Gerald Ford, We Hardly Knew Ye

[SteppingRazor]

http://blogs.southflorida.com/citylink_dansweeney/2006/12/gerald_ford_july_14_1913decemb.html

I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon.
— Gerald Ford, as quoted by Hunter S. Thompson

<snip>
One cannot offer a real summation on the legacy of the Ford Administration, meaning a look at the outcomes of its own policies and politics, for the simple reason that Ford was not in office long enough for his effect to be truly measured. But nevertheless, this ship of state has limped along, listing to one side, ever since then. We took on too much filthy, scum-ridden water under one captain. And when the next captain took the wheel, he refused to man the bilge pumps. The pardoning of Richard Milhous Nixon is a festering pustule on the body politic, one that has never been properly seen to. Had Nixon been held to account for his crimes — had justice been done — this country would be stronger for it. Future presidents would have looked at Nixon as a warning of what can happen when a president believes he is above the law. Instead, Ford demonstrated that the president is, indeed, just that. Instead of restoring honor, Ford, the first president of my lifetime, was the first in a long, duplicitous line of goons.
<snip>

But, under the radar, perhaps the biggest effect of the Ford presidency was this:

Ford with his Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and his chief of staff, Dick Cheney

While Donny and Dick had lesser positions in the Nixon White House, where they got their starts in executive-branch politics, both rose to power in the Ford Administration. Without Ford, it's unlikely we would have seen them in power in the Bush administration(s). In a sense, Ford made these men what they are. He gave them their first real crack at inner-circle presidential politics. And so, here we are today. Thanks, Gerry.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. For what it says, thank you. Inject a little reality into the love fest.

but the link doesn't work.

[SteppingRazor]

2. I fixed the image. Thanks for the heads up. The link should work, though n/t

[earthside]

3. That About Says It

Ford wasn't in office long enough to do too much damage at the time.

But he was obviously a poor judge of character ... a flaw that has cost us plenty since his day.

[Warpy]

4. Yes, he gave some of Nixon's protegees their jobs

and those bright young men turned into monsters.

I think he did the best with the corrupt staff he inherited. The rancor, secrecy, and illegal spying that were the hallmarks of the later Nixon administration stopped.

I also think he was convinced the right thing to do was to pardon Nixon and at the time, a majority of people agreed with him. The country had had enough and wanted Nixon GONE. They really didn't want to see a protracted legal mess tying up a good portion of the government for months.

In hindsight, this turned out to be a poor decision. If all the bright young men of Nixon's administration had their reputations tarnished by exposing their parts in Nixon's illegal activities and misuses of power, perhaps they wouldn't be such powerful monsters now. Some of them might even have been taught right from wrong.

Ford was no saint. At the time, he was considered an affable bumbler, good for amusement for his clumsiness and his WIN buttons but generally harmless to the country. However, instead of dealing directly with the mess OPEC was causing, he printed silly buttons and blamed US working people for wanting living wages, continuing Nixon's policy of blaming the poor for poverty. His inability to deal with the economy realistically set the stage for Carter's failure.

Still, after Nixon, he provided the country with a whiff of fresh air.

[beaconess]

5. Ford was a decent man. May he rest in peace.

[AlCzervik]

6. I always liked his wife, i thought she was a classy and kind first and former first lady.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Agree wholeheartedly

I think Ford truly believed that pardoning Nixon was the right thing to do -- I don't buy any of the "corrupt bargain" conspiracy theories. But while that makes Ford a better man, morally speaking, it makes him a worse man in terms of intelligence and common sense. In the end, I think Ford was a reasonably decent, but far too trusting and unwise man, who was easily molded by those around him.

In a way, our current president is an amalgamation of the worst qualities of Ford and Nixon.

[DaveinMD]

8. Ford believed

that a pardon was necessary for healing to begin. I disagree, but I understand.

He was a good man and a moderate Republican. Unfortunately, he lost his party to Reagan and that began this horrible era culminating in Bush the second.