Gerald Ford

WASHINGTON -- Gerald R. Ford, the nation's first unelected vice president and then its first unelected president, has died, his wife, Betty, said late yesterday. He was 93. No cause of death was immediately announced. Mr. Ford, who was the nation's oldest living former president, had been hospitalized at least four times this year - in January for treatment of pneumonia; in July because of shortness of breath; in August, when he received a cardiac pacemaker and had angioplasty to increase blood flow; and in October, for more testing.

James Monroe Cannon III, former reporter and foreign correspondent for The Sun who later became a top Newsweek correspondent and an aide to New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and President Gerald R. Ford, died Sept. 15 from complications of a stroke at Capital Hospice in Arlington, Va. Mr. Cannon, who was 93, lived in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood. James Myers Cannon was born in Sylacauga, Ala., and was raised in Athens, Ala. When he was in college at the University of Alabama, from which he earned a bachelor's degree in 1939, he changed his middle name to his father's.

When her husband unexpectedly became the nation's 38th president, Betty Ford was suddenly and reluctantly transformed from congressional wife and former department store fashion coordinator to first lady of the United States. Her candor and common sense quickly won over a nation that had never before heard a president's wife talk so openly about taboo topics, including her own addictions and her battle against breast cancer. Gerald R.

I try to read every e-mail readers send me, and respond at least once to all but those who resort to unseemly language and name-calling. (You would be surprised by how many letters are not, shall we say, "family-friendly.") One of the things I've noticed in critical e-mails, ostensibly sent by conservative readers, is the frequent invocation of a person who occasionally makes news but is generally not part of our daily national political discourse: Jimmy Carter. The former Democratic president's lone term ended almost 28 years ago. And yet, for a surprising number of people, Mr. Carter is like a boogeyman lurking in America's political basement, ready to spring up at any moment and chain-saw the country in half.

IRWIN E. WEISS of Towson writes: "Of all the individualselected president in our country's history, only four had last names beginning with two consonants. . . . This pattern does not bode well for Governor Clinton."Evuhrybody wants to get inta de act!When it comes to stupid political science trends, I thought I had espoused them all. But this is new.Mr. Weiss goes on to say that compared to the four winners -- Grant, Cleveland, McKinley and Truman -- 16 candidates with last names of two initial consonants lost, and that's not counting Cleveland, who lost one election and won two. He also points out that one of Cleveland's wins was over Blaine and that McKinley beat Bryan both times: "Someone had to win."

Mort Kuff remembers his youthful artistic urges."We used to cover our school books in brown wrapping paper and cut bags apart," he said. "I went through about a bag a day on my books just drawing on them."So it isn't surprising that Kuff, an Annapolis artist, accepted the task of drawing the pages for the first official White House coloring book.Kuff said the White House Historical Association approached him to design the book after a family friend recommended him for the job."They thought there was a need for a coloring book in the gift shop because they didn't have one," he said.

Indicators Wednesday -- November construction spending Thursday -- November factory orders Friday -- December unemployment and nonfarm payrolls Events Monday New Year's Day -- Financial markets closed Tuesday Funeral of Gerald Ford -- Markets closed Networking Happy Hour -- sponsored by SmallCompanies.com, 4 p.m., Windows Restaurant at Heritage Hills, 2700 Mount Rose Ave., York. The event is free to anyone doing business in the York area. Attendees must be registered with SmallCompanies.

IS GEORGE W. Bush like a Scottish terrier? Does he exude ruggedness and power? Is he a fierce hunter? Hot-tempered? These are the important questions raised by a recent study looking at the resemblance between dogs and their owners. A bunch of University of California, San Diego undergraduate students were given photographs and asked to match them, pet to person. With mutts, they couldn't do it, but with purebreds, they could - correctly matching almost twice as often as not. But here's where things got interesting.

WASHINGTON -- Some die-hards still disappointed over retired Gen. Colin Powell's decision not to seek the presidency or any other elective office next year have come up with a sweetener they hope might persuade him to change his mind.They're wasting their time, because Mr. Powell has said his decision is irrevocable -- and because their idea is a bum one.Wishful thinkingThe wishful thinkers are suggesting that if the Republican presidential nominee, especially if he turns out to be front-running Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, would offer to make Mr. Powell not only his running mate but also secretary of state if they are elected, the retired general might bite.

SEVEN YEARS AGO, I attended the inaugural symposium of the Carter Presidential Center of Emory University in Atlanta. It was called ''A Middle East Consultation,'' a mundane title that in no way captured the vigorous, illuminating dialogue that it spurred between various diplomats, academics and other pooh-bahs from this country and abroad.The very fact that the affair was co-chaired by two former living presidents -- Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford -- gave it a certain uniqueness and stature that set it apart from the run-of-the-mill, think-tank colloquies where pedagogues and pundits regularly suck their thumbs and furrow their brows over global agendas.

WASHINGTON -- To the boom of cannons and the mournful notes of brass bands, the body of Gerald R. Ford returned to the Capitol yesterday, more than three decades since the former president left office after calming a nation riven by Watergate and Vietnam. Old friends, family and colleagues honored the 38th president during stirring proceedings that carried Ford's casket from Andrews Air Force Base, past his longtime home in the Washington suburbs and into the Capitol Rotunda, where it will lie in state until Tuesday.

Indicators Wednesday -- November construction spending Thursday -- November factory orders Friday -- December unemployment and nonfarm payrolls Events Monday New Year's Day -- Financial markets closed Tuesday Funeral of Gerald Ford -- Markets closed Networking Happy Hour -- sponsored by SmallCompanies.com, 4 p.m., Windows Restaurant at Heritage Hills, 2700 Mount Rose Ave., York. The event is free to anyone doing business in the York area. Attendees must be registered with SmallCompanies.

When her husband unexpectedly became the nation's 38th president, Betty Ford was suddenly and reluctantly transformed from congressional wife and former department store fashion coordinator to first lady of the United States. Her candor and common sense quickly won over a nation that had never before heard a president's wife talk so openly about taboo topics, including her own addictions and her battle against breast cancer. Gerald R.

WASHINGTON -- Gerald R. Ford, the nation's first unelected vice president and then its first unelected president, has died, his wife, Betty, said late yesterday. He was 93. No cause of death was immediately announced. Mr. Ford, who was the nation's oldest living former president, had been hospitalized at least four times this year - in January for treatment of pneumonia; in July because of shortness of breath; in August, when he received a cardiac pacemaker and had angioplasty to increase blood flow; and in October, for more testing.

WASHINGTON -- Once again there is speculation that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has become a lightning rod for the administration's policy in Iraq, will be leaving his post. Rumsfeld brushed aside the latest talk yesterday after a meeting on Capitol Hill. "Those reports have been flying around since about four months after I assumed my post," he said. "I have no plans to retire." The New York Daily News reported that Rumsfeld is expected to step down early next year. Possible replacements reportedly include acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, a Baltimore native, and Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, who has resisted calls within his own party for U.S. troop reductions in Iraq.

IS GEORGE W. Bush like a Scottish terrier? Does he exude ruggedness and power? Is he a fierce hunter? Hot-tempered? These are the important questions raised by a recent study looking at the resemblance between dogs and their owners. A bunch of University of California, San Diego undergraduate students were given photographs and asked to match them, pet to person. With mutts, they couldn't do it, but with purebreds, they could - correctly matching almost twice as often as not. But here's where things got interesting.

WASHINGTON -- Perhaps the most striking thing about the second-term Cabinet and White House staff being assembled by President Clinton is how unstriking it is.With all due deference to Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, Anthony Lake and the rest, there is no one who stands out, on paper anyway, as a real heavyweight in terms of achievement or reputation. As a result, the president is likely to seem even more than in his first term to be the top dog.All presidents, to be sure, wear a cloak of supreme authority and power by virtue of the office they hold.

IF President Bush wants to avoid being investigated an bring a final end to the Iran-contra prosecution, there is one more person he will have to pardon -- himself.By pardoning the former secretary of defense, Caspar Weinberger, and five other defendants, Mr. Bush exposed himself as the only person left for the independent counsel, Lawrence Walsh, to pursue.Mr. Walsh has left no doubt that he intends to do so. He will probably call President Bush before a grand jury after the president leaves office on Jan. 20.Mr.

ANNIE OAKLEY, 43, had just quit Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Clark Gable was 2 years old. Mark Twain was 68; Ernest Hemingway was 4. In Russia, the Bolsheviks split with the Mensheviks. Pablo Picasso, 22, was in his "blue period." The artists James Whistler and Paul Gauguin died; Mark Rothko was born. So was Lou Gehrig. And Bob Hope. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, who had lost his leg 40 years earlier at Gettysburg, was 84. Henry Cabot Lodge, who was to be Lyndon Johnson's ambassador to South Vietnam, was a baby.

Retirement: Former first lady still candid, and passionate about her causes. At 83, Betty Ford doesn't have time to rest on her laurels. "It's pretty hectic," says the former first lady of her schedule. "You think you're stepping back and retiring, but somehow, wherever you decide to light, there are a million things to do." Life is busy for the woman who helped teach America how to deal openly with breast cancer and addiction, but she's not complaining. During a recent interview, she said her husband, Gerald Ford, is "just fine," referring to the 87-year-old former president's strong recovery from a stroke suffered during the Republican National Convention last summer.