[E. Pluribus Unum]

FOR Americans under a certain age, Gerald Ford is best remembered for his contribution to Bartlett’s — “Our long national nightmare is over”

Sounds suspiciously like "Mission accomplished" to me.

[Young Werther]

and no ball bearings in sight!

He was part of the "Greatest Generation" which included the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Capatin Kangaroo, and Scotty from Star Trek!

One of the local talk show pundits who fashions himself a conservative says that the Ford defining handle is "Mediocre".

Doofus!

[KingArthur305]

God Bless Gerald Ford

[Little Ray]

... tore out the hull of the nearby Australian cruiser Canberra ...

Boy, Aussie cruisers named Canberra are unlucky - wasn't an HMAS Canberra sunk at Savo?

[Gator101]

Three destroyers were eventually capsized by Typhoon Cobra, a dozen more ships were seriously damaged, more than 150 planes were destroyed, and 793 men lost their lives. It was the Navy’s worst “defeat” of World War II.

Aside from Gerald Ford, that's an interesting sentence. The author calls this the Navy's "worst 'defeat'"? Uh, what about Pearl Harbor (over 2000 sailors and soldiers killed) or even the Battle of Savo Island in '42 (over 1000 allied sailors lost). This guy needs to do a little research before saying something like that.

[Gritty]

My father was on a destroyer that survived that typhoon and many years later he still shuddered when he told about the experience. It was one of his most fearsome experiences, and he had several others to choose from - and he wasn't fighting a fire, either.

Frankly, abandoning ship didn't seem like too good an option for the crew of the Monterey.

[tomcorn]

AS a sidelight to this story I thought Halsey was cut alot of slack in his career. His behavior in the two typhoon incidents and the Leyte would have gotten any other admiral short of Nimitz sacked.

I am coming to believe that great commanders require three things. Great staff officers, good luck, and a superb public relations staff to issue communiques.

Spruance and Mitscher were superb but didn't given a damn the cameras or newspapers.

[Ciexyz]

but in contrast to the public's image of him as a clumsy nonentity

Thank you, Chevy Chase. You did the bidding of the MSM at the time and made a caricature of our President. You were well rewarded by a successful TV and movie career - all initially built on fame from making a laughingstock of the President, by perpetuating a false image of Gerald Ford as a bumbling fool.

[Irish Eyes]

....Mr. Ford was a man whose grace under pressure saved his ship and hundreds of men on it.

This line from the NYT says a lot about the man President Ford was. May he rest in peace.

[semaj]

War hero?

Hell yes. Rest in peace Mr. President.

[Mr. Silverback]

A darn fine performance by Lieutenant Ford.