“I want to know, dad.  About President Ford.  Tell me about President Ford.”

This is an odd conversation.  I’m not listening intently, and the dad is quiet enough that whatever response he’s giving his teen daughter… I just don’t know.

“Was he a Democrat or a Republican?”

All that matters in the world of politics…

“I guess when you’re in that era, from Truman to Nixon… Carter.  Was Carter after Ford.  Wait.  Technically, I guess.  Yes…”

“We have a chapter on each of the 20th Century Presidents”… I’m guessing this in their high school history books, maybe?

I suppose the “fell down a lot” riff could be tossed out for color, if a bit of a Ford partisan this could be pointed out that this was exaggerated by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live off of a mere incident, and Ford was just about the only athlete of the 20th Century Presidents (if back in the day).

One of the more fascinating things about President Ford was there were two assassination attempts on him within a very short time-table, one by Charlie Manson acolytes.  This wasn’t brought up.

Good to see a teenager interested in American history, even if …

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