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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Gerald Ford: Dead at 93

I recently saw a TV special about Gerald Ford, and I remember thinking that it was almost unbelievable that he made it to 93. I wondered how much longer he had.

Many elderly wait until after the holidays to die. It's uncanny how that can happen, and it's been surmised that they simply want to spare their families the pain of a death on a major holiday, so they fight off The Grim Reaper until the holiday is past.

I remember so little of Gerry Ford . I was very young when he was President and he only served for 2 years. I recall that he was reputed to be a klutz, and the press was always catching him tripping somewhere. The truth was that he had been a college football player and served in the Navy. Perhaps it's possible to be a klutz and athletic at the same time, but I never saw the athlete in Gerry Ford. No one did.

I always considered Gerry Ford to be an insignificant blip set between two notorious Presidents. I think many others would agree with me. He was the the eye in the storm. Even the "significant" things that happened to him as President make you yearn for simpler times, along with Mom's meatloaf and apple cobbler.

Perhaps having a bland personality and banal existence allowed him to live longer, but time finally caught up with the President that tripped in and out of the White House for a couple of years.

Gerry Ford's biggest distinctions:

Ford is the only President to not have been elected either President or Vice President. He was appointed by Richard Nixon to be the Vice President after Nixon's first VP was convicted on income tax evasion. When Nixon got caught in the Watergate Scandal and resigned, Gerry Ford became President and promptly pardoned Nixon, which is why Ford never had a chance at re-election and Nixon roamed free until the day he died.

12 comments:

The Lazy Iguana said...

Yea. I saw this on the CNN web site. I came around in 74, so I have no memory at all of the guy in office.

I think he only fell once, but the TV cameras were on at the time. It may have even been a live shot.

And so what if he pardoned Nixon. All he did was break the law by instituting a policy of domestic eavesdropping. That Nixon - if only he had invented the Patriot Act it would have been 100% legal!

Anyway, I suppose Ford was not that bad of a President. He was only in office for two years - therefore he only had 1/2 to 1/4 of the time other bozos have in office. Less time to screw things up.

Saur♥Kraut said...

Lazy Iguana, That Nixon - if only he had invented the Patriot Act it would have been 100% legal! Beautifully and truthfully said.

Yeah, we thought a 2-term Presidential limit was enough. We need to knock it down to elections every 2 years, and they'd be more accountable. It would be more expensive, but since we have elections every 2 years for other elected officials, perhaps not so much!

Dave said...

Saur,

I played in a golf tournament with President Ford back in 1981 in Sedona. He had a great sense of humor.

The funny thing is he predicted back then that the liberal media would destroy America.

United We Lay said...

Merry Christmas!

Whistle Britches said...

Blogger is messing up...
Third try here..

I have vivid memories of Gerald Ford,following Spiro Agnew, falling down the steps exiting from an airplane.
Johnny Carson jokes
Girls in highschool crying when he lost re-election.

Eagle scout, Michigan football player who gave up playing in the Nat'l Football League for law school..
American force withdrawal from Vietnam
Democratic Congress Republican President...
I always admired him...

Michael K. Althouse said...

Gerald Ford was an honorable man. It's a quality that is sorely lacking today on both sides of the aisle.

Mike

Jamie Dawn said...

I wish he would have been elected when he ran for the presidency, but I guess it wasn't in the political cards for him. He probably felt like "the odd one out" amongst the other presidents, but at least he won't be remembered for something ghastly like being assassinated or some atrocious scandal.
God bless him and his grieving family. He lived a good, long, honorable life.

Anonymous said...

well he kept his nose clean thats for sure! stand by

BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

Ford was a decent man. His death saddens me. And so you know, my husband loved Nixon!

Wishing you a happy 2007, Saur.

M@ said...

Apparently, Ford and Reagan (who ran against each other at one point) represented two different schools of republican thought: detente with enemies versus aggressive military posturing.

The paper noted Ford's funeral here in DC would be much less of a spectacle than Reagan's, however....

M@ said...

I like your spin on Watergate and the image of Nixon "roaming" free until the miserable son of a bitch finally died.... Nice.

Jenn said...

I don't remember him much but I loved that he was a peaceful man.

And for the next President?
I hope that McCain goes for 2008. I really like him.