Gerald R. Ford - RIP

I caught a glimpse of Ford once, I believe it was at an airport in Philadelphia. He came into office in an unusal way at a difficult time. I always felt that he had the best interests of America in his heart. Such people are always missed.

via Drudge:

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal- shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93.
Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments _ including an angioplasty _ in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly-controlled and conspiratorial.

Comments

[Darth Malice]

RIP Ford.....He was the veto king which we should be grateful.I wish his SCOTUS nominee had been a bit better.One thing he did have was CLASS unlike others.

[nova]

Gerald Ford liked to swim every day. Gerald Ford liked to eat his english muffins uncooked. He was a big man who played football at Michigan. He worked briefly as a model. He never had any other job but politics.
He lost the election against Jimmy Carter because he had pardoned Richard Nixon.(This one was not in the Washington Post of course. It is just my opinion).
He was on the Warren Commission. An unelected President who was on the Warren Commission.
These are the kind of things you learn reading the Washington Post stories about Ford over the years.

[Darth Malice]

He was a good guy,but Justice Stevens is not a good choice.

[danielle]

The only thing I remember about him is the Saturday Night Live skits where they show him tripping and falling all the time. Was he really that clumsy?

[Darth Malice]

daniell even though he was a moderate the press had no mercy....He was really a good athlete

[Doug]

Gerry Ford had a tough job after Nixon. I applaud him for it. Chevy Chase did him a great disservice with the "stumbling" bit.

Got to watch him practice putting on a golf course north of Durango many years ago.

It was interesting watching the Secret Service detail. One in front of him, one behind, two in the trees beyond the tee, and one sitting in a station wagon. We did not approach.

[nova]

Interesting to note that he was a nice guy who never was elected to the vice presidency or the Presidency. Good guys finish last. He was a much better President than those who did win on their own. Ironic and a comment on the voter mentality in this country.

[Crickets Chirping]

“I don’t think I would have gone to war,” Gerald Ford.

Best interests of America, eh? Howdya like them apples...

[John from WuzzaDem]

***The only thing I remember about him is the Saturday Night Live skits where they show him tripping and falling all the time. Was he really that clumsy?***

I think he was caught on camera stumbling twice, so comedians played it up. I never really thought Chevy Chase was funny, but some of those early skits of him as Ford were funny because he made absolutely no attempt at doing an impression of Ford, he'd just trip over something or fall over.

I think the "No Soviet domination of Eastern Europe" may have done him just as much harm as the Nixon pardon.