Ford and Carter Will Help Compile Policy Proposals for Next President

Former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter will chair a group that will present to the next President a list of the nation’s most pressing problems, together with proposals for solving them.

The bipartisan group, whose advisory board includes many of the top officials of the Ford and Carter administrations, began its studies in January and plans to complete its analysis by Election Day. After the new President takes office, the group, known as American Agenda, will request a meeting to present its policy proposals.

‘Will Prove Useful’

“We would not presume to attempt to impose our views on the next President, but we do believe these studies will prove a useful context for him and his advisers as they begin their service to the nation,” Ford said in a statement released Saturday.

Serving on the organization’s executive committee are former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, former Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal, former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

American Agenda’s executive directors are James M. Cannon and Stuart E. Eizenstat, the domestic policy advisers for Ford and Carter, respectively.

American Agenda is a nonprofit foundation funded by a grant from Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and a number of other media properties.