The Nation: Scenario of the Shake-Up

Gerald Ford's Sunday shake-up had its roots in the very beginning of his Administration and was a belated attempt to deal with several high-level personality and policy clashes.

Even as Ford prepared to take over the Administration from Nixon in August 1974, some members of his informal "kitchen cabinet"—which included former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird, former Presidential Aide Bryce Harlow, former Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, Michigan Senator Robert Griffin, and then NATO Ambassador Donald Rumsfeld—had some advice. They urged that Ford relieve Henry Kissinger of...

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