President Ford Showed Class

[Water Dog]

"Back in the day", I wasn't terribly impressed by President Ford but History is beginning to look at his Administration in a more favorable light.

What most impressed me about President Ford is how he lived his life after the Presidency.

HE DIDN'T INTERFERE WITH ANY OTHER ADMINISTRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what Presidents used to do. They knew when they were done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They didn't try to run 'Shadow Governments'.

They were helpful to the next President, regardless of party, and they put the Country first.

Some of you won't remember that but that is the way it was done. They were bigger people for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My hat is off to You Mr. President!!!!! May GOD Be With You and Your Family !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

RIP fallen leader.

No mail today.  UPS/fedex ARE running as normal,...maybe if he had been a nazi, I'd get the day off but to UPS,....he was just a President.

May he rest in peace and may his family find comfort in dealing with their loss.

Thanks for your service Mr. President!

[Troutfisher]

Good man, Good President!   8-)

[Guest avid]

I liked Jerry Ford.  He was a calming, stabilizing influence in very tumultuous times.

He took alot of criticism and polls indicate that he lost the election because of his pardon of president Nixon.  But even though I found Nixons actions abhorrent, I supported President Ford on that decision.

It would be horrible to have a president of the United States in prison.  I don't know if the presidency would ever recover from a precedent like that.

One thing I recall that makes me chuckle.  Remember he went on national TV to outline his big "anti deficet" campaign.  Explaining with all these charts and drawings the dire consequences of our burgeoning deficit?

I fail to recall the exact $ amount or % of the GNP, but it was peanuts compared to the kind of deficits we are currently running.  

Just shows how economics is politics like everything else.

[Marty]

But even though I found Nixons actions abhorrent, I supported President Ford on that decision.

It would be horrible to have a president of the United States in prison.

I agree, although in some circumstances, it might be appropriate to jail a president, depending on the particular transgression.

In the justice system, what we always seek is, well, justice. In Nixon's case, having to resign in humiliation was more than adequate punishment. Criminal indictments would have served no good purpose apparent to me.

[cart7t]

Obviously, the Nixon pardon is what Ford is most known for but when you consider we also retreated from Saigon at almost the same time it's not hard to believe how bad times were back then.  In retrospect, people were angry and wanted a scapegoat.  Nixon was the guy.  Ford saw it was time end the turmoil and threw a bucket of cold water on the whole country.  We needed it and him.  He will be missed and was one of the great ones.

[K_Mac]

Obviously, the Nixon pardon is what Ford is most known for but when you consider we also retreated from Saigon at almost the same time it's not hard to believe how bad times were back then. In retrospect, people were angry and wanted a scapegoat. Nixon was the guy. Ford saw it was time end the turmoil and threw a bucket of cold water on the whole country. We needed it and him. He will be missed and was one of the great ones.

Very well said. It is easy to forget the turmoil of that time. It took real guts to issue that pardon. We could use another like him now in my opinion.

[Guest avid]

I agree.  A calm, steady leader with convictions that transcend poll numbers and die hard partisan politics.  If the election were being held today I would vote for Senator McCain for President.

A genuine American hero, a man of boldness and character (It was he who denounced the attacks on Kerry's war record) I think he would make a truly great president.

[paparock]

Other than the pardon on Nixon, I liked Ford as President. It just bothered me to have it set a precedent that in fact all me are not equal in the eyes of the law in our system of government.

[Chode2235]

I mean I agree, he was well known for his pardon of Nixon.  I don't know how I feel about it, but don't really worry about it too much.  I found it interesting that he made it to 93, which is great for an ex-pres.  I think the office kills you.  So we owe all of our presidents for sacraficing their own lives for our service, and corporate welfare.

But he didn't really do anything outside the pardon and 'WIN'.  A good human I am sure, but in comparison to the work that Jimmy Carter has done, and the example he has set he didn't do anything that would make lamenting about his loss (as a polician, not a human) worth the hassle.

I mean, he gave Cheney and Rumsfeld some practice, let the S. Vietnam gov. collapse, didn't slow inflation, and let the income gap increase (it started to get out of hand on his watch).  The only thing that I am really glad he did was make an exec. order outlawing political assisinations.  That was a good move, but then again we still train terrorists in GA at the school of the Americas, or whatever they changed the name to.

In comparison to Carter's post presidency service (election monitoring, habititat for humanity, and other humanitarian work), Ford didn't do anything.  Thank you for the service, Mr. Ford, but just because you're dead doesn't make you a role model.

[cart7t]

What are they teaching you kids in school these days?  :

I mean I agree, he was well known for his pardon of Nixon.  I don't know how I feel about it, but don't really worry about it too much.  ...

But he didn't really do anything outside the pardon and 'WIN'.

Obviously you're too young to understand what was going on in this country at the time. Maybe you didn't realize this but President Ford wasn't elected into the office of the vice presidency, he was chosen to take over for Spiro Agnew who had resigned because of income tax evasion.  Former President Ford hadn't even moved into the Vice Presidents housing when he was told to be prepared to take over the Presidency due to damning evidence in the Watergate hearings that would result in Nixons impeachment or resignation.  Talk about someone going from the pot into the fire.  Besides over 10 years of war in Vietnam, the publics confidence in goverment was virtually nil.  You have no idea unless you were living within that time.  Mr. Ford brought a level of confidence back into our goverment.  No small task I can assure you.

Mr. Fords best accomplishment would be the Helsinki accords. It laid the groundwork for relations with Russia for the future and in it's own way, helped start the downfall of the communist parties deathgrip on that country.

As for WIN, truely a gimmich but it's not unusual for inflation to take hold and increase after a country ends a war.

A good human I am sure, but in comparison to the work that Jimmy Carter has done, and the example he has set he didn't do anything that would make lamenting about his loss (as a polician, not a human) worth the hassle.

And yet the two were best friends after the Presidency.  Mr. Carter used Mr. Ford as council during his Presidency.  It seems as though former President Carter had a much higher view of Mr. Ford than you and that's really all that counts.

I mean, he gave Cheney and Rumsfeld some practice, let the S. Vietnam gov. collapse, didn't slow inflation, and let the income gap increase (it started to get out of hand on his watch).  The only thing that I am really glad he did was make an exec. order outlawing political assisinations.  That was a good move, but then again we still train terrorists in GA at the school of the Americas, or whatever they changed the name to.

The war in Vietnam was a lost cause long before President Ford took over.  The S. Vietnamese goverment was never anything more than a puppet of the United States that was full of corruption.  You should really spend some time reading up on your American history before posting a comment about a former President you clearly have little knowledge of and yet feel compelled to pass judgement about.

In comparison to Carter's post presidency service (election monitoring, habititat for humanity, and other humanitarian work), Ford didn't do anything.  Thank you for the service, Mr. Ford, but just because you're dead doesn't make you a role model.

Ford was an honorary co-chair of the Council for Excellence in Government, a group dedicated to excellence in government performance and which provides leadership training to top federal employees.

In 1977, he established the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service at Albion College in Albion, Michigan. The Institute is designed to give undergraduates training in public policy.

In 1999, Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton.

In 2001, he was presented with the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for his decision to pardon Richard Nixon to stop the agony America was experiencing over Watergate.

He also was a member of the Republican Unity Coalition, which The New York Times described as "a group of prominent Republicans, including former President Gerald R. Ford, dedicated to making sexual orientation a nonissue in the Republican Party

So it appears that he was doing a little more than just playing golf.  Not that I'd judge a man by what he wants to spend his retirement years doing, Mr. Ford earned whatever he chose by giving a life of public service to the people of his state and this nation.  You should have taken some time to research the man before posting what would be best described as disrespectful comment.  It's clear you have little knowledge of Mr. Ford or our nations history.

[Troutfisher]

I applaud you for your informative and interesting reply, Cart.

didn't slow inflation, and let the income gap increase (it started to get out of hand on his watch).  

That's a false statement entirely; you appear to be thinking of Jimmy Carter.  It was he who put our economy into ruin.

[justfishin]

Without going into the politics of it, I feel that President Ford was just a likable human being. I also feel that he was a honest family man.

[Water Dog]

President Ford was also an important and valued member of the community where he retired.  Both he and his wife made many valuable contributions to that community.  President Ford set an example, he was Presidential, and as someone said after a lifetime of public service he had earned the right to play golf once in awhile.  He and his wife both supported many worthy causes and he will be missed by that community.  There were a lot of people from that community lining the fence at the airport to bid him farewell and show him the respect that he deserved.

[Tom Bass]

Well said Cart7  

Chode 2235.......nevermind.