Wednesday, December 27, 2006

First James Brown, now Gerald ford

Gerald Ford
What I remember about former President Ford.
  1. His role on the Warren Commission
  2. As President he tried valiantly to prevent the fall of Saigon (and the subsequent genocide), but Democrats in Congress refused to fund the effort.
  3. His ''pardon'' of Richard Nixon was the right thing to do, but wall-to-wall outrage by the media - who despised Nixon - set an anti-Ford tone.
  4. During the 1976 campaign against Jimmy Carter, the media characterized Ford (who had been a All America football player at Michigan) as a bumbling idiot who couldn't take two-steps without falling down.  Chevy Chase gives himself credit for Ford's narrow loss by virtue of his stumble-bum portrayal of Ford on Saturday Night  Live, week after week.  I think he may be right, which of course also makes him responsible for Jimmy Carter.
  5. He made Nelson Rockefeller the Vice President of the United States, and actually listened to him.
  6. I thought daughter Susan was cute.
RIP
12/27/2006 08:17:00 AM 5 Comments

"If the number of Islamic terror attacks continues at the current rate, candlelight vigils will soon be the number-one cause of global warming. "
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was a child of 18 and heading to boot camp in august '74 when he became president. I didnt follow politics much then. What I remember and from what I have read he always seemed like the VP from the movie "Dave". A good, honest man in a vortex of bullshit. Nixon wasnt near what the press described, but they achieved their goal. They have continued to try and repeat the same, giving us rathergate, etc. Lets pray Jimmuh joins Mr Ford soon.
Tim

12/27/06, 8:45 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...

I don't think Carter will ever "join" Ford in any metaphysical sense, but that's for a power greater than I to decide.

12/27/06, 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...

I wonder if the media and people like Chevy Chase would find it as easy today to get away with those shenanigans. The 1976 election is the first one I remember paying much attention to-- didn't know much about what was going on but had family from Georgia that hated Carter and that was good enough for me.


I always liked Ford, he always showed alot of class. Wasn't he speaker of the house and became Nixon's VP after Spiro Agnew resigned? God that's a chilling thought with Speaker Pelosi soon to be instated.

TFV

12/27/06, 9:14 AM
Rodger the Real King of France said...

He was never Speaker of the Democrat controlled House, but would have been otherwise. He was selected by Nixon to replace Agnew - whose elimination made Nixon's impeachment attempt viable (Agnew as president was my fondest dream). His pardon of Nixon was his legacy, an act that let the country, if not the media, get on with business. And Betty has always treated me kindly at her clinic.

12/27/06, 10:31 AM
Anonymous said...

That's right--
if Ford hadn't been defeated by Carter in 76, I might be a moderate today. After all, his inept presidency during my formative political years made me the fierce conservative I am today.

I remember the pardon- Ford always treated the office of the presidency with respect-- he knew how devastating it would be for our country to watch a former president go on trial. Unlike Slick Willy who held on throughout the entire impeachment process because what he wanted was more important than the good of our country.

A sad day...I can think of a couple of other former presidents that I would rather have lost-if it were up to me anyway.

TFV

12/27/06, 11:06 AM

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