"Halloween Massacre" is the term associated with the major reorganization of United States president Gerald Ford's cabinet on November 4, 1975,[1] which was an attempt to address multiple high-level personality and policy clashes within the administration.
[2] The overhaul came at a time when the president's leadership abilities were being broadly questioned, and he was being heavily criticized by California governor Ronald Reagan and others from the nascent conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Attached to the resignation letters was a memo with their detailed analysis of the perceived problems, and possible future strategies for the Ford administration.
The analysis blamed the majority of the problems on Robert T. Hartmann, Henry Kissinger, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
[7] Starting November 4, 1975, which was the Tuesday after the Halloween weekend, and which was timed to fit in the congressional confirmation window, Ford terminated several Nixon holdovers, and announced the names of the successors and new Cabinet nominees.