Mark Z. Balabak
Each year, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation presents awards honoring acts of political courage. Criteria include strength of character, sound judgment, decisiveness (especially in times of crisis), and determination “in the face of adversity.”
Foundation board member David Hume Kennerley had the perfect candidate in mind: Liz Cheney.
A former Wyoming lawmaker sacrificed his political career to stand up to President Trump and accuse the Republican Party of overseeing a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Trump's treacherous attempts to overturn the 2020 election. was effectively excommunicated.
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“There was only one person on earth who deserved to win that award,” Kennerly, who served as White House photographer during the Ford administration, said in an interview. “She checked all the boxes.”
But the foundation's executive committee ignored Kennerly's nomination and chose Cheney as its 2024 presidential candidate, even though others declined the award, potentially jeopardizing the organization's tax-exempt status. Mr. Cheney was passed over due to concerns about his sexuality.
Fig leaves are so thin that a breeze blows them away.
Protest: In fact, Kennerly said, the executive committee feared retaliation if a vengeful Trump returned to the White House. Earlier this week, he resigned as a member of the board in protest.
“If the foundation that bears Gerald R. Ford's name won't stand up to this real threat to our democracy, who will?” Kennerly wrote in a five-page letter to the executive committee. In it he said:
(Ford's singular act of political courage pardoned former President Richard Nixon and hastened the nation's recovery from Watergate. But it cost Ford in the close 1976 presidential election.) There is a good chance that it was given.)
Mr. Kennerly, who was personally close to the late president and his wife, Betty, said, “It would be unconscionable to remain on the board of an organization that lacked the guts of Gerald R. Ford.'' “This is now a place where leadership is threatened by the demagogues who created and propagated the greatest crisis our nation has faced since the Civil War.”
“Not naive”: Kennerley elaborated in an interview. Speaking from his home in Los Angeles, he said his resignation was intended as a quiet protest. But when someone else leaked the letter to Politico, it became public almost immediately.
“Whenever we put something out there…” Kennerly said, his voice lowering. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer has spent decades in and around politics, so “I'm not naive,” he said.
Over the course of a 30-minute conversation, Kennerly wavered between anger, calling the board's disdain for Cheney “chicken,” and concern that his actions would be misunderstood.
“This is not an easy task. We don't want it to seem like we're dropping a B-52 attack on the Ford Foundation,” Kennerly said. His searing images of the Vietnam War have become an indelible part of America's historical record. “It's more about the fear factor that people in our country are facing right now. People are afraid to step out. You can thank the former president for that.”
Mr. Kennerly's protests, while heartfelt as they may be, could easily be dismissed as the grievances of someone who simply doesn't get his way. He described Cheney as one of her best friends and close to her family.
But as someone with a history of witnessing politicians up close and cataloging their courage and human failings in a way that few have ever experienced, Kennerly's observations are noteworthy.
The foundation's board of directors includes dozens of directors, including Cheney, who submit recommendations to the 12-member executive committee. The Executive Committee finalizes the annual Ford Distinguished Service Award recipients.
Mr. Kennerly first nominated Mr. Cheney for the award last fall. Even though it was abundantly clear that Cheney, who had been mentioned as a candidate to stop Trump, would not run for president, the executive committee chose someone else.
This should eliminate any putative concerns regarding the group's tax status.
When that person declined the award, and another person declined the award, Kennerly nominated Cheney again. (He would not say who else was chosen or why he declined the honor.)
The executive committee selected former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to replace him, and Mr. Kennerly immediately resigned. (No knock on Daniels, he said.)
After Kennerley's resignation became public, Greaves Whitney, executive director of the Ford Foundation, issued a statement citing fiduciary duties, tax issues and legal risks, blah, blah, blah.
These issues clearly didn't matter in 2004, when Liz's father, Dick Cheney, won the Ford Award. At the time, he was running for reelection as vice president.
“Complete crackdown”: After further consideration and a day of painfully negative publicity, Whitney issued a follow-up statement Wednesday night.
He said Cheney “meets all the criteria that the Ford Presidential Foundation Medal stands for, including courage, integrity and a passion for serving the American people.”
“The foundation's decision…is not a reflection on her, but a reflection on the laws that govern nonprofit organizations,” Whitney said. “The Foundation's actions this year will not preclude her from serious consideration of receiving the medal in her future.”
Kennerley's response was curt: “It's a total crackdown.”
So, as it stands, Cheney, while all of these criteria apply to her, will probably someday, after some serious consideration, be given credit for the vital service she has made to the country by exposing Trump and his acts of insurrection. , will be awarded the Ford Medal.
It must be said that there are considerable personal costs.
But so far, the foundation's leaders lack the courage to honor Mr. Cheney for his extraordinary act of courage.
It would be interesting if it wasn't so tragic.
— Mark Z. Balabak is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
