Memories of the Ford Administration
Encyclopedia
Memories of the Ford Administration is a 1992 novel by John Updike
published by Knopf.
. The novel is presented as Clayton's improbably long and incredibly personal response, submitted to his professional association, the Northern New England Association of American Historians (NNEAAH). (Clayton teaches at a junior college
in New Hampshire.)
, which he was writing at the time. Although Buchanan's life and times are discussed in great detail, to the point where Clayton (and Updike) crosses over into the realm of imagined thoughts and dialogue, there is next to nothing said about Ford or his administration in the novel. Rather, the Ford-era part of Clayton's memories center almost entirely on the professor's personal life, above all his romantic involvement with the wife of an English teacher on campus. Sexual encounters are described in loving detail, leaving the reader to think that Clayton must be off his rails to be enumerating such dalliances before members of the NNEAAH. And he is off his rails in another way, too, namely, in being unable to constrain himself in writing about Buchanan, someone generally thought to have been rather a dud as a person and a president. Yet Clayton believes that Buchanan was largely wrongly blamed for bringing about the American Civil War
through his weak leadership, and the historian questions how correct the general perception of Buchanan's character as related by most historians actually is.
The novel is a tour de force in the genre of mixed history and fiction, or rather in the writerly craft of stretching historical description to (and beyond) its accepted limits. No one seems to know more about Buchanan than Clayton/Updike, and this apparently is one reason why Clayton never could finish his Buchanan biography: he simply could not imagine his subject in any but the most intimate of terms. Writing a standard biography would have been too objectifying an act. He needs the prompt of "memories and impressions" concerning another president to get him going.
Clayton also notes the way that sexual mores had changed during his lifetime, recalling that while in the 1970s it was considered common for teachers at colleges to engage in sexual liaisons with their female students, by the 1990s this was deemed to be totally unacceptable and even criminal behavior. He vaguely laments the loss, although now back with his wife in the era of Ronald Reagan
and George H. W. Bush
, and comes across as a chastened man.
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
published by Knopf.
Plot introduction
Set in the early 1990s, it concerns a historian and teacher, Alfred Clayton, and his response to a national survey requesting "memories and impressions" of the administration of Gerald FordGerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. The novel is presented as Clayton's improbably long and incredibly personal response, submitted to his professional association, the Northern New England Association of American Historians (NNEAAH). (Clayton teaches at a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
in New Hampshire.)
Major themes
Clayton idealizes the Ford years and the sexual freedom they represented, and the novel cuts between his memories of the 1970s and scenes from his uncompleted biography of James BuchananJames Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
, which he was writing at the time. Although Buchanan's life and times are discussed in great detail, to the point where Clayton (and Updike) crosses over into the realm of imagined thoughts and dialogue, there is next to nothing said about Ford or his administration in the novel. Rather, the Ford-era part of Clayton's memories center almost entirely on the professor's personal life, above all his romantic involvement with the wife of an English teacher on campus. Sexual encounters are described in loving detail, leaving the reader to think that Clayton must be off his rails to be enumerating such dalliances before members of the NNEAAH. And he is off his rails in another way, too, namely, in being unable to constrain himself in writing about Buchanan, someone generally thought to have been rather a dud as a person and a president. Yet Clayton believes that Buchanan was largely wrongly blamed for bringing about the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
through his weak leadership, and the historian questions how correct the general perception of Buchanan's character as related by most historians actually is.
The novel is a tour de force in the genre of mixed history and fiction, or rather in the writerly craft of stretching historical description to (and beyond) its accepted limits. No one seems to know more about Buchanan than Clayton/Updike, and this apparently is one reason why Clayton never could finish his Buchanan biography: he simply could not imagine his subject in any but the most intimate of terms. Writing a standard biography would have been too objectifying an act. He needs the prompt of "memories and impressions" concerning another president to get him going.
Clayton also notes the way that sexual mores had changed during his lifetime, recalling that while in the 1970s it was considered common for teachers at colleges to engage in sexual liaisons with their female students, by the 1990s this was deemed to be totally unacceptable and even criminal behavior. He vaguely laments the loss, although now back with his wife in the era of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, and comes across as a chastened man.
Evaluation
Memories of the Ford Administration is an unusual book, from the schizophrenic cover image depicting a combined Ford-Buchanan presidential portrait, to the compromised positions that Clayton finds himself in as a result of his unbridled devotion to sexuality in general and to his lover in particular. Running through it all is the arguably dull and overwritten biography of James Buchanan. Often the two stories do not conjoin, and the reader has the impression of skipping back and forth between two separate and unrelated books. If the premise that we are reading an extended response to a request by the NNEAAH for reflections on the Ford administration/era wears thin at times, it arguably serves to remind the reader that the work is a novel and that behind it sits a novelist.External links
- ISBN 0-449-91211-6
- NYT Review