In that position, Hartmann supervised the White House research, correspondence and writing staff, and personally drafted and edited most of Ford's speeches and statements. He also took part in White House policy meetings.
In his memoirs, Hartmann noted that the easygoing Ford got along with almost everyone -- except Ronald Reagan, then governor of California.
"Ford thought Reagan was a phony, and Reagan thought Ford was a lightweight, and neither one felt the other was fit to be president," Hartmann wrote.
Hartmann also was critical of the many Nixon aides who stayed on in the White House after Ford took office. He noted that although Ford's decision to pardon Nixon didn't help Ford politically, he might have fared better if he had rid the White House of Nixon's loyalists and put in his own team.
Ford lost the reelection in 1976 to little-known former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter.
Hartmann is survived by his wife of 65 years, the former Roberta Sankey; a daughter; a son; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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jon.thurber@latimes.com
