Gerald R. Ford

[dtsd]

(...) was universally disliked for giving his predecessor, President Nixon, (Watergate) a pardon

[michaelskis]

I have always been fascinated with President Ford. While I was not even born when he was president, from all that I have read he was a different type of president. He was just a generally good guy who did the right thing even if it would damage his political career. I don

[joeDowntown]

That is a great (and eery) picture G3.

Joe

Inside the Condolence area:

[GRDadof3]

He didn't even want to be the vice president. Spiro Agnew was run out of office and Ford became the VP. Then Nixon quit and he became the President.

I was furious when Ford pardoned "I am not a crook" Nixon, but in hindsight it was the right thing to do. He lost the election for a 2nd term because of the pardon.

He was president during the 1st years of Saturday Night Live and became a classic Chevy Chase comedy bit.

[monsoon]

Where do you get your history from? The country was split on this highly controversial decision, with only 56% of the country disapproving of the pardon. .......

[civitas]

Why can't every President be like him?

[monsoon]

.....I think there is something to the fact that Ford was the only president who never actually pursued being the president.

[grrwymg]

Ford ran for president in 1976.

[monsoon]

I think you missed the point - Ford's highest ambitions in politics was to be the Speaker of the House. Once he became President however, he sought reelection to "finish what he started" so to say.

[grrwymg]

Actually if Nixon had never left office, we don't know that Ford would not have run for election in 1976 given that he was VP. The field would have been wide open at that point and being a VP would have given him the base to run from. Most likely when he first ran for congress he had no ambition to be Speaker of House but his postion in the congress gave him the platform to go after that position.

[monsoon]

The very next sentence in that link says "In 1960 he was mentioned as a possible running mate for Richard Nixon in the presidential election."

[grrwymg]

The very next sentence in that link says "In 1960 he was mentioned as a possible running mate for Richard Nixon in the presidential election."

[dtsd]

I was there and saw it for myself. I don't need to quote revisionsist history from wikipedia.

[dtsd]

Yes, he was so honest that he could not even speak out about the Iraq war until after his death.

[monsoon]

I haven