Dirck in RealAudio

Gerald Ford RealAudio

In the 1976 campaign against Jimmy Carter, Ford misspoke when confronted by a question in a debate about whether Eastern European nations were Soviet satellites. His answer - that he considered them to be independent nations - stunned the audience and prompted Carter to respond: "I would like to see Mr. Ford convince Polish-Americans and Czech-Americans that those countries don't live under the domination and supervision of the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain." Ford's campaign lost critical momentum and he eventually lost the election.