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Gerald Ford, 38th US president, passes away at 93

krazeeboi

By krazeeboi
in The Coffee House

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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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From his football days, to his years in the Congress, to his association with the Warren Commission, to the vice presidency, and to the highest job in the world--the President of the United States, this was a facinating man.

I deeply admired President Ford. His family was a huge breath of fresh air, and the country fell in love with his wife, Betty. He supported the ERA, balanced budgets, and a woman's right to choose.

He survived two assasination attempts. One by the deranged Squeaky Fromme.

His fatal political decision was to pardon Richard Nixon one month after taking the presidential oath, and many people have attributed that with his defeat in 1976.

I think history will look back kindly at President Ford. On a personal level I have a lot of ambivalence toward the Warren Commission, and Ford was one of it's most vociferous supporters.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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^Eisenhower, Truman and LBJ all died while Nixon was running things. I am not sure if he gave eulogies for all 3. He was Eisenhower's Vice President.

Ford was one of the most lackluster, of not THE lackluster President of the post World War II USA. He was never elected, and was universally disliked for giving his predecessor, President Nixon, (Watergate). a pardon so he would not be prosecuted for the crimes he committed and didn't accomplish anything for the partial term he was in office.

He does have the distinction as being the only un-elected president in office.

His failure to win the Presidential election in 1976 marked the end of Eisenhower-Nixon Republicanism to be replaced by the social conservative Reagan-Bush Republicans that has ruled that party until it's collapse in the 2006 mid-term elections. It should be noted however that it was his administration where Donald Rumsfield and Dick Cheney first made it into the Whitehouse.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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The idiot media has dubbed him the "Great Healer". This is the first time I have heard this moniker placed on Gerald Ford and I was around when he actually held office. I don't think he healed anything as he greatly pissed off a lot of the country when he denied the public the opportunity to hold Nixon responsible for the crimes he committed. Lets keep in mind how Ford even made it into the White House. Nixon's first vice president, Spiro T. Agnew resigned because he was found to have cheated on taxes. Ford was brought in to replace him. Then of course Nixon resigned to keep from being impeached for Watergate and Ford replaced him. Many many people at the time thought there was a "deal" made. There was no healing.

Lets also keep in mind that during the two years that Ford was in office the nation experienced extremely high inflation, we finally lost the war in Vietnam, and two people tried to assassinate Ford. That is a lot of negative in a term that lasted just 2.5 years. It's the reason that the nation turned its back on him and elected the first Southern president since re-construction to replace him. There was no healing here, but there is a lot of revisionism in our media.

Finally it has just come out that Ford was against the war in Iraq. However, in an apparent move to protect Cheney and Rumsfield, he did not want this information to come out until after he died. He said that Cheney and Rumsfield made a mistake in justifying the war in Iraq. One wonders why he wanted to keep this secret but at least to me the only think I have seen this president do is to make moves to protect other republicans.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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The idiot media has dubbed him the "Great Healer". This is the first time I have heard this moniker placed on Gerald Ford and I was around when he actually held office. I don't think he healed anything as he greatly pissed off a lot of the country when he denied the public the opportunity to hold Nixon responsible for the crimes he committed. Lets keep in mind how Ford even made it into the White House. Nixon's first vice president, Spiro T. Agnew resigned because he was found to have cheated on taxes. Ford was brought in to replace him. Then of course Nixon resigned to keep from being impeached for Watergate and Ford replaced him. Many many people at the time thought there was a "deal" made. There was no healing.

Lets also keep in mind that during the two years that Ford was in office the nation experienced extremely high inflation, we finally lost the war in Vietnam, and two people tried to assassinate Ford. That is a lot of negative in a term that lasted just 2.5 years. It's the reason that the nation turned its back on him and elected the first Southern president since re-construction to replace him. There was no healing here, but there is a lot of revisionism in our media.

Finally it has just come out that Ford was against the war in Iraq. However, in an apparent move to protect Cheney and Rumsfield, he did not want this information to come out until after he died. He said that Cheney and Rumsfield made a mistake in justifying the war in Iraq. One wonders why he wanted to keep this secret but at least to me the only think I have seen this president do is to make moves to protect other republicans.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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I don't see any problem with pointing out a President's record in office as it is part of our history. I especially don't see any problem in pointing out a President's record in office when it's being implied the was one of the best Presidents. The man wasn't even elected to office and his record is notible for how little accomplished in the 2.5 years he held the job.

He may have been fine as a person and my comments don't speak to that.

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michaelskis Hamlet

michaelskis

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I think that he accomplished a few notables. As for inflation, he cut it by more than half. When he took office, it was 12.2% and it was reduced to only 4.6 in early 1976. Much of this was because he saved the government over $9.2 Million dollars when congress upheld his vetoes (the majority were because of funding) This reduction spurred spending resulting in a decrease in unemployment rates.

When he took office, his approval ratings were in the mid 70

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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I think that he accomplished a few notables. As for inflation, he cut it by more than half. When he took office, it was 12.2% and it was reduced to only 4.6 in early 1976. Much of this was because he saved the government over $9.2 Million dollars when congress upheld his vetoes (the majority were because of funding) This reduction spurred spending resulting in a decrease in unemployment rates....
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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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Actually if I'm remembering correctly, I think he was called a "healer" during his first 30 days in office. That ended very quickly when he pardoned Nixon.

Many pros and cons re:Ford's presidency have been discussed here, but one issue I'm still enthralled with is his involvement with the Warren Commission. He was one of the youngest people appointed to the commission. A few years after it was published, people started questioning the Warren Commission's conclusion that President Kennedy was assasinated by a lone, crazed man.

By 1978, such a public outcry to know the truth came about that the House of Representatives re opened the Kennedy assasination case for further study. President Ford was the Warren Commission's most vocal supporter during the hearings, claiming with all his soul that the commission's conclusions had been correct.

He also claimed with equal fervor in 1976 that Poland was not in the Soviet sphere of influence.

I believe only one other major player in the Warren Commission is still alive--Arlen Spector, who also vociferously defends the commission's findings. The nitty gritty stuff of the Warren Commission is sealed until 2038 (I think?)

Maybe by that time we'll know whether Lee Harvey Oswald actually shot Kennedy, and if Poland is indeed under the Russian yoke.

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