At noon on 9 August 1974, Gerald R. Ford – a man virtually unknown overseas, whose highest elected office was that of congressman – took the oath of office as President of the United States. According to the USIA's digest of foreign media reaction, his assets included an encouraging wealth of good will around the world. The West welcomed Ford's retention of Henry Kissinger (initially as both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor) and was eager for American leadership in the world economic crisis. The East seemed anxious to avoid any disruption of détente. Moscow made optimistic noises while Beijing remained tactfully circumspect. Only North Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba attempted to score political points. Even so, the USIA had much work to do.

The USIA's core objective in covering the transition from Nixon to Ford was to stress the “continuity of U.S. foreign policy” and develop the wider story of Nixon's resignation as evidence of the “strength of the American democratic system.” The USIA threw the bulk of its effort into support for foreign media correspondents covering the story in Washington, DC and supplying material to news organizations around the world. An internal review had no doubt that the “strength of the U.S. system did come across.”