Gerald R. Ford Remembered

[Joshua312]

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Ford family ...A sad day for America

[percynjpn]

Yes, RIP Mr. President - I was sorry to hear of his passing. If only he hadn't pardoned Richard Nixon, he probably would have held office four more years and the U.S. wouldn't have had to go through the worst stewardship of the Oval Office in history: Jimmy Carter

[Ctowner]

RIP! And I agreed Jimmy Carter sucked! Anyways this is funny........Gerald Ford Dana Carvey SNL Tom Brokaw - Google Video

[DFTowel]

Originally Posted by percynjpn

Yes, RIP Mr. President - I was sorry to hear of his passing. If only he hadn't pardoned Richard Nixon, he probably would have held office four more years and the U.S. wouldn't have had to go through the worst stewardship of the Oval Office in history: Jimmy Carter

If he didn't pardon Nixon we would have been worse off than having Carter. I don't know if you remember those days but I can recall that every minute of every day was permeated with Watergate, you couldn't get away from it. It was so depressing, so overpowering that if we had to go through a mess with Nixon being indicted... well I can't imagine what it would have been like. Ford was absolutely correct in that pardon, it was needed to end it all once and for all. He may have committed political suicide but even Edward Kennedy eventually praised him for it.

[Scottwax]

Originally Posted by percynjpn

Yes, RIP Mr. President - I was sorry to hear of his passing. If only he hadn't pardoned Richard Nixon, he probably would have held office four more years and the U.S. wouldn't have had to go through the worst stewardship of the Oval Office in history: Jimmy Carter

True but the Carter years led to the Reagan revolution.

I remember when Ford took office (I was 13) and the sadness when he lost to Carter a couple years later. President Ford was a good man and the right man to follow Nixon. RIP.

[velobard]

We have truly lost a great man. He took over one of the most difficult jobs in the world at a particulary challenging time and did it with dignity and a healing heart. It cost him his political career to do the right thing, but history has vindicated his action in pardoning Nixon. Caring for the nation had to take priority over taking punitive action against one man who had already been removed of his power.

When I was in high school marching band we were called upon to play as the honor band for political rallies for both Ford and Carter, so I had the opportunity to hear both speak in person. There was also some independent or 3rd party candidate that asked us to play as well, but we declined that offer. At this point I can't recall any of the specifics of the rallies I attended, but I can remember how much more I was impressed by Ford as a true statesman. At least he wasn't tossing out bags of peanuts to the crowd like another candidate.

[percynjpn]

Originally Posted by DFTowel

If he didn't pardon Nixon we would have been worse off than having Carter. I don't know if you remember those days but I can recall that every minute of every day was permeated with Watergate, you couldn't get away from it. It was so depressing, so overpowering that if we had to go through a mess with Nixon being indicted... well I can't imagine what it would have been like. Ford was absolutely correct in that pardon, it was needed to end it all once and for all. He may have committed political suicide but even Edward Kennedy eventually praised him for it.

I totally agree with you; I didn't mean that he was wrong in doing so. President Ford was a wonderful patriot who sacrificed his political future for the good of the country. Concerning other recent Commanders-in-Chief, President Ronald Reagan was the best leader in the post-war era, but both President George Bush, Sr. and President Ford were his equal regarding integrity and selflessness. All great men.

[percynjpn]

[quote=Scottwax]True but the Carter years led to the Reagan revolution.

QUOTE]

Yes, there's always a silver lining - and very much so in this case (thank God)!!