ABSTRACT
On february 5, 1953, the day after Hoffman resigned, Henry Ford II announced that his successor would be Associate Director Gaither, and that the move to New York “will not be hurried, but will be carried out in a gradual and orderly manner”—as, in fact, it was, Gaither being a gradual and orderly man. One standard American business type, the high-powered salesman, had been replaced by another, the low-keyed administrator. If Hoffman was the glittering ringmaster of a philanthropic circus, Gaither is the hard-working transmission belt between the Ford millions and the outside world; if Hoffman was a crusader, Gaither is a catalyst, precipitating activity without being affected himself; if Hoffman was the enthusiastic amateur who rushed in where the trustees feared to tread, Gaither is the cool professional who never rushes anywhere. His approach is discreet; he dislikes making speeches or public appearances, and rarely makes any; his name seldom appears in the newspapers, and then only in connection with the Foundation.
