"The 38th president had arrived in Sacramento the night before on a West Coast tour, following stops in Portland and Seattle. He was staying downtown, directly across the street from the Capitol. His itinerary and every move were made public, and the town was excited. With around 700,000 residents, Sacramento was used to losing big names and events to its sexier California cousins, San Francisco and Los Angeles."
"Ford spent the morning at a brunch, glad-handing local business leaders, and then returned to his hotel, where an adoring crowd of well-wishers was waiting. The people-person president, known to be a flirt, reveled in the attention. By mid-morning, Ford set out from his hotel to make the two-minute walk across L Street into Capitol Park, where he was to enter the Statehouse to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature. The crowd of fans, press and security followed, and an ambulance was nearby in case anything went wrong."
"Around 10:30 a.m., a diminutive 26-year-old redhead from Southern California pulled a pistol from under her red dress and pointed it at the president, point-blank. She was Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Charles Manson's most trusted follower."
On Sept. 5, 1975, 14-year-old Karen Skelton skipped school to follow her reporter parents, Nancy and George Skelton, to President Gerald Ford's visit to the California Capitol in Sacramento. Ford had arrived the night before on a West Coast tour and stayed across from the Capitol. He spent the morning at a brunch, returned to his hotel, and then walked into Capitol Park amid fans, press and security with an ambulance nearby. Around 10:30 a.m., Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a 26-year-old Charles Manson follower, pulled a pistol from under her red dress and pointed it at the president, with Skelton mere feet away. A walk-through of the scene in Capitol Park occurred in June when the area was under heavy construction.
Read at SFGATE
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