on the CIA's assassination plots. This led the Senate to form its own committee, led by Senator Frank Church, to investigate CIA abuses. Ford expressed concerns that the Church Committee might be used for partisan purposes and initially resisted providing classified materials, but Colby cooperated with the committee. In the wake of the Church Committee's report, both houses of Congress established select committees to provide ongoing oversight to the intelligence community, fundamentally altering the relationship between the executive and legislative branches regarding intelligence matters.
Environmental Policy and Judicial Appointments
Environmental issues, though not a central focus, were also part of the Ford administration's domestic landscape. Due to lingering frustrations from the Nixon years among environmentalists, including Environmental Protection Agency head Russell E. Train, environmentalism remained a peripheral concern. Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe, a leader of the "Sagebrush Rebellion" – a movement of western ranchers and other groups seeking to repeal environmental protections on federal land – faced repeated losses in federal courts, notably in the 1976 Supreme Court decision of *Kleppe v. New Mexico*.
Despite these challenges, Ford's administration achieved some environmental successes, including the addition of two national monuments, six historical sites, three historic parks, and two national preserves, none of which were controversial. Internationally, treaties and agreements with countries such as Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, the Soviet Union, and several European nations included provisions for protecting endangered species. In terms of judicial appointments, Ford made one appointment to the Supreme Court, selecting John Paul Stevens to succeed Associate Justice William O. Douglas. Ford chose Stevens, an uncontroversial federal appellate judge, largely because he anticipated minimal opposition in the Senate. Stevens initially had a relatively moderate voting record but emerged as a leader of the Court's liberal bloc in the 1990s. Ford also appointed 11 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals and 50 judges to the United States district courts, shaping the federal judiciary for years to come.
