Willam J. Brink

Perhaps it is just as well that Willam J. Brink will never be my husband. We might have had a troubled relationship. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps we could have worked to avoid all discussion of his interesting role in Gerald Ford's defeat, an event that saddened me greatly at the time. You see, in 1975 Brink was managing editor of the Daily News of New York and he is the one who came up with the famous headline FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD. Result? Ford lost New York and the presidential election. While I am genetically disinclined to forgive even clever misdeeds, perhaps I would have gotten over it since the punishment was so severe: after a successful career as a journalist, Brink is known only for that headline.