A little over a month into Gerald Ford's presidency, his wife, Betty, was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine medical exam. Two days later, she underwent a mastectomy. Her battle with the disease and willingness to talk about it publicly is said to have helped save the lives of many women, but the president and first lady still struggled behind closed doors.
The Fords' daughter, Susan, wanted to do something to cheer her parents up, so she decided they needed a dog — and not just any dog, but a golden retriever. The family had already owned two of them in the past. One lived for thirteen years, while the other lived for nine years and died about a year before Ford became president. She enlisted the president's personal photographer, David Hume Kennerly, to help her find the perfect pup.
The story goes that Kennerly called a breeder and said he was interested in buying an eight-month-old golden retriever puppy. The breeder, as any responsible person would, wanted to know more about who would own the dog to ensure it would have a good home. The problem was that Kennerly couldn't exactly blab that the owner would be the president of the United States.
"The couple is friendly. They're middle-aged, and they live in a white house with a big yard and a fence around it. It's a lovely place," Kennerly reportedly told the breeder.
The breeder continued with more questions. "Will the dog have enough food to eat? Does the couple own or rent? Does the husband have gainful employment?" Kennerly finally convinced the breeder that the dog would be in great hands, and he arranged to have the dog flown to Washington, D.C. Susan brought the dog to her father the day before her mother came home from the hospital. The rest, as they say, is history.
The president fell in love with the puppy and said that meeting her was a "joyous experience." He named her Liberty.
President Gerald Ford and Liberty, his dog, in the Oval Office in 1974 pic.twitter.com/mQXUK0Mu2B
— History Calendar (@historycalendar) April 24, 2023
During a speech in Philadelphia later that year, he said, "One of those inquisitive reporters that we have in Washington asked Susan who is going to take care of Liberty? Who is going to feed her and groom her and take her out each night or every morning? And Susan did not hesitate one minute. She said, 'Of course, it will be Dad.' So, I have this feeling — this is one Liberty that is going to cost me some of mine"
And so he did. Ford's White House press secretary, David Nessen, spoke at the president's funeral in 2007 and said he once witnessed Liberty having an accident on the floor of the Oval Office. A Navy steward started to clean it up, but Ford stopped him and said "no man should have to clean up after another man’s dog."
On another occasion, Liberty had to go outside in the middle of the night, so the president snuck out in his robe and slippers. When he tried to return via the elevator to the Executive Residence, it had been switched off for the night. He took the stairs instead, but when he reached the third floor, the door was locked. The president and Liberty sat in stairwell until a Secret Service agent came to their rescue.
U.S. President Gerald Ford and his daughter, Susan Ford, on the South Lawn of the White House with their dog, Liberty on this date October 7 in 1974. Photo credit: AP. #OTD pic.twitter.com/ZwCTdL4ktZ
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) October 7, 2020
Liberty and Ford were truly inseparable. She was part of the family and went everywhere the president did. She hung out in the Oval Office, sunned herself on the South Lawn of the White House, and even swam at Camp David. She also traveled to Colorado each year with the family for the holidays and moved to California with them after they left the White House.
I'm sure she met quite a few famous faces, too. As a matter of fact, the story that led to me writing this article claimed that when Ford would grow tired of a meeting, he'd call Liberty over to meet his guests in the Oval Office, hoping she'd get them off subject.
Today is #TakeYourDogtoWorkDay, and it’s not a stretch to say it’s one of our favorite days of the year! Here’s Liberty making herself at home in the Oval Office while President Ford meets with Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft in 1974. pic.twitter.com/OjtO0mjAIx
— Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library (@Ford_Library) June 21, 2024
The year after the Fords got Liberty, she gave birth to nine puppies. The family kept one, Misty, and donated another, Jerry, to the Leader Dog School for the Blind in Michigan. Friends and family reportedly adopted the remaining seven.
Gerald Ford with his dog Liberty and one of her puppies. 1976. pic.twitter.com/tw9CpTUbjH
— U.S. politicians doing normal shit (@normalpols) April 15, 2024
Liberty wasn't just popular with the president. She had quite a fanbase across the country. Fan mail for Liberty began trickling into the White House, and Susan and Ford's personal secretary, Dorothy Downton, attempted to respond to each letter. Initially, they began with a photo that was "pawtographed" by the dog. This involved dipping Liberty's paw in ink and cleaning it afterward, but as the pup's popularity grew, this became tedious, so they switched to a rubber stamp.
It's even been said that Liberty's popularity is one reason why the golden retriever remains one of the nation's most beloved dog breeds.
While the Fords were quite obviously dog people, it seems as if they were animal people in general, especially young Susan. In her 1978 memoir "The Times of My Life," Mrs. Ford tells several humorous stories about the pets her children have owned over the years, like Susan's Siamese cat, Shan; the snake Susan secretly kept in her bedroom; and the four-foot alligator the Ford boys kept in their backyard for a time.
