When any scholarly or popular historical book is deemed a “revisionist piece” the connotation is oftentimes negative. This is understandable, as many revisionist writings falter under the weight of their own claims. The attempt at reconfiguring a shared and accepted understanding of a person, place, event, nation, etc., in lieu of a new framework is a tall order even for the most talented and assiduous historians. Yet the famed presidential scholar and historian Richard Norton Smith has accomplished just that.
In An Ordinary Man: The Surprising and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, Smith argues that many long-held misconceptions about our 38th president require reconsideration. Coming in at more than 700 pages, this tome guides the reader through Leslie King Jr.’s (Ford’s birth name) little-known but tumultuous childhood, his time at Yale studying law, a stint in the Navy during World War II, his tenure in Congress as a mediator and moderate Republican, and his post-presidency. But the majority (just under 400 pages) centers around his time in the White House as both vice president and president. If a biography is, as Mark Twain put it, only the “clothes and buttons of a man,” this work undoubtedly is also the shoes and hat for its voluminous nature.
Although it can be at times tedious, the book forces the reader to come to grips with some outdated fallacies. From tackling the bumbling and accident-prone perception made popular by Chevy Chase on “Saturday Night Live” to dismantling the idea that he
