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Gerald Ford Museum
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
303 Pearl St NWGrand Rapids, MI 49504
(616) 254-0400
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 9 am - 5 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
13 reviews for Gerald Ford Museum
13 reviews in English
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Review from Mari C.
Simi Valley, CA
6/19/2011
This museum was across the street from our hotel so we figured we'd check it out. I enjoyed seeing and reading the exhibits about Gerald Ford. He is represented like a stand-up guy, which I do not doubt that he was during his lifetime.
The building that the museum is in, as previously noted, is beautifully made and has a great location. I would try to give yourselves a few hours to see this place, but if you do not have much time you can do it in 2 hrs or less. I am pretty certain that the museum is open until 5pm most days.
* Of particular interest to me were the state gifts received by the president during the bicentennial. Wow, shiny things.Listed in: History nerd
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Review from Dave K.
Somerville, MA
9/15/2011
An old Huey chopper, scale model of the Oval Office and numerous authentic replicas - the Ford Museum seeks to engage and excite. The beginning of the tour is mostly audio and video of Nixon - outlining the Watergate scandal and Ford's ascension to the post of VP. Later on the museum opens up a bit more to include interactive displays and interesting memorabilia.
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Review from Mike S.
Plymouth, MI
11/30/2010
We had time to spare so we went to the museum thinking a presidential museum was a good thing to inject some history and education for our 6 year old in out GR trip. Woops. We underestimated this museum and spent 4 hours here with few others. The museum is very informative and provides history in an approachable way. Although the 6 year old is more like an 8 year in many ways so this museum is best for 8 year olds and up or shorter time.
Agnew disgrace & Watergate exhibit starts the museum and sets up the story for the least likely president. A man of honour, ethics, and morals became a president. Although the last 20 years proves it is unlikely to ever happen again.
Ford's time in office was short but the exhibit sets the time and the emotions and lets the viewer appreciate Ford what he did and not much more. The exhibit down plays Betty Ford's addictions and does not show Ford's famous falls. This museum will be 1 hour up to our experience of 4 hours.
Warning: the museum describes Republicans as people and may make some Democrats burst into flames. -
Review from Thomas W.
4/13/2009
Presidential Museums and Libraries tend to be rather anti-climactic. There's just very little that you can put within that is not already a matter of public record, and aside from a few notables such as Lincoln, Kennedy, et al, there are few that accumulated any artifacts worth preserving, let alone showing to the public at large.
With that said, the Gerald Ford Museum somehow accomplishes the impossible task of making one of America's least-interesting presidents appear even less interesting. I will avoid the temptation to discuss Ford's mediocre presidency...however, much like his pardon of Richard Nixon, his own museum seems a desperate, obvious, and ultimately failed attempt at revisionist history. A bias tempers every exhibit with an almost palpable slime; I literally felt as though there were some Ford Administration crony standing over my shoulder, whispering conservative talking points in my ear.
And the asking price? Peh, the admission seems insulting, especially considering the moderate level of importance or interest invoked by the exhibits. I could care less about Ford's footballer days, or seeing the clothing of-da-times, especially when I can walk into a Goodwill and see those for free.
In reality, this museum is an attempt to create interest where none deserves to be created - Ford was simply not that important of a public figure, and this building not that important of a Grand Rapids landmark.
Pass. -
Review from Louie P.
Los Angeles, CA
This is the first time I had been inside a take a real tour of a Museum, and this place was pack because people came by to pay last respect to Betty Ford who recently buried. This is a good place to take a historic study of President Ford, and the mess of Watergate. You will get a glimpse of video footage of Watergate investigation. This is good for history buff to go.
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Review from Michele D.
Sterling, VA
11/23/2008
Had we known how well put together and informative this place was, we would have allotted more time. As it was, we were only able to spend 40 minutes looking around before we had to be at the airport. :(
There was an amazing amount of information detailing Ford's life and his time in the White House. So many historic artifacts and interesting trivia to go along with them!
I would love to return and spend alot more quality time seeing everything. -
Review from Sarah R.
3/8/2009 1 photo
Overall, this was a good historical museum, showing Ford's roots in Michigan. The actual Watergate artifacts and papers were probably the most intriguing.
Some unexpected bonuses included lots of Betty Ford info (though they played up her breast cancer activism and WAY downplayed her issues with drugs and alcohol), a general scene-setting 70s display with faboo clothes, 8-tracks and a pet rock, and a small collection of bicentennial fever artifacts.
The replica of the cabinet room and the oval office were pretty cool, and the miniature White house was nifty, too, though the animatronic guards were a little creepy.
Two negatives that kept it from being 5-star for me: Fairly biased commentary in some of the exhibits and the $7 entry fee. It was cool, but I thought $7 was a little excessive. -
Review from Teej T.
Urbana, IL
5/26/2008
Gerald Ford is one of those guys that people in my generation (read: born after 1980) have trouble believing was actually President of this here majestic Republic. But he was, from 1974-77, assuming the office after the devastating resignation of Nixon amid the Watergate scandal and a deepening sense of widespread pessimism post-Vietnam. It was not an especially gentle period to guide the country. Yet the Gerald Ford Museum makes good on the legacy of one its most famous native sons and creates a spirited, engaging museum that tells the story of a humble congressman and his path to the heights of American power in a devastating time for the country.
Most impressive is the part of the museum devoted to Watergate, and its masterfully done, effectively invoking the moods, emotions, and thoughts of a country as well as Ford's incredibly controversial decision to pardon Nixon upon ascending to the Presidency, a move which most likely doomed his chances at winning the office in his own right in 1976. Still, the museum is a well-kept, well organized space that impressively tells the story of an obscure congressman turned world leader in a momentous time. Nice job, Gerald Ford Museum. I'm sure your benefactor is pleased in the Great Beyond. -
Review from Dominique K.
Royal Oak, MI
2/21/2011
The museum is a striking building with a two-story wall of windows over looking the Grand River and downtown Grand Rapids skyline. There is plenty of room to wander around the grounds, and the Ford grave site is a short walk from the museum building.
Most of the museum's exhibits are on the second floor, and the first one you hit up there is a fun sort of time-capsule look at the 1970s in all of its cheesy glory. You then move on through the more subdued exhibits dealing with Watergate, Ford's early life, and his unexpected rise to the presidency. The exhibits detailing some of the issues during his presidency are a bit text-heavy, so I wouldn't really recommend it for very young kids...although some of the more interactive exhibits like a full-scale replica of the Ford-era Oval Office with an audio track of actors recreating a typical day in the life of Ford's presidency are pretty cool.
The twenty-minute film shown on each hour in the ground-floor auditorium gives a nice overview of the presidency and Ford as a man.Listed in: Culture club
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Review from Lisa S.
San Jose, CA
7/5/2009
It was an informative museum. I learned a lot about Ford and his life. I felt quite patriotic when I was there.
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Review from David W.
Rochester, MN
5/3/2010
Spent about four hours here.
The museum itself is pretty informative. They have a short movie you can watch on Ford before proceeding through the rest of the museum. I liked this because it gave you some context for what you were about to see.
I will agree that there isn't *too* much to be said about his presidency--he was only president for one term, and not even a full term at that. The visual material they had wasn't anything too stunning, so in order to get something out of the museum, you have to be the type that reads everything. If you do that, the placards tell a pretty good story.
The president is also buried on site, although they don't really point out *exactly where*. They just give you a "he's buried in this park somewhere by this memorial". That left me a little unfulfilled. Whatever.
It's OK for a museum. Definitely not on the top of my "things to do in GR" list but at the same time I don't feel like it was a waste of my time. I guess it's someplace you go once if you live in GR and leave it at that. -
Review from Jodi W.
Grand Rapids, MI
1/18/2009
interesting, informative, and definitely a must see if you are in GR. Especially the Watergate and Vietnam diaramas are worthy of a visit and a sobering reminder that we don't learn by our mistakes - it seems that we just keep repeating them with a different flair.
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Review from Mike S.
Los Angeles, CA
7/14/2008
i wrote a big review but then i accidentally closed the window. bogusness!!
the jist of what i said:
1. it was jerry ford's birthday, so we got in for free! it's normally pretty cheap anyways, i think it's normally $7 general admission, $5 for students. +1 star
2. we picked up (what we later discovered to be) this weird super conservative and slightly racist pack of politician caricature themed playing cards in the museum's gift shop. bummer. -1 star
3. it was informative! lots of well-narrated videos and such giving you many facts about the nixon and ford administrations. i learned a lot! +2 stars
4. they had the gun & apology letter shot & written by one of the crazy gals who tried to snuff him out in the mid-70s. +1 star
5. really nice exhibit recently installed covering ford's funerals in washington and grand rapids. they had a neat feature where you could push a button and hear the speeches given by various important people at the service (jimmy carter, historians, etc). +1 star
good for anyone interested in the white house. wouldn't recommend it too much for anyone under the age of 15, though. not much there aimed at entertaining small children.
