Voting Station

Jerry TerHorst

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Commentator

The Resume

    (July 11, 1922-March 31, 2010)
    Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan
    Reporter/columnist for the Grand Rapdis Press (1946-51) and Detroit News (1953-74,1974-81)
    White House Press Secretary for Gerald Ford (August-September, 1974)
    Resigned in protest over the pardon of Richard Nixon
    Wrote 'Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency' (1974) and 'The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One' (1979)

Why he might be annoying:

    He and his wife worked as reporters at rival Grand Rapids newspapers.
    His name is written 'terHorst,' inspiring a 'Doonesbury' in which the press corps asks if he could change his name because it 'looks like a typo.'
    He resigned partly because Ford had kept him in the dark about the pardon until the night before.
    His resignation helped fuel rumors that Ford and Nixon cut a deal over the pardon.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and his wife Louise Roth were married for 64 years until her death.
    He served two stints in the Marine Corps (1943-46,1951-52).
    He resigned partly because he felt it was unfair to pardon Nixon but not other Watergate participants or Vietnam War draft dodgers.
    Shortly after he became Press Secretary, political journalist Jules Whitcover wrote, 'English language and civility, missing in action in the pressroom of the Nixon White House, have been found alive and well in the first 10 days of the Ford administration.'
    He said about the job of recent Press Secretaries, 'You do a lot of spinning.... It's a shame that it evolved in that direction.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 91.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 215 Votes: 66.05% Annoying