KATU - Channel 2, Portland, Oregon
Posted by: 
Rose Red
N 45° 31.629 W 122° 38.642
10T E 527797 N 5041574
On Friday, May 22, 1976, I was a journalism student at Portland State University when I was chosen to be chauffeur for the ABC White House Press Corp during their visit to Portland, Oregon. I drove them to KATU-TV at 2153 NE Sandy Blvd.
Waymark Code: WM1FF4
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 04/27/2007
Views: 224
On Friday, May 22, 1976, I was a journalism student at Portland State University when I was chosen to be chauffeur for the ABC White House Press Corp during their visit to Portland, Oregon the next day. I received security clearance from the White House before I left college to go home.
I created an “ABC” sign to tape to the window of my three-seat station wagon. I met the plane at Flightcraft at Portland International Airport on Saturday afternoon. I did not pay any attention to the people who entered my car but I found out later that Peter Jennings sat behind me.
I drove the ABC White House Press Corp to KATU-TV at 2153 NE Sandy Blvd. and then to their hotel. That evening I was invited to sit on the Press Platform during President Gerald Ford’s speech to the World Affairs Council of Oregon at Lewis & Clark College.
President Ford delivered his foreign policy address, favoring a strong foreign policy. He said that he would deal with the overall foreign policy of the U.S. He believed in peace through strength with the United States taking its “full responsibility of leadership in the world.”
David “Dave” Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who chronicled President Gerald Ford and his administration, was on Death Watch. If anything happened to the President, he would be there to photograph it.
Helen Thomas (UPI), a member of the White House Press Corps, was seated next to me on my right on the Press Platform. She would serve for 57 years as a correspondent and White House bureau chief for United Press International (UPI). She autographed my copy of the White House Press Release. I remarked to her that the President looked exhausted. She replied, “Never feel sorry for any President…they are where they want to be.”
Address:
2153 NE Sandy Blvd.
Portland, Oregon USA
97232
Website: [Web Link]
Programming:
Standard programming
Favorite Show/Personality: Ebert & Roeper
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