Michigan’s Gerald Ford Once Gave Incredibly Prescient Answer to Question about First Female President

President Gerald Ford is venerated around Michigan as a favorite son. His presidential museum is a prominent feature in his hometown of Grand Rapids. He also appears sage on the pathway to a potential female president.

In a clip from 1989, long after his term in office, Ford was speaking to school children. In the video captured by Iowa Public Television Ford is asked by a child when we'd see a woman president.

Ford gives a stark and frank answer that with the lens of history looks like a fairly accurate description of the current political landscape.

READ MORE: For 10 Glorious Years, Michigan Was the Largest State in the Nation

Here's how he thought the pathway would be:

The country would elect a male president and female vice president.

The male would die - Ford said this very directly, though that's not the current situation with Biden/Harris, a decision to not seek reelection has similar ramification  - and the female vice president would assume the office.

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Once a woman was in the Oval Office, Ford says, '...from then on, men better be careful because they'll have a hard, hard time ever getting a nomination in the future."

In 1989, this was 4 years after Geraldine Ferraro ran as a Vice Presidential nominee with Walter Mondale - the first on a major party ticket - and lost in a landslide to the incumbent Ronald Regan.

Ford passed away before Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful run in 2016 and Kalama Harris's successful Vice Presidential campaign.

So as the 2024 race comes into focus, it will be interesting to see how closely Ford's 1989 prediction will be to reality.