By Staff
With the critical Michigan primary looming the following Tuesday, President Gerald R. Ford "mounted an unprecedented campaign blitz" across Michigan that began in Detroit on Wednesday, May 12, 1976, and finished in Niles Saturday, May 15, with a 10-minute whistlestop speech.
Ford drew his biggest crowds of the campaign, but they weren't all friendly, which unsettled the man from Grand Rapids.
The president knew if he can't win at home, he'd better go jump in the White House pool because he won't have much more time to use it.
"At least the president waved," the Dowagiac Daily News reported on Monday, May 17, 1976.
"He slowed down and he waved," the DDN account continued. "Whether or not that was worth standing in the rain for an hour depends on the frame of mind of hundreds of area residents who got soaked along the railroad tracks Saturday, but they waved and cheered as he went by. Indications were that they were satisfied that the president was able to at least take time to acknowledge their effort.
"More than 200 persons huddled under and around the limited shelter offered by the old Penn Central depot, but hundreds more were scattered along the tracks for almost the length of this city.
"Some came as early as 2:30 and law enforcement officials gathered even earlier than that. Dowagiac police, supplemented by representatives of all the area townships as well as the Cass County Sheriff's Department, spaced themselves on either side of the track to control traffic and crowds, but if any control was needed, it would have been for enthusiasm rather than any negative demonstrations because in Dowagiac they seemed happy that the president was passing through.
"Two red-white-and-blue engines traveling well in advance of the Presidential Express created a few false starts for the crowd, but the crowd increased rather than decreased in size as the result of the somewhat tardy appearance of the main train. Expected to pass through Dowagiac at about 3:40, it was almost 4 p.m. when it finally came through, but few, if any, people left early.
"Although not scheduled for any sort of appearance in Dowagiac, the president braved the afternoon spray of rain to come out to the open platform at the rear of the train and wave to the crowd. A loudspeaker carried a few friendly presidential greetings to the city as Ford headed to Niles for the final stop of his campaign train trail.
"Although local police officials were reluctant to comment on any security precautions because of the Secret Service's tendency to keep its operations non-public, it's believed that the heavy contingency of local law representatives was requested for the president's security team."