Letter Accepting the Resignation of Anne L. Armstrong as Counsellor to the President.
Dear Anne:
It was with the deepest regret that I learned that important family responsibilities have prompted your letter of resignation as a Presidential Counsellor and as a member of my Cabinet.
You will be greatly missed at the White House. I am certain, however, that the same sense of dedication to family that has characterized your dedication to country has made your decision a necessary one.
When I assumed the office of the Presidency on August 9, 1974, it was critically important that I have the immediate assistance and support of highly able, skilled, compassionate and loyal leaders in government. You were one of those key people who helped to fill that urgent requirement.
I thank you not only personally but on behalf of our fellow countrymen for your distinguished service.
Betty joins with me in wishing to you and yours the very best.
Sincerely,
JERRY FORD
[The Honorable Anne Armstrong, Counsellor to the President, The White House]
Note: Mrs. Armstrong's letter of resignation, dated November 26, 1974, and released with the President's letter, read as follows:
Dear Mr. President:
Right after you were sworn in as President, I remember telling you that even if we had searched 100 years, we could not have found anyone so well suited as you to give our country the high moral leadership it desperately needed in very difficult days. So, as you know, when you asked me to serve as a Counsellor and member of your Cabinet, I was highly honored and eagerly looked forward to serving you for an extended period.
In your first 100 days as President, you have fulfilled my best hopes. It is, therefore, with the deepest regret that I now must submit my resignation because of unforeseen and pressing family responsibilities which make it necessary for me to return to my home in Texas.
Your strong support for my various areas of responsibility, including the Bicentennial, Federal Property Council, the first White House Office of Women's Programs, and liaison to young people and Hispanic Americans, assures me their progress will continue.
We still face very difficult days, but I have great confidence in my country and in my President. The goals you are setting are the right ones. You have the right qualities to lead us to them--wisdom, integrity, strength of character, and the ability to relate to your fellow Americans. Your leadership offers the single best hope that America will enter its Third Century with its basic principles intact, with a clear vision of its future, with prosperity and peace.
After almost four years in Washington, I leave with a profound appreciation of the responsibility of our leaders not only to protect the public interest, but also to safeguard the public trust. Mr. President, I have every confidence in your ability to do both.
I wish you great success, and to you and Mrs. Ford and your family I wish great happiness.
Respectfully,
ANNE ARMSTRONG
Mrs. Tobin Armstrong
[The President, The White House, Washington. D.C.]
Gerald R. Ford, Letter Accepting the Resignation of Anne L. Armstrong as Counsellor to the President. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256002