That ’70s Flu, or Knitting Clio’s Memories of the Ford Administration

As one might expect, the hot topic of conversation at this weekend’s meeting of the AAHM was the current swine flu epidemic.  As I watched CNN and read newspaper reports, my mind went back not to the 1918-19 epidemic, but the Ford administration.  At that time, President Ford was ridiculed for  mobilizing a nationwide effort to immunize everyone in the United States against the disease. In a humor article entitled “Swine Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (May 31, 1976), the New Yorker reported in it’s coverage of the Academy Awards, the Swine Flu virus, ” a relatively unknown virus since 1918,”  swept the awards ceremony.  Will this epidemic also prove to be a case of Ford Administration deja vu?