The building was dedicated September 18, 1981, and was attended by Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Mexican president José López Portillo, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Japanese minister of foreign affairs Sunao Sonoda, former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

[2] Special exhibits highlight the United States Bicentennial celebration in 1976[3] and Betty Ford's role during her husband's term in office.

A Watergate gallery includes a six-minute, multi-screen history beginning with the June 1972 break-in and a display of the actual burglary tools.

In addition to providing funding for the library and museum, the foundation publishes a semi-annual report of activities, sponsors the William E. Simon Lectures in Public Affairs, awards journalism prizes for excellence in reporting on the presidency and defense issues and awards grants-in-aid of up to $2,000 to researchers who use the Ford Library archival holdings.

The museum collaborates with various organizations, including the Ford Presidential Foundation, University of Michigan, and Domestic Policy Association, to host scholarly conferences and community events.

The museum annually hosts naturalization ceremonies for new citizens and opens the grounds to community festivities and Independence Day fireworks.

Other regular programs include the Great Decisions Lecture Series which brings guest speakers on selected foreign policy topics and features audience discussions and completion of "opinion ballots".

It maintains an ongoing partnership with the Close Up Foundation and sponsors a Citizens Bee, a competitive exam for high school students with questions focused on history and political affairs.

The American Political Film Series annually presents eight motion pictures that frequently deal with highly charged topics for discussion.

[5] The conference featured presentations by politicians, well-known comedians, press secretaries, newspaper columnists, and political cartoonists to explore all sides of the topic.

During the service, former President Jimmy Carter, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and historian Richard Norton Smith gave eulogies.