Halloween Massacre (Ford administration)

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Halloween Massacre (Ford administration) - Wikipedia

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"Halloween Massacre" is the term associated with the major reorganization of United States president Gerald Ford's cabinet on November 4, 1975,^[1] which was an attempt to address multiple high-level personality and policy clashes within the administration.^[2] The overhaul came at a time when the president's leadership abilities were being broadly questioned, and he was being heavily criticized by California governor Ronald Reagan and others from the nascent conservative wing of the Republican Party.^[3]^[4]

Cabinet shake-up

The shake-up had its roots at the beginning of Ford's presidency in August 1974.^[2] As was the case when Lyndon B. Johnson and Harry S. Truman succeeded to the presidency intra-term, in 1963 and in 1945 respectively, under similarly strained sets of circumstances, Ford inherited President Richard Nixon's cabinet and staff of presidential advisers. The Nixon and new Ford appointees often clashed, and the resulting acrimony often got in the way of policy making.^[5]^[6]

On October 25, 1975, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney submitted their resignations to the president. Attached to the resignation letters was a memo with their detailed analysis of the perceived problems, and possible future strategies for the Ford administration. The analysis blamed the majority of the problems on Robert T. Hartmann, Henry Kissinger, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.^[7]

Starting November 4, 1975, which was the Tuesday after the Halloween weekend, and which was timed to fit in the congressional confirmation window, Ford terminated several Nixon holdovers, and announced the names of the successors and new Cabinet nominees.

The changes were:

Henry Kissinger was replaced by Brent Scowcroft as National Security Advisor, while retaining his post as Secretary of State.
William Colby was replaced by Ambassador (and future President) George H. W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence. Colby was offered the post of US Permanent Representative to NATO, but declined.
James R. Schlesinger was replaced by Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld's deputy and protégé, future Vice President Dick Cheney, moved up to be the Chief of Staff.
Under pressure from Republican Party conservatives, Nelson Rockefeller announced that he would not run for election as Ford's running mate in 1976.^{[citation needed]}

Subsequent to these events, Rogers Morton was also replaced by Elliot Richardson as Secretary of Commerce.

Impact and legacy

Various newspaper and magazine articles at the time identified Rumsfeld as having orchestrated these events.^[2] At the time, Ford said he alone was responsible for firings. Later, he expressed regret: "I was angry at myself for showing cowardice in not saying to the ultraconservatives, 'It's going to be Ford and Rockefeller, whatever the consequences.'"^[3]

References

^ "Timeline of President Ford's Life and Career". National Archives and Records Administration Gerald Ford Presidential Foundation. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Nation: Scenario of the Shake-Up". Time. Vol. 106, no. 20. New York: Time. November 17, 1975. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b King, Gilbert (October 25, 2012). "A Halloween Massacre at the White House". Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ Rozell, Mark J. (1992). The Press and the Ford Presidency. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 118–121. ISBN 0-472-10350-4. Ford Shakes Up His Cabinet.
^ "Gerald Ford: Domestic Affairs". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. 4 October 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
^ DeFrank, Thomas M. (2007). Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-399-15450-8.
^ Rumsfeld, Donald (October 25, 1975). "To Gerald Ford re Re-election" (PDF). library.rumsfeld.com. Retrieved January 30, 2023.

v t e Gerald Ford
38th President of the United States (1974–1977) 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974) U.S. Representative for MI–5 (1949–1973)
Presidency (timeline)	Inauguration Timeline Foreign policy Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Safe Drinking Water Act Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 Equal Credit Opportunity Act Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Education for All Handicapped Children Act Vladivostok Summit Meeting on Arms Control Helsinki Accords National Security Study Memorandum 200 Nixon pardon Whip inflation now Cannabis policy Wilson desk Assassination attempts Sacramento San Francisco State of the Union Addresses 1975 1976 1977 Judicial appointments Supreme Court candidates controversies Executive Orders Presidential Proclamations
Life	Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens President Gerald R. Ford Jr. Boyhood Home Gerald R. Ford Jr. House Warren Commission Confirmation as Vice President AEI World Forum Death and state funeral Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Elections	United States House of Representatives elections 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1976 presidential election Carter transition Republican Party presidential primaries 1976 1980 1976 Republican National Convention 1976 1980
Cultural depictions	The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978) Dynasty (1981) The Betty Ford Story (1987) Assassins (1990) "Two Bad Neighbors" (1996) Saturday Night Live parodies The X-Presidents (1997) Presidential Reunion (2010) The Political Machine (2004) The Butler (2013) The First Lady (2022)
Legacy	Gerald R. Ford International Airport Gerald R. Ford Award Ford School of Public Policy Ford House Office Building USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Gerald R. Ford Freeway U.S. Postage stamps Statue
Family	Charles Henry King (grandfather) Leslie Lynch King Sr. (father) Dorothy Gardner Ford (mother) Gerald Rudolff Ford (stepfather) Thomas Gardner Ford (half-brother) Betty Ford (wife) Michael Gerald Ford (son) John Gardner Ford (son) Steven Meigs Ford (son) Susan Ford Bales (daughter) Liberty (family dog)
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