His wife was seated in the gallery, looking fiercely proud of her husband as the Senators began to vote, but the man himself was not present for the historic moment. Gerald R. Ford, 60, was waiting in the office of Minority Leader Hugh Scott, 100 paces down the hall. Ford, whose 25 years in the House have made him extremely sensitive to the niceties of protocol, was afraid that his appearance in the gallery, let alone on the floor, would be taken amiss by the Senators.
As it turned out, Ford had already carried the day. When the voting...
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