It was December 1976 and I decided to write President Ford a letter. He had just lost to Gov. Jimmy Carter and I wanted to console him. I recall writing some very 9-year-old sort of things – something about how Gov. Carter was just a peanut farmer.

One day the following spring I came home to find a very official looking letter. Inside was this note. It went directly up on my wall.

I knew nothing about political correspondence at the time – I had never heard the term “autopen” – and assumed my letter had passed before his very eyes and had prompted him to write and sign this letter. Who knows, maybe he did. I will always have a special love for President Ford.