Ford tells of assassination attempt in video

The former US president calmly and carefully recalled the attempted assassination in the videotaped evidence that would later be used in Fromme’s trial. The roughly 20-minute interview taped in Washington was released by a federal court as the result of a motion filed by a historical group.

In it, Mr Ford gestures gently with his hands and sips water as he answers questions from a lawyer about what began as a routine morning in September 1975, before Fromme pushed through a crowd on the street, drew a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at him. The gun was not fired, and Mr Ford was unhurt.

In the taped evidence posted online by The Sacramento Bee, Mr Ford recalls seeing a “weathered” woman in a brightly coloured dress as he walked toward the building, where he planned to meet the governor.

She “appeared to want to either shake hands or speak, or at least wanted to get closer to me,” Mr Ford says. He then saw a large gun coming through the crowd of well-wishers. But when asked if he saw the face of who was holding it, he answered: “No, I did not.”

He described a frantic moment when a security agent seized the suspect and he was rushed away.

Fromme was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 2009.