On July 5, 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first (and to date, only) African-American to win the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship at Wimbledon. Later that month, Ashe and Billie Jean King – the Ladies’ Singles Championship winner – visited with President Ford at the White House. A life-long tennis player, President Ford publicly congratulated the two champions in the Rose Garden on July 21, 1975. Ford said, “I just told them I watch them both on television and envied their competence and regretted that I could only watch and not participate.”

Ashe was already a popular figure in the world of tennis. In the late 1960s, he and sports equipment company Head developed the company’s first composite tennis racket – moving the sport from the use of wooden rackets to metal. (President Ford’s White House presented two Arthur Ashe custom-strung rackets as state gifts to Austrian Chancellor Kreisky when he visited the US in 1974.)

The day after the Rose Garden ceremony, Arthur Ashe wrote President Ford to thank him for the invitation to the White House. Ashe closed his letter saying: “I hope we have the opportunity to play tennis some day.”

President Ford responded to Ashe within one day, thanking Ashe for the gift of the book, “Arthur Ashe Portrait in Motion.” Ford also quipped that “You… have encouraged me to continue my tennis playing even though I do not play as often as I would like!” President Ford also handwrote a postscript on that letter. “P.S. You are a fine example for our youth and we are proud of you. J”

Author: Brooke Clement