Every president since Herbert Hoover has received a presidential library and museum dedicated to his life and administration run by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum is actually located in two cities, a unique situation for a unique President.
Gerald Ford's presidency was the shortest of any president who did not die in office, at about two and a half years. That tenure was short because he was basically filling in. As the House Minority Leader, he worked closely with the White House, and Nixon appointed him Vice President after Spiro Agnew resigned in shame. Less than a year later, Nixon himself resigned in shame, and Ford suddenly became the only person to ever be both the Veep and the President without ever actually being elected to either position. During his brief time in the White House, he signed the Helsinki Accords, helping assuage the Cold War. But he also tarnished his previously-clean public image by pardoning Nixon for Watergate. Modern historians generally agree he did a pretty solid job as president, especially for someone who never actually tried to be in the White House at all in the first place.
The Library
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is located on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, and admission is free. Its collection contains a wealth of information on domestic and international politics amidst the Cold War. There are 25 million pages of documents, 450,000 photographs, 3,000 hours of audiotape, 3,500 hours of videotape, and 712,027 feet of film. From memos and letters to campaign commercials and news broadcasts, there's a wealth of information and research staff to help you find what you need. There's also a sizeable digital collection online that's constantly being expanded. Right now, they are focused on adding textual materials, but there's still a wealth of other material, including a huge collection of unedited speeches and news conferences from 1974-77. They also host events, including regular lectures related to Ford's era and to the Office of the President. The library also houses one permanent exhibit about Ford's life, and (at present) one temporary exhibit. What you won't find here is the museum, oddly enough.
The Museum
The Gerald Ford Museum doesn't share a facility with the library. The library and museum are run together as one big operation, with one person in charge of both, but the museum is actually located 130 miles away at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. Ford is the only president for whom the presidential library and museum are split up like that. Admission is $8, with allowances for seniors, veterans, students, and youth. There are five permanent exhibits, including one on America in the 1970s and four featuring different periods of his life and career—youth, Navy, Congress, and finally the presidency. The presidential exhibit includes a recreation of the Oval Office, something that seems to be de rigueur for presidential libraries. Special events occur regularly, from family events to book discussions, and one temporary exhibit rotates in and out.
There's another, special service of the museum, however—the digital exhibit. Sometimes these are created to publicize a temporary exhibit, and sometimes they're put together to expand upon the permanent one, but they are all documented online and feature everything from Roosevelt to Jazz to Bob Hope to Watergate. Also online are photographs of the museum's extensive artifact collections, including Ford's footballs, gifts from other heads of state, memorabilia from his 1976 campaign and the American bicentennial that same year, and selections from Betty Ford's wardrobe of dresses and gowns.
Nearby
If you're looking for a day trip, honestly, just traveling from the library to the museum and back has you covered. But there are plenty of other things to do, even if you want to stay in one town or another. Ann Arbor is full of charm—and full of delicious apples. Hunt the "fairy doors" scattered downtown, check out the cider mill, canoe the Huron, or go to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum—a great place for families with kids. Grand Rapids is a bustling art destination. From the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park—a major sculpture destination—to the mod-inspired Grand Rapids Art Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Meyer May House, Grand Rapids has plenty to do for art aficionados.
