As a congressman, House minority leader, vice president, and president, Gerard R. Ford (1913-2006) was known for both his public discretion and his salty private opinions. For over 32 years, Newsweek correspondent Thomas DeFrank heard full volleys of these comments, often followed quickly by "Write it when I'm dead" sanctions. As the ex-president and journalist became close friends, Ford shared his most intimate thoughts and favorite private stories about government policies and chief executives from Truman through George W. Bush. Write It When I'm Gone contains fascinating material about subjects including the Cold War, the Warren Commission, the Clinton impeachment proceedings, Iraq, and Ford's White House chiefs of staff, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.