It is an uncommon combination: a Chaparral humor magazine editor who goes on to write one of the most memorable presidential addresses in U.S. history. But such was the case for Robert Trowbridge Hartmann, confidant and senior aide to former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.
Hartmann, '38, of Bethesda, Md., and Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, died April 11, at 91, of cardiac arrest. He was a member of Delta Chi fraternity. During World War II, he worked in public relations and press censorship roles for the Navy. He retired from the Navy Reserve in 1977 with the rank of captain. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1939 and spent 25 years there as a reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief. He also headed Middle Eastern coverage from Rome. Hired as an “idea man” in 1966 for the House Republican Conference, Hartmann be-friended Ford, then the House minority leader. He became Ford's senior aide and, in 1973, was appointed the new vice president's chief of staff.
In August 1974, minutes after Richard Nixon left the White House, Hartmann handed Ford his speech to the nation, containing the now-famous declaration “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” Ford worried the phrase was “too harsh,” but Hartmann threatened to resign if the words were removed. Hartmann became the president's counsel, directed the speechwriting staff and acted as a liaison between the executive office and the Republican Party.
Hartmann was often considered brusque, and his 1980 autobiography, Palace Politic: An Insider Account of the Ford Years, gave details about his disagreements with White House officials. Hartmann was considered Ford's closest personal aide, but the book maintains a critical and analytical account of his presidency.
After Ford lost the 1976 presidential race, Hartmann was named to a term on the Board of Visitors, U.S. Naval Academy. After that, he won a two-year appointment as senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He won the 1958 national Distinguished Service Award of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists, for the year's best Washington correspondence. He also won the Overseas Press Club of America's 1961 citation for the best series on Latin America, and other journalistic honors.
Survivors: his wife of 65 years, Roberta Sankey; one son, Robert; one daughter, Roberta Brake; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
