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?

[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?

[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: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: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: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: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

[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.