At his core Ford was a decent man .... true story

[Botany]

As President Jerry Ford's golden retriever, Miss Liberty took a crap
on the floor in a room where Ford was. A Secret Service agent or an
aid went to clean it up but Ford stopped the person and picked it up
his self. When asked why he said, "I expect no man to do that for me."

Sure I know about the Warren Commission stories and that he pardoned
Nixon but his acts were what he thought were in the best interests of the
country. His actions that history might judge right or wrong were not done
out greed or to get more power for himself. If links between Castro and Kennedy's
death were shown then that might have touched off WW III and when he pardoned
Nixon (a deal was made prior ... no doubt) Watergate & Nixon was using up more
than 50% of his time.

RIP Jerry, although I might disagree with your politics I wish your soul &
family nothing but my best wishes.

[MichiganVote]

1. Well Vietnam ended during his tenure, said Ford

In a speech as the end neared, Ford said: “Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned.”

Think Bush would take a lesson? Not likely.

[Botany]

2. Ford flat out told anybody that he was not going to waste one more ...

... American on Vietnam.

BTW Ford was an All American Center @ the U of M ..... went to Yale Law with
an academic scholarship (he was assistant football coach too), and skied expert
runs into his 70s .....

[MichiganVote]

4. And he could speak an entire coherant sentence w/o practicing his lines!

[bbinacan]

3. President Ford

Rest In Peace.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. I also remember a story

about Ford, and I believe Brezhnev, at Camp David.

They were out walking, and Brezhnev tripped and fell. Ford pretended not to notice at all, and kept walking, while aides helped Brezhnev back to his feet.

Ford didn't want to embarrass Brezhnev by noticing his stumble.

[GainesT1958]

6. He and Betty cared about people...

And he knew what war was like first-hand by flying for the Navy in the Pacific in WWII...

Too bad the current Repub pResident shares neither of those sentiments!:mad:

B-)

[JNelson6563]

7. Helen Thomas story

Saw Helen on some interview, she talked about all the presidents. When it came to Ford she told a story about being in the press corps on some outing with him and they came across a scale that would tell your fortune or some such thing. Ford got the little slip of paper out of the machine when he weighed himself on it. Told Helen that the slip read something like "You'll be one of America's greatest presidents" and Helen looked at it and said "It got your weight wrong too". I guess they shared a big laugh over that.

:-)

Julie

[jgraz]

8. I bet Cheney NEVER does that when Bush craps in the Oval Office

[stevedeshazer]

9. In choosing between picking up dog shit and picking up Kissinger,

I'll go with dog shit.

[Kiouni]

10. Nicely put. I'm tired of the Ford bashing

threads already.

[hfojvt]

11. but apparently not very good at house training dogs

some other stories

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/28

[MadHound]

12. Ford might be a decent enough guy, but

Politically he allowed himself to be used. First, on the Warren Commission, and secondly for pardoning Nixon. Both of these were travesties of justice, and frankly I will never consider Ford in a good light because of them. And the man took a lot of secrets to the grave with him, a shame really, for our nation needs some closure on a number of issues that Ford had his hands in.

[LeftishBrit]

13. One of the first American political events I really followed was the 1976 Republican primary

and even then, I realized that Reagan was a real monster, and pretty much like our Maggie Thatcher whom I already hated, and I was so glad when Ford beat him - as though the forces of evil had been warded off (but, as it turned out, only briefly).

Ford wasn't a genius, and I wouldn't have voted for him in a general election even if I'd been American and old enough; but he was IMO well-meaning, and nothing like the danger to the world that his Republican successors have been. And he did appoint one of the more liberal members of the Supreme Court.

If Republicans nowadays were more like him, the world would be a safer place IMO.