He wrote of the lives of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and others, edited the works of Thomas Jefferson, and wrote a number of novels which had considerable success, including The Honorable Peter Stirling, Story of an Untold Love, Janice Meredith, Wanted a Matchmaker, and Wanted a Chaperon.

Ford's edition remains valuable for its accuracy of transcription from original manuscripts and its careful annotation of the documents chosen for publication.

[1] Ford was a close personal friend of George Washington Vanderbilt II.

He often visited Vanderbilt at Biltmore Estate where they read, played chess and enjoyed the outdoors.

Ford was murdered in his Manhattan home by his brother Malcolm Webster Ford, at one time the most famous amateur athlete in the United States, who then committed suicide.