Some Greenwood residents this morning remembered the day that former President Gerald Ford came to town in support of resident Webb Franklin's 1982 congressional campaign.
Ford spoke at the Leflore County Civic Center that day.
"He gave graciously of his time, and I think that impetus allowed me eventually to win the election," Franklin said. "His effects on my behalf were gracious and appreciated by me."
Franklin said Ford, 93, the nation's 38th president, who died Tuesday at his desert home in California, had fund-raising gifts and a unique ability in "getting the Republican base energized."
He also had integrity, said Franklin, the last Republican to serve in Mississippi's 2nd congressional district.
The way Ford handled himself in very difficult times went a long way in getting the country settled after former President Richard Nixon's Watergate troubles, Franklin said.
David Hicks, 92, remembered today that the last U.S. president to visit Greenwood before Ford was Harry Truman.
District 14 state Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, volunteered for Ford's re-election campaign in 1976.
"We thought he was a really fine person even though he came to the presidency by really unusual circumstances," Chassaniol said.
After the resignation of President Nixon, Ford "helped heal a lot of wounds that were in the country as well as within the Republican party," she said.
Chassaniol, who was 31 at the time, remembers being at the Civic Center during Ford's appearance.
"It was big stuff to get a former president of the United States to come to Greenwood," she said. "I think it spoke very well for Webb that a former president of the United States would come and campaign on his behalf."
