Posted on 12/28/2006 2:28:06 PM PST by flixxx
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
President Ford History dealt him a weak hand; he played it well.
Thursday, December 28, 2006 12:01 a.m.
The abiding cliché about Gerald Ford--who died Tuesday at age 93--is that he was a decent man who steadied the country but held the White House too briefly to leave a major imprint. We've always thought that view of his Presidency is too diminishing, not least because he led the nation at a dangerous time and resisted political furies that could have done the U.S. far more harm. "America's Suicide Attempt" is how the historian Paul Johnson describes the 1970s. And it is important to recall the bad temper of the times that Ford inherited in becoming the 38th President. He succeeded Richard Nixon, who had resigned over the Watergate coverup and amid an unpopular war in Vietnam. He faced large liberal majorities in Congress that were emboldened by their ouster of Nixon and set to revive the Great Society. And he had to clean up the financial problems caused by a burst of inflation and wage and price controls. Ford navigated all of these traumas better than he gets credit for.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
It's how I characterize the next session of Congress.
The Gipper came within a handful of delegates of taking the nomination, a challenge that weakened Ford for the autumn race against Democrat Jimmy Carter.
About a hundred votes (1187 to 1070), not a handful, but surprising close as modern conventions go. This could have been the last convention where a different candidate could have prevailed, but my memory is that Ford had the nomination all but nailed down.
And he freed Poland too.
Yeah but at least Ford knew how to use the veto pen. He held the line on spending.
I thought Ford chose Bob Dole as his runningmate, not Nelsen Rockefeller, of the Rockefeller-Wing of the GOP. If Ford has chosen Reagan, he might have pulled out the general election victory. Since Ford was not Constitutionally able to run in 1980, and as sitting VP, Reagan may have had a bigger landslide victory then he did over Jimmah Carter.
Lets be honest. Ford may have been a nice man and a patriotic American, but he was a poor POTUS, and a lousy candidate in 1976. Lets make Ford the last pro-abortion GOP nominee for POTUS, EVER!
LBJ retired in disgrace. Nixon resigned in disgrace. Ford was defeated by a disgrace named Jimmah Carter. A look at the historic record shows by any reasonable evaluation, that Ford`s Presidency was a disgrace.
The title of the article puts it nicely.
Ford was not presidential material...but he did the best he could.
Ford appointed Rockefeller VP and he was confirmed by the Senate, but Ford's running mate in 1976 was Dole. They were both bad choices -- Rocky worse than Bob, though.
If Ford has chosen Reagan, he might have pulled out the general election victory. Since Ford was not Constitutionally able to run in 1980, and as sitting VP, Reagan may have had a bigger landslide victory then he did over Jimmah Carter.
Doubtful. Reagan did as well as he did because he was the anti-Carter. People tried Carter and got sick of him. If Ford had won in 1976, people would have been in the mood for a Democrat in 1980, and there's no guarantee that Reagan would have been the nominee.
I doubt Ford would have made Reagan his running mate. They didn't hate each other, but the campaign may have turned each man's staff strongly against the other.
LBJ retired in disgrace. Nixon resigned in disgrace. Ford was defeated by a disgrace named Jimmah Carter. A look at the historic record shows by any reasonable evaluation, that Ford`s Presidency was a disgrace.
There's your answer: Johnson failed, Nixon failed, Carter failed. Ford didn't have much of a chance to succeed or fail. But he kept the country running when it looked like everything was going down the drain.
Like the man says, Ford had been dealt bad cards, but he played them -- maybe not well, but good enough given the age he lived in.
In looking at the election Ford lost to Carter, if Ford had not really screwed up (horrible mistake in foreign policy regarding the Cold War) in the debate with Carter then he probably would have won the election...with or without Reagan.
I think that Ford recognized his place in history and how important his Presidency was to the country. It was amazing that anything at all was accomplished with the rabid salivating Dems in Congress following Watergate...Ford's use of the veto was admirable and maybe that was all he was able to do during his time in office...try to hold back the Democratic waves.
Certainly Ford was more of a libertarian on social issues than many of the current Republican leadership.
Another thoughtful and gracious post.
Ford will be a footnote in the history books, and not a very distinguished one at that.
Ford was a mid-western/centrist-moderate member of the the GOP. A cousin to the Rockefeller Republicans of the northeast. Ford was not a believer in political conservatism, like Reagan was. Hence, Ford would never have chosen Reagan. But he it would have served the country better for Ford to have picked Reagan and not Dole. After the closet GOP primary season in American history, Reagan came within a whisker of beating Ford for the nomination. I disagree with you about Reagan and the 1980 election. If Ford had been elected POTUS and Reagan VPOTUS in 1976, and with the right policy agenda in place, by 1980 Reagan could have been sitting pretty. We'll never know about that one.
Bottomline. As President, Ford was an utter failure. In many ways and on many issues, Ford was no better then Jimmah Carter. Both men supported big government and abortion on demand.
He was a good man.
Too good for the modern day cut throat and lynching way's of modern day politics.
It wasn't his style.
You give Ford more credit then he deserves. He lost to a disgraceful individual named, Jimmah Carter. OTOH. I am extremely biased towards Ronald Reagan`s candidacy of 1976. I never worked harder for any candidate in my life. Frankly, I think Ford should have stepped aside and allowed a real conservative to have a chance at the WH. Instead, Ford handed the Presidency to Carter, and the rest is history.
It's how I characterize the next session of Congress.
That is exactly what I was thinking. Actually it is the second attempt. Electing Clinton TWICE was the first attempt.
Perhaps but, just in my lifetime alone, he ranks ahead of Clinton, Johnson, Carter, and possibly Nixon.
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