Former President Gerald Ford Dies
By: Pam On: Dec/27/06 -
 Bumping to the top
Former President Gerald R Ford passed away on December 26, 2006, surrounded by his family. Mrs. Ford issued this statement: “My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, has passed away…”
President Bush offered this statement: Ford “was a true gentleman who reflected the best in America’s character…he commanded the respect and earned the good will of all who had the privilege of knowing him…for a nation that needed healing and an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most…we mourn the loss of such a leader…May God bless Gerald Ford.”
President and Mrs Ford have chosen Grand Rapids, Michigan as their place of burial. The President will be laid to rest on the banks of The Grand River, at The Gerald R Ford Museum. True to those that elected him to office, he chose the museum, over the Library, which is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Many people aren’t aware of the fact that his library was erected in Ann Arbor because of his love for The University of Michigan, his alma mater.  President Ford always considered Grand Rapids to be his home, and because it was the people of Grand Rapids that elected him to Congress, he felt it only fitting that he be buried there.Â
 
Here is a link to a bit of his history. I intend to be downtown during the funeral, if permitted. He served my district with honor and he served this country with dignity and courage. May he rest in peace.
Michelle Malkin has tons more, as does The Captain’s Quarters.
The odd thing about this was that I was at my parents house yesterday and a military helicopter kept circling. It finally landed in the park by their home. My sister took her boys down to see the helicopter and was told by the soldier that he brought a General in to deliver some bad news. Well my dad and I couldn’t figure out why it would have been a General delivering the news of the death of a soldier…I guess they must have known the end was near and were preparing…
December 27, 2006 - 11:01 AM on December 27th, 2006
Gerald Ford, 38th President Of Teh United States, Dies At 93
The following statement has been issued by former First Lady Betty Ford and the Ford family regarding the death of former President Gerald Ford. �My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father,…
December 27, 2006 - 11:40 AM on December 27th, 2006
A sad day indeed. Sympathy to Mrs. Ford, his family, and a nation the sadder for his loss.
President Ford was a Republican of the old school. He was tact itself and a gentleman. Though he took a good deal of flack for pardoning Richard Nixon it was the right thing to do since the country had been embroiled in Watergate so long. It was time to move on and Ford knew it was the wise thing to do.
Now that’s my kind of Republican.
December 27, 2006 - 01:38 PM on December 27th, 2006
Let’s not forget Eben that first Kennedy then Johnson had us involved in Vietnam as well, a totally divisive war, and it was time for this country to have someone who was calm, patient, smart and a gentleman through and through.
Watergate was more a media hype than actual crime. All Nixon knew was after the fact facts. His only crime was not reporting things. Since Watergate I know there have been lots of worse scandals for politicians on both sides of the aisle. Here in Maryland Michael Steele’s identity was stolen by the Maryland Democrats and all they got was some community service time.
May Gerald Ford rest in peace. He will be missed.
December 27, 2006 - 01:51 PM on December 27th, 2006
Isn’t it funny when you look back and recall exactly what was Nixon’s “crime”, what he was to be impeached, and resigned, over? He knew about the Watergate break-in, after the fact, and didn’t report it (I don’t recall—did he lie about his knwoledge of it?).
That brought him down. And it was, what, 10% of what Klinton lied about?
Nixon actually was not a bad President. The economy was in the toilet, his price controls were a failure, but he got us out of Vietnam in the best way possible.
December 27, 2006 - 02:02 PM on December 27th, 2006
Robert. He didn’t own up to his knowledge after he found out. I don’t know if I would call it a lie exactly but it was what did him in then. But he didn’t authorize the breakin and he didn’t even know about it for some time after. And we must remember the breakin itself was the GOP breaking into the DNC’s office’s to find out their strategies. It wasn’t a jewel heist or anything as magnificent as that. It was for information only for craps sake.
When I think of the scandals politicians since have gotten away with I can’t believe Nixon even bothered to resign.
December 27, 2006 - 03:47 PM on December 27th, 2006
#2 BonBon:
Why you want to recreate history for the purposes of this title remains a mystery to me but your quote
“Let’s not forget Eben that first Kennedy then Johnson had us involved in Vietnam as well, a totally divisive war, and it was time for this country to have someone who was calm, patient, smart and a gentleman through and through.
Watergate was more a media hype than actual crime. All Nixon knew was after the fact facts. His only crime was not reporting things.
is preposterous!
Have you ever read anything on the Watergate affair and Nixon’s hands-on involvement in the cover up? We were’nt talking about Vietnam. You’ve brought that into it.
I was attempting to praise Mr. Ford’s bipartisan efforts to heal an extremely wounded country.
re: Robert #3
(I don’t recall”did he lie about his knwoledge of it?).
THE NIXON TAPES
Nixon resigned because he did something extremely illegal. He resigned because they were planning to impeach him.
December 27, 2006 - 04:07 PM on December 27th, 2006
Okay—Nixon spent a lot of effort on damage control after the fact. He didn’t plan the break in, He only found about it later. I’ll be generous: He was going to be impeached (and resigned) over about 20% of what Klinton did.
December 27, 2006 - 06:30 PM on December 27th, 2006
the revision of American History is a source of some peculiar confoundment to me..
Nonetheless. Gerald Ford was the “real deal”.
Again; he was a Republican of the old school - a man of singular integrity.
December 27, 2006 - 08:44 PM on December 27th, 2006
Eben you had stated in your first post this country was embroiled in Watergate for so long. It wasn’t. Not even close to the amount of time the country was embroiled in the war in Vietnam. That more than any Nixon scandal was what divided this country.
As for Nixon I stand by my statements. He did far less than some recent president Robert mentioned above.
And yes Gerald Ford was a great man even if he was unable to achieve a great Presidency.
December 28, 2006 - 07:37 AM on December 28th, 2006
The more the S.O.B. Eben speaks, the more I think he’s a sockpuppet for shitto.
Oh, at packersnews.com, in an article about Politicians and Lambeau Field, there’s the old story of Curley Lambeau offering Ford a roster spot on the Packers. Also, there’s the report that a Packers’ coach in the 50s tried to get Ted Kennedy to try out for the Packers. Ugh, I need a drink now!
December 28, 2006 - 04:35 PM on December 28th, 2006
Irrelevant as you are PCD you’re a source of interesting amusement nonetheless. For that you have my singular gratitude.
Perhaps rather than ‘needing a drink now’ it’d be a good idea to lay off the stuff awhile PCD.:roll:
#8 BonBon?
Did you live those years?
The country was suffering a mass depression and it was Gerald Ford who pulled us by our bootstraps back on track. Never before had the office of President suffered so under the watch of an inhabitant of the Oval Office as it did during the Nixon cover-up of the Watergate break in.
Ford, by the way, never wanted to be President. It was thrust upon him.
And in his noble way he took the challenge with singularity of courage and a commitment to all Americans. (In the aftermath of his death I’ve recently rewatched his innauguration speech)..
Beyond that President Ford, as it happens, was intensely opposed to Bush’s War in Iraq. Does that make him less honorable as an ex-President? No. It makes him part of the fabric that makes up the American personality.
Will you like him less BonBon since he didn’t support your present President’s war? I hope not.
Difference of opinion (ideally matched with the civility to accept that difference of opinion) has always set us apart as a thinking and decent nation of diverse peoples and cultures.
December 28, 2006 - 04:41 PM on December 28th, 2006
#8 BonBon-
Not even close to the amount of time the country was embroiled in the war in Vietnam. That more than any Nixon scandal was what divided this country.
You need a history lesson.
It was Nixon who (like someone who occurs to me just now) kept us in Vietnam against the advice and council of his advisors and his countrymen to the irreplaceable loss of tens of thousands of servicemen an South Vietnamese.
The only thing that Pres. Kennedy and Pres. Johnson did was get the ball rolling. Nixon, like Bush, refused to listen to reason and see the débacle for what it was.
In both cases it’s proof-positive of meglomania.
But the difference was the Richard M. Nixon was immensely more intelligent.
December 29, 2006 - 10:05 AM on December 29th, 2006
I think you need a history lesson Eben. Yes, I lived those years and further have taken a couple of college level history classes. The president who INCREASED troop levels in Vietnam so as not to lose the war was Johnson.
I stand by my statements.:mad:
December 30, 2006 - 10:37 AM on December 30th, 2006
if you lived them BonBon you weren’t paying attention..
Stand by your statements (as you always do) no matter how erroneous… but here are the facts; NIXON
Interpret these facts as you undoubtedly will dismissing them at will
December 30, 2006 - 11:31 AM on December 30th, 2006
Nixon did the one thing Johnson wouldn’t do. Nixon authorized the US Military to take the fight to North Vietnam. They had walked away from the Paris Peace talks until the US started bombing Hanoi. They came running back afterwards. Johnson ran up the troops and the Tet Offensive was BEFORE Nixon was even elected. We didn’t lose Vietnam militarily, nor are we losing Iraq militarily. We are losing the propaganda war.
If the MSM is doing such a wonderful job telling the whole story from Iraq, why are there only 9 imbedded reporters now versus over 700 when the war started? DO you think they are able to report on things that they can’t even see from inside their hotel in the green zone? The facts are that the majority of the people in Iraq are happy that we are there. However when only 10% of the population are causing problems for the rest, those 10% are being portrayed as the majority. Does anyone really believe that if the majority of Iraqis wanted us out of the country, we’d be able to withstand the resulting guerrilla war? We haven’t bombed Iraq into submission like we did with Germany or Japan. Their will to fight hasn’t been broken. I’m about as pro military as they get, and I can tell you that if only 30% of the population wanted us out, we’d be seeing at least 5-100 times as many casualties as we are currently seeing. That would be over 7 million people. We couldn’t withstand that large a resistance movement for 3 months let alone 3 years. We would have to turn the place into a sand and rubble parking lot to even have a chance of not having our heads handed to us.
Perhaps an analogy is in order. If the press continually runs stories on nothing but the KKK in foreign countries what would our national image be in those countries among those who hadn’t been here? We would be considered to be a bunch of tattooed loud mouthed racists in bed linen. Would that be a correct image? No. But it would be the image that was being presented repeatedly. Hitler called it the Big lie. Tell a lie that is outrageous enough and tell it often enough, and people will believe it based on the fact that it would be too outrageous to tell such a thing unless it were true.
December 30, 2006 - 12:19 PM on December 30th, 2006
“We didn’t lose Vietnam militarily”
Yes, we did.
“nor are we losing Iraq militarily.”
Yes, we are.
December 30, 2006 - 12:26 PM on December 30th, 2006
“If the press continually runs stories on nothing but the KKK in foreign countries what would our national image be in those countries among those who hadn’t been here? We would be considered to be a bunch of tattooed loud mouthed racists in bed linen. Would that be a correct image?”
LOL….man, you just don’t get it, do you? You have no idea just how bad the sectarian hatred is over there. You have no idea just how messed up that place is on so many different levels. You and your ilk utterly refuse to accept even the most basic reality of the situation…it’s amazing to still hear stuff like this nearly four years into it!
December 30, 2006 - 01:21 PM on December 30th, 2006
SFL can you name even one battle lost in Vietnam? Was the Tet offensive a military success for the North? What possible metric are you using to state that the U.S. military lost the war in Vietnam? I am struggling to understand just how you could make the statements you made in post 15.
Describe. How? In what way(s)? Anything? Think hard…
December 30, 2006 - 01:23 PM on December 30th, 2006
FAO sounds like SFL has some inside information, some special info source from Iraq that we aren’t getting access to. Maybe a special subscription to michaelmoore.com, the NY Times special insider hotline, the Dan Rather daily feed?
December 30, 2006 - 02:21 PM on December 30th, 2006
16-LOL:.man, you just don’t get it, do you? You have no idea just how bad the sectarian hatred is over there. You have no idea just how messed up that place is on so many different levels. You and your ilk utterly refuse to accept even the most basic reality of the situation:it’s amazing to still hear stuff like this nearly four years into it!
What is actually sad, if not pathetic, is that you can’t distinguish between a military defeat and a political defeat. Please enlighten us to your sources for how much we are hated…I am sure we can come back with just as many to counter them.
December 30, 2006 - 02:24 PM on December 30th, 2006
13-Stand by your statements (as you always do) no matter how erroneous: but here are the facts; NIXON
Um, no they aren’t. It is an op-ed at best…surely you can do better than that!
December 30, 2006 - 06:06 PM on December 30th, 2006
Poor Gerald.
He was a lovely man.
Pity he didn’t side with the Bushes though.
Now he’s a crappy ex-President.
HUH??:shock:
December 30, 2006 - 06:09 PM on December 30th, 2006
Who said he is a crappy ex-President?
December 30, 2006 - 06:13 PM on December 30th, 2006
Perhaps an analogy is in order.
perhaps so…
If after one failed war in a half a century it becomes fairly obvious that a like one will be fated similarly.
Everyone in the study concluded similarly; EXIT STRATEGY
Martha Raditz last night on Public Television (who’s BEEN THERE AND SEEN IT) and has also witnessed the President’s “down in the mouth” attitude since the midterm elections says that there’s a pall over the White House yet the man refuses to listen to anyone but himself.
It’s the reason I call Bush a megalomaniac.
He’s killing our children, husbands, wives, lovers and friends with his “I’m right, the world’s wrong” point of view.
George? You were wrong. God help us all with another nearly two years. If he doesn’t watch out his “lame duck” status may make the Guiness Book by the end of his second term. How sad he needs to cost us so many lives while he insists on being “right”.
December 30, 2006 - 06:14 PM on December 30th, 2006
#22
Who said he is a crappy ex-President?
BonBon
December 30, 2006 - 06:17 PM on December 30th, 2006
#8
And yes Gerald Ford was a great man even if he was unable to achieve a great Presidency.
….lest I be cited for misquoting.:smile:
Gee I think leading the country out of our ‘nightmare’ puts him right up there with the “greats”.
December 30, 2006 - 06:31 PM on December 30th, 2006
25- He will not be cited historically as one of the “Greats”. He did good things but his time was too short to achieve a great deal. I didn’t take it that she was knocking him as a POTUS. Keep in mind, there are many that hate him for that pardon!
December 30, 2006 - 06:31 PM on December 30th, 2006
Whoa, slow down Eben. I said he was unable to achieve a great Presidency. I did NOT say he was crappy. Where in the hell did you get that?
What I meant by my short statement was simply that he did not have enough time to pull the country out of all it’s troubles. His was short but sweet and he was UNABLE to achieve great things given his time in office. Taken in another perspective though, what he did do was great. He brought peace, calm and respect back to the office. That much works for me enough to consider him great. Got it?
Don’t misquote.
December 30, 2006 - 09:08 PM on December 30th, 2006
Ford was just another in a line of republican neocons. A puppet, a stooge, hand picked by Nixon for one purpose: to get Tricky Dick off the hook. Thwart justice! Cheat the hangman!
And of course the puppet did as he was told. It took Carter to straighten out the mess, plus restore the office of the Presidency to national and global dignity and respect. President Carter even today is respected globally as a man of vision, integrity, and humility. When he’s not building homes for the poor or earning Nobel prizes he’s offering advice for current leaders who would be well advised to heed it. A truly great man, and of course a Democrat!
December 30, 2006 - 09:17 PM on December 30th, 2006
Yes America lost the war in Vietnam, and we on the Left demand out share of the credit! I’m sure some people think it was due to the tenacity of the Communist soldiers, with their black pajamas and funny little cone-shaped hats. Well yes they did their part, but we on the Left deserve the most credit! We certainly helped make sure the Communists won!
So now we’re trying to do the same for the Bishneocon war.
December 30, 2006 - 09:54 PM on December 30th, 2006
Whoa, slow down Eben. I said he was unable to achieve a great Presidency. I did NOT say he was crappy. Where in the hell did you get that?
Sorry for the paraphrase luv.
Aren’t we simply splitting hairs though? His arse was “grase” the minute he disagreed with Bush’s war. I don’t think a president need declare a war “in the name of freedom” in order for his presidency to be great.
I think healing the National wounds was pretty ‘great’.
Don’t misquote.
Don’t neglect to read posts
December 30, 2006 - 09:56 PM on December 30th, 2006
#26
Keep in mind, there are many that hate him for that pardon!
Yes. I remember I was one of the few in my group who thought it needed to end.
Was Nixon, inevitably, deemed above the law? Yes, unquestionably.
Was it the right thing to do on Ford’s part. I’d say retrospectively yes.
December 31, 2006 - 08:15 AM on December 31st, 2006
30& 31- His arse was “grase”the minute he disagreed with Bush’s war. I don’t think a president need declare a war “in the name of freedom”in order for his presidency to be great. Again who said this? No one said it. We did make fun of the fact that Woodward has the ability to pull unpublished books out of his ass the minute someone dies..
BTW- if you listen to what Ford says, he doesn’t disagree with the war, it was using WMD’s as the justification. That was some of the finest cherry picking I have seen in a long time, but it got people talking about Woodward.
I had no problem with the pardon. I thought it was the right thing to do and it accomplished what Ford wanted it to.
January 3, 2007 - 03:04 AM on January 3rd, 2007
I am very sad at the los of another great American, but am sadder to see that this too is going to bring out the side taking in this country.
We are all to easily led down a path of our party of choice. If we would all be given all the facts we could make our own choices, but this will not happen. All that we can do is try to elect people that we think will do the best job, and if they fail, elect someone else next.
Pres. Ford was not elected but he did become our president and he was the right man for the moment. He was quiet and a gentleman. He gave this country a moment to take a breath and to appreciate a calm before the next storm, the mess that we all call politics in this day.
If there is one thing I want to teach my kids is to do their own research and not believe what a politician says but to look at what he does. This is our best measure of people that we do not know personally.
My prayers are with the family that lost a dear member, may they remember the great things he did. What he did for and with his family is what he is being measured by now.
God Bless this Country Past, Present and Future