624 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTE1 ON S< IEN< I AND TECHNOLOGY 



found him ro be "completely receptive" to the idea that the White 

 House science apparatus should be revived. Like his namesake, Speaker 

 McCormack, Congressman McCormack was eager to move forward 

 his plan for a cabinet Department of Science, and asked Mosher to 

 arrange a meeting with the Vice President to present the concept. 

 Mosher set up the meeting which lasted about an hour and was also 

 attended by House Minority Leader- Representative John J. Rhodes 

 (Republican of Arizona) and Federal Energy Administrator John C. 

 Sawhill. "It proved to be a very interesting meeting," Mosher recalls, 

 during which Vice President Ford again made a "very real expression 

 of interest" in reversing the decision made by President Nixon. 



INTEREST OF FORD AS VICE PRESIDENT 



In his 1978 interview with Teague and Mosher, Ford had men- 

 tioned that as Vice President he had met with a group of about 

 30 associations in the various disciplines in science. According to 

 Philip H. Abelson, editor of Science magazine, that particular meeting 

 took place in January 1974. Abelson reported: 



Wonder of wonders in Washington, he appeared — and essentially on time. 

 During the hour and a half of the occasion, Mr. Ford was attentive and responsive. 

 He went as far as he could under the circumstances to indicate that the Nation's 

 science advisory apparatus should he improved. 



As Vice President, of course Ford could not be as outspokenly at odds 

 with the President as his private feelings might dictate. Yet as the 

 effects of Watergate began to unravel the Nixon Presidency, Teague 

 and Mosher in particular realized more and more that Ford was an 

 indispensable, key factor in any move to reestablish the scientific 

 machinery in the White House. 



There were several reasons for Ford's interest in science. His 

 voting record on scientific matters was spotty — he had voted against 

 establishment of the National Science Foundation in 1950 and helped 

 kill consideration of a metric system study bill in 1962, for example. 

 But generally on the House Appropriations Committee, his interest 

 in military R. & D. was broadening. When asked in 1978 whether 

 service on the select committee had stimulated his interest in scientific 

 matters, Ford responded: "No question about it." At the January 1972 

 meeting of the American Physical Society, a committee freshman, 

 Congressman McCormack, suggested to Ford that he consider forming 

 a committee of scientists in his congressional district to advise him 

 on science policy issues. Prof. Vernon Ehlers, a physics professor at 

 Calvin College in Ford's hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., also 

 wrote Ford about the idea, and he set up the committee and met with 

 it on a number of occasions while House minority leader. 



