Best Video You'll See Today: Ford and Reagan Cheering Along to the Victors

Submitted by BursleyHall82 on

This was just posted on one of the Facebook groups I monitor. Back in 1981, when the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum opened in Grand Rapids, they held a huge Bob Hope TV special to kick it off. The Michigan Marching Band opened the show - and it's phenomenal. Everything about this clip is golden, but the best part comes at about the 2:00 mark when we see Jerry Ford singing "The Victors" and Ronald Reagan clapping along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avzsbnwsAjY

julesh

October 6th, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^

If someone links to the video with the recording of LBJ ordering pants, this won't even be the next presidential video seen all day.

FauxMo

October 6th, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^

It was a kinda-sorta partisan political joke. If you remember Iran-Contra, Reagan developed an incredibly selective memory during the mid-80s. Some believe it was the early stages of Alzheimers or simple senility, while others think it was "intentional"...

ZooWolverine

October 6th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^

Great video!

That was to celebrate the opening of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, not the library. The museum is in Grand Rapids, while the library is in Ann Arbor, on North Campus. (Ford is apparently the only president whose library and museum are separated, although run by the same director.)

Njia

October 6th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^

Might be one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Politics aside, having not one but TWO Presidents of the United States cheering to The Victors is flat awesome.

Moonlight Graham

October 6th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^

next door to the performance hall, if that counts. I was only 12, but it was definitely a vivid memory. Can't tell you much more about the marching band because my view of it was basically what you see on the video lol, but it was definitely a cool moment. 

The only other stuff I remember from the show was Hope's monologue making fun of Ford's golf game. He joked that the freeway in town named after him goes straight for little ways and then veers off into the woods. 

Michigantrumpet82

October 6th, 2015 at 10:22 PM ^

Another good story: we did an afternoon rehearsal in our dress suits and travel clothes. Just as we w're blocking out the entrance, we were interrupted and told to move to the back of the stage. We had to make room for Betty Ford and Bob Hope doing a quick run through of a soft shoe song and dance number to "Once in Love With Betty." I remember the First Lady doing a backwards shuffle directly into one of the trumpet players, who swore he would never wash his leg where her bottom grazed him. She was charmed with the little flirtation.



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WolverineHistorian

October 6th, 2015 at 12:05 PM ^

I wonder how the MMB members decided who would get to be on TV.  (That's just a small portion of the band.)  Did they go with section leaders and drill instructors?  Or did they arm wrestle for the TV spots?

Cool video.