Oliver Sipple and Gerald Ford

"Even two attempts on his life by unbalanced women in California in 1975 did not deter him."

The odd sentence above is from the New York Times 8,100-word obituary of President Gerald Ford.

The first attempt on Ford's life happened on September 5, 1975 in Sacramento, Ca. The wannabe-assassin was a follower of Charles Manson named Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme.

Because of the connection to Charles Manson and the attempted-assassin's cute nickname, the first attempt on Ford's life is better remembered than the second. Nevertheless, the second attempt, is also worth remembering.

On September 22, 1975, President Ford was leaving the St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco. He was on his way to Sacramento to speak to the California legislature.

A crowd gathered outside the hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of Ford. Sara Jane Moore, a political radical and FBI informant (I think), was waiting in the crowd with a pistol.

Standing next to her, by chance, was a former Marine and San Francisco resident named Oliver Sipple. When President Ford got close to them (35-40 feet), Moore drew her pistol with the intention of killing the President. Sipple saw the gun and lunged at it just as Moore fired. Sipple hit Moore's arm, forcing the shot away from Ford. Moore was subdued before she could fire again.

Sipple was a hero. He saved the President's life. Unfortunately for Sipple, the media coverage and political hoopla that followed the incident ruined his life.

Sipple was gay, but he was not out. That didn't stop the press from reporting that he was gay, nor did it stop gay political leaders (most notably Harvey Milk) from touting Sipple as a gay icon.

Sipple was unprepared for the emotional challenges presented to him by his sudden outing. According to several reports, Sipple's mother stopped speaking to him upon finding out that he was gay. Sipple became very depressed and fell into alcoholism.

He didn't want to be a gay icon. He wanted to be a former Marine who just happened to save the President's life. He sued several newpapers for revealing that he was gay, but lost. Sipple's mental and physical health declined throughout the 1980s. In 1989, he died in his sleep. He was 49.

Sipple received a thank-you letter from Ford (which he reportedly framed and had by his bed side when he died), but he was never invited to the White House for a formal, in-person thank-you.

You'll read and hear repeatedly about what a nice guy Gerald Ford was (the obit linked above calls him nice, decent, or kind six times), but it's hard not to conclude that Ford shunned the guy who saved his life simply because he was gay.

A President's weekly schedule is filled with non-policy-related, photo-op meetings. Surely Ford could have spared 15 minutes for the man who saved his life. Do you doubt that he would have if Sipple's homosexuality hadn't been the subject of several news stories?

Nice, decent and kind, but only when it wouldn't hurt him politically.