Former President Gerald Ford Dead at 93

Rancid Altoid was one of a large number of readers to tell us that "Former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who was swept into office after the Watergate scandal and later pardoned Richard Nixon, died at age 93, his widow said on Tuesday."

Comments

Forgive and forget?

[cyberon22]

He should never have pardoned Nixon.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[tomhudson]

He should never have pardoned Nixon.

Definitely agree. His excuse at the time was lame, and paved the way for future excesses.

Part of the responsibility of the highest office in the land is to make the tough calls, and he totally failed it on that one. No wonder people kept asking if he had played football without a helmet.

When a president who nobody voted for pardons his predecessor and former "boss" for criminal activities, it stinks. The "National Nightmare" was over when Nixon resigned - putting him on trial would have sent the message that there aren't 2 sets of rules - one for white-collar elites and one for the rest of us.

To paraphrase it - "Fuck someone over, go to jail - fuck the whole country over, retire and write a book. Fuck it!"

On a side note - how is Ford's death "News for Nerds?"

Re:Forgive and forget?

[Pharmboy]

He should never have pardoned Nixon.

He didn't do it for Nixon, he did it for us. It isn't like Nixon was going to run for any other office, and if you are old enough to remember, with Vietnam, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, MLK, Kent State, and everything else that had happened over the last decade, we really didn't need another investigation to tell us what we already knew.

Everyone knew Nixon was guilty, and because he was ex-pres, he wasn't going to go to "pound you in the ass federal prison" regardless of the outcome. We did not need 5 years of court hearings at that time.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[afidel]

Nope, pardoning Nixon was the single greatest thing the man accomplished, and it cost him a lot both politically and personally. Most historians agree that the nation would have been much worse off with the protracted political fight that would have resulted from the trial. Sure there are many who think he should have been punished, but I think resigning in shame and having that as his legacy is probably one of the greatest punishment for a man with the drive to become president. Look at the guys involved with Iran-Contra, they served their piddly sentences for much worse crimes, and today are back serving in the highest reaches of government.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[NorbrookC]

Part of the responsibility of the highest office in the land is to make the tough calls, and he totally failed it on that one.

Considering that every one of his advisors recommended against the pardon, and he still did it, I'd say that was a tough call.

The other thing that all the people that froth at the mouth about this (still) forget is that an article of impeachment |=criminal charges. In fact, Nixon hadn't been indicted in the legal system, when the pardon was issued. Now, whether he would have been, and whether he would have convicted is something that can be argued (and probably will be) for a long time.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, pardoning Nixon was the single greatest thing the man accomplished, and it cost him a lot both politically and personally. Most historians agree that the nation would have been much worse off with the protracted political fight that would have resulted from the trial. Sure there are many who think he should have been punished, but I think resigning in shame and having that as his legacy is probably one of the greatest punishment for a man with the drive to become president.

No, it wasn't. It has given idiots like Bush carte blanche to run amok with just about zero fear of being taken to task in a meaningful manner. Nixon should have gone to the fucking slammer.

My favorite part of the Wikipedia article on Watergate:

"The White House blamed this on Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, who said she had accidentally erased the tape by pushing the wrong foot pedal on her tape player while answering the phone. However, as photos splashed all over the press showed, for Woods to answer the phone and keep her foot on the pedal would have required a stretch that would have challenged a gymnast. She was then said to have held this position for the full 18½ minutes. Later forensic analysis determined that the gap had been erased several -- perhaps as many as eight -- times over, refuting the "accidental erasure" explanation."

This is third world level stuff... they should have tried and executed Nixon's ass right then. Just the fact that he tried to invoke executive privilege to cover it up is enough for me. Unfortunately, our leaders are not afraid of this, and so they'll continue to do their thing with the fear of serving a token sentence at most... all thanks to Ford's "greatest thing" in your words.

Look at the guys involved with Iran-Contra, they served their piddly sentences for much worse crimes, and today are back serving in the highest reaches of government.

Yeah, funny how that works. If the powers that be were worried about having their nuts in a sling this wouldn't have happened. Tell me again how your vaunted pardon helped matters? Everybody is so concerned about "smoothing things over" and "moving on" instead of holding people accountable that it really removes the motivation to work within the law for a lot of these folks.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[Mr. Slippery]

Sure there are many who think he should have been punished, but I think resigning in shame and having that as his legacy is probably one of the greatest punishment for a man with the drive to become president.

Shame? What shame? He's still defended as a hero by neocons. His people are still to be found in power in D.C.

The fact the Nixon didn't go to jail is what let Reagan and Bush II get away with their subversions of the Constitution.

Re:Forgive and forget?

[jafac]

Most historians agree that the nation would have been much worse off with the protracted political fight that would have resulted from the trial.

How would it be better had justice not been served?

How is sticking our head in the sand as a nation "better for us"?

That justice was not done, set the stage for the future. The Iran-Contra traitors are all back on the job, instead of jail, where they belong. Karl Rove actually served on Nixon's campaign, and his poisonous brand of divisive politics or character assassination is still turning our nation's political discourse into something akin to pro-wrestling.

I think in the short term, yes, it would have harmed the country. But in the long run, we would have been much better off had we, as a nation, faced the corruption of our political system, drew a line in the sand and said "No more. There will be justice this time, and every time henceforth."

Re:Forgive and forget?

[catfood]

Nixon was so obviously guilty that bringing him to justice would have been a mistake.

I'm really failing to see the logic in that. Would it have been okay to try Nixon if he'd been just kinda-sorta-somewhat guilty of lesser crimes instead?

Re:Forgive and forget?

[Vicissidude]

Ford was a crook. He was an accessory to Nixon's crime, preventing justice from prevailing. Ford hurt this country by letting everyone know loud and clear that the rich, powerful, and connected are above the law.

Funny thing about Ford...

[Warbringer87]

A very decent human being, was the only president to not have been elected to either of the executive positions he held (appointed by nixon to VP, later president in wake of Nixon's resignation). Apparently, elections make candidates into jerks.

Re:I will never forgive him

[Frumious Wombat]

In all likelihood, given the political climate of the time, you still wouldn't have gotten to the bottom of everything Nixon did, and only put up with months of political grandstanding and butt-covering. On the other hand, Nixon's henchmen were publicly tried, their crimes exposed, and most of them did time. Unfortunately, being shameless (*cough* G. Gordon Liddy *cough*), they didn't quietly disappear as would have been appropriate. (that includes you, Henry K.) Exiling Nixon to Fairbanks, rather than California, would have been appropriate as well, but as the Stones put it, "you can't always get what you want". Having seen what drips out over the years about Nixon's time in office, you can only imagine what would have been vomited up at the time if it all came out at once. Ford seems to have done close to the right thing.

So don't complain. Personally, I wanted to see Ronbo, G. H. W. Bush, and Co. brought to task over Iran Contra, but with those last minute pardons for the perpetrators as the investigators finally got near GHWB, my generation got diddly/squat. You at least got something, even if it wasn't RMN in San Quentin.

Re:This is here why?

[KingNaught]

Certain news items trancend news genres. On Sep 11th their were lots of news stories on Slashdot about it, even though the stories weren't nessessarly tech related. Basiclly anything a nerd would be interested in knowing is news for nerds. And most US nerds would be interested in the Death of a former president. Heck I'm sure theres a few political science nerds on slashdot.

Re:Let the SOB rot in hell

[grolaw]

As much as I hated Tricky-Dick and Ford's Pardon (imagine the scope of that Presidential Pardon - all acts charged and uncharged - Ford cut off any investigation of Nixon, per se - but the Church Commission gave us some idea how out of hand the CIA was at THAT time) I know that Nixon was a very bright man. He argued and won a tough 1st Amendment case before the SCT and won. He was a sneaky son of a bitch given to using dirty tricks from the Helen Gahagan Douglas campaign forward. He opened the door to China and laid tens of thousands of servicemen in their graves with the campaign promise, "I have a secret plan to end the war" (at the time we joked that his plan was that he was going to vote for Humphrey).

Nixon: dishonest, dirty-trickster that he was - would not support GWB's imperialism. Nixon said: when the president does it it isn't against the law; W just does it and smirks. He knows we don't have enough votes to impeach him over the next two years.

And, yes, I agree with the poster that observed that we can thank Gerald Ford for the past 25 years of political connivance because Dick Nixon evaded justice. Impeaching a president and indicting him under the criminal statutes is a duty that every president undertakes when he takes the Oath of Office - too uphold, protect & defend the Constitution. Ford was selected because he would pardon Nixon and to hell with the Constitution.

GWB has certainly followed Ford's contempt for the Constitution - every day and in every way "W" finds new ways to destroy this nation - at home and abroad - and the direct line of responsibility runs right to Ford's pardon.

If I were a Christian, I'd agree that the SOB should rot in hell. As it stands, Ford lead the good life for nine decades because he was a pliable pol.

Backroom negotiated pardon?

[wasted]

Not sure I agree with the Nixon pardoning but it did get the messiness behind us. However, it allows presidents to seem to operate with out regard to legality (ie, current war crimes, etc...)

I always wondered if Nixon's resignation was a negotiated deal with other members of the Republican part, with the pardon being part of the deal.

Messiness in front, though

[PopeRatzo]

When Ford pardoned Nixon, it did not get the messiness behind us, it just pushed it all in front of us by a few decades. The end of the 20th Century needed to see a crooked American president dragged before a court and sent to jail. If it had been done back then, we might not be seeing the kind of lawlessness we're getting from Jackass 2 in the White House today.

Instead, we came to a near constitutional crisis because a President cheated on his wife. It gave a free pass to presidents for generations to come.

Face it, when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, the only Americans he was sparing were the pissant Republicans that were hanging on by their fingernails anyway back then, and the paranoid, drug-addled fuck that had vacated the White House months before (see, history repeats itself!). He was doing the sleazebag political version of "Paying it Forward".

Re:Messiness in front, though

[JavaLord]

When Ford pardoned Nixon, it did not get the messiness behind us, it just pushed it all in front of us by a few decades. The end of the 20th Century needed to see a crooked American president dragged before a court and sent to jail. If it had been done back then, we might not be seeing the kind of lawlessness we're getting from Jackass 2 in the White House today.

Really, and what "Lawlessness" is that, and how does it relate to what Nixon did? Are you acusing GW Bush of rigging the elections, and if so what happened this last time around? While some may question the "Domestic Surveillance" program, it is surely done for different reasons than Nixon's goons breaking and entering to try to get an upper hand in an election.

Instead, we came to a near constitutional crisis because a President cheated on his wife. It gave a free pass to presidents for generations to come.

Uhhh, no there wasn't anything near a 'constitutional crisis'. Also, Clinton wasn't impeached for "Cheating on his wife", it was for grand jury perjury, civil suit perjury, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power. All of these fall under 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors". While Clinton did obviously commit perjury, I personally am happy he wasn't impeached for it since it didn't really harm the country in any way.

Face it, when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, the only Americans he was sparing were the pissant Republicans that were hanging on by their fingernails anyway back then, and the paranoid, drug-addled fuck that had vacated the White House months before (see, history repeats itself!). He was doing the sleazebag political version of "Paying it Forward".

Or maybe he was just trying to do the right thing for the country? I do hope both parties get over the desire to impeach one anothers presidents for partisan discord.

Re:Messiness in front, though

[udderly]

But then again, why should the OP allow facts to get in the way of what he/she wishes to believe?

The logical fallacy of Blank and White Thinking, which is a hallmark of those with Borderline Personality Disorder, seems to affect most of us when dealing with political figures.

Maybe GWB and/or Bill Clinton are saints, sent from God himself; maybe they're full-on sociopaths. However, the most likely scenario is that they're the usual mixture of good and evil, altruism and selfishness, who through various turns-of-events became President despite their flaws.

Likewise, their policies could be completely evil or completely good, but more likely the result of mixed motives and the general imperfection of the human intellect and psychology.

Re:Cnn does it best

[teflaime]

Bias? I'm not sure where you are seeing bias in CNN's coverage. They portrayed him as a kind and honest man who did what he thought was best for the country, as opposed to what was best for himself or the Republican party. Which, to be accurate, was pretty much how Ford said he wanted to be remembered.

How is this insightful?

[CyberLord Seven]

By pardoning Nixon, Ford stopped all of the investigations and set the US up for another Imperial Presidency. Rather than putting Watergate, and it's excesses, behind the country, Ford's pardon put them into the future. Take a look around and you'll see for yourself.

For those too young to know better; the Watergate scandal is NOT about the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters! Watergate is about everything that happened AFTER!

Re:How is this insightful?

[coredog64]

America has had Imperial Presidencies since Lincoln.

Re:How is this insightful?

[Anonymous Coward]

>another Imperial Presidency

Much as I detest the man, our current regime doesn't count as a imperial Presidency if the voters explicitly endorse it by putting him back in office, no matter how slim the margin was.

It's the will of the peepul, curse their stupid little souls. Sit down, wipe the foam off your mouth and get over it.

Scary Times for the U.S.

[Hercules Peanut]

A former President is dead and all we can comment on is the rightness or wrongness of a decision made to seek justice or move on. The comments from both sides appear pretty hot too even after all of these years. It's scary just how polarized we have become. It really seems as if you are firmly entrenched one way or the other.

It doesn't give me a whole lot of hope for the near future. Every time we see something on slashdot it is hotly debated with no middle ground and no compromise. With that attitude, I find it unlikely that we will elect officials who are willing to walk the middle ground or compromise and that, to me, is scary.

President Ford, I was too young to know what was really happening during your term so I won't judge (I am also not a judge). You took the highest position in the world and I respect you for that accomplishment as I do every President regardless of party or policy. I remember feeling encouragement from you in the boy scout commercials and I thank you for that.

Rest in Peace.

Re:Bush involvement

[JavaLord]

We still don't have a motive for the crime -- Nixon was leading in the polls at the time of the break-in. Some suggest the motive might have been to steal the evidence that Nixon and George H.W. Bush were involved in the JFK assassination.

So the democrats had this, and just didn't release it...and they never mentioned it publically afterwords? Please, those kinds of theories are put forward just by authors looking to sell books to marks. They broke in to place wiretaps to see what the democrats were up to. Sure Nixon was leading in the polls, but does a thief stop stealing just because he has money?

Re:OK, I'm a cynic ...

[Reality Master 101]

If Clinton had been conviceted for lying (essentially the charge)

Just a small correction -- the charge wasn't just "lying", the charge was the President of the United States, the protector of the constitution, lying under oath, in a court of law, a much more serious offense.

Re:Cnn does it best

[Reziac]

Please take my respects with you. From all that I know of him, Gerald Ford was a good and honest man who did the best he could even in a tough situation, and always had his countrymen's best interests at heart. I am saddened by his passing, but glad that we had him in life.

Re:Let the SOB rot in hell

[polyex]

We are on the same page politcally, but I just wish the left would stop using exaggerations like imperialism, its so played and a turn off to moderates who the left should try and court more. Iraq is not going to become a state or commonwealth of the US. Slamming a guy personally because of tough decision you do not agree with is petty. Saying that he is a son of a bitch and should rot in hell is not only disrespectful to a man who was president, but distracts from your otherwise valid points. "There's another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates." -Martin Luther King

Re:He took JFK secrets to his grave

[BoneFlower]

You have a reference to Fords comment about changing the report?

One, I don't know you from a hill of beans, so your credibility is unknown.

Two, assuming he did change the words, it is at least as important to know *why* he did it as it is to know he did it in the first place.

Re:Turn the TV Off.

[JhohannaVH]

Muwahahahahaha... Tell that to Mogadishu. Tell that to Beirut. Tell that to Baghdad, Paris, and Amsterdam. Tell that to Banda Aceh. Tell that to Indonesia. And oh yeah... remember to tell your grandkids when they get drafted to fight for Christendom, as it were. I'm sorry, but they will NOT be enforcing any kind of Sharia on this Redheaded Rebel.

And I'm allergic to bees, so my chances are pretty good. Especially since I'm 10 miles from Tijuana.

I don't watch Faux News... I read Das Interwebs... :P Where the hell did they come up with that anyways? A few of my favorites:

http://www.drudgereport.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://news.google.com/
http://www.haaretz.com/
http://www.msnbc.com/
http://thehill.com/
http://www.iht.com/
http://my.yahoo.com/ - of course, customized for worldwide RSS.


Grow up and open your eyes to the world reality. Not just the one you see in your four walls. Try working with some people from different parts of the world. Especially men from the worker caste in India that don't know anything about how to work with Females. One peed all over the bathroom IN OUR OFFICE, because the young janitorial Mexican girl knocked on the door while he was taking a leak. He was offended, so he whizzed all over all of the porcelain. Oh, and he was Muslim too... he would accost any woman he saw wearing a crucifix... and since we have a lot of Filipinas here, it was awful. Needless to say, it STILL took us 2 months of protesting to get HR to do something about him. I particularly enjoyed bringing in bacon and egg muffin sammies and eating them right in front of him. Oh, did I mention that he was in the cube next to me.. this is how I know all this.

My favorite foreigners that I've ever worked were with practically brothers... we even shared an office. One was a Christian Iranian, the other a Sunni Iraqi, and they surfed (in the ocean) together daily. I miss them both so much... and they treated HUMANS with a dignity and respect I've never seen since. Sad. I learned a lot from them.

It's not the terrorism I worry about, it's the FORCED IMPOSITION of Sharia on societies that are too vulnerable to know better. Women are being beaten in the public square now in Banda Aceh, and no one cares... the UN let them take it over... and now, they are beaten to death for meeting with a man in public. FUCK THAT SHIT maynard. FUCK IT ALL... I will give MY rotten ass life to make sure that NO ONE must suffer under such injustice. *sigh* Even you. Especially you... too damned ignorant to know better.. either that, or you're blinded by decades of such imposition already.

Uhm...

[kitsunewarlock]

I still enjoy Nixon for everything he did OTHER than Watergate and the lying and what-not...but I mostly like what he did for cancer research and involving relations with China...

But no man should be judged by only their worse moments. You must take ALL moments into account, and until you see everything a person did, you should not judge for yourself what they have done.

Clinton is still loved by many despite what he did. And I don't mean the scandel. I mean acts reguarding printing so much money that the penny is now worth less than 1 cent...