The Passing of a President

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., the 38th president of the United States passed away today at the age of 93; the longest living president in history. As is typical with the passing of former presidents, the media will be in a perpetual frenzy over the coming days. I feel that it is proper to pay tribute to our fallen leaders, but in a low key manner. The book has long been closed on Ford's presidency, but his legacy still remains firmly engrained into the American psyche. But Americans tend to thrash about when a leader is not paid proper tribute (probably going back to the days of monarchies and such). Never the less, Ford will go down in history as the most “unlikely” man to ever call 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue his address.

It is a truly remarkable feat to become president in the modern age, as it takes over a year of campaigning, massive amounts of capital, and the undivided loyalty of a sanctioning political party. Yet Ford was never elected to the presidency, the only president in our nation’s history to have never run a national campaign to seek the office (the first time around). Ford began his political career in 1948 out of Michigan when he was elected to the House of Representatives. He would be appointed to the Warren Commission, the group that investigated and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole shooter in the assasination of John F. Kennedy. He managed to work his way up through the ranks of the Republican Party to become minority leader of the house (even though his dream was to become speaker). In October 1973, then Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to tax evasion. Richard Nixon saw it fit to appoint the congressionally popular Ford to the post of the vice presidency to distort the clout of corruption that had been shadowing his administration since the infamous Watergate Scandal.

By August 1974 it was becoming obvious to Nixon that he would not survive the remainder of his 2 years left in office due to the ominous impeachment hearings that were to begin in Congress. Richard Nixon is the only president to resign from the office, which in turn left Ford as the default president. In his first month as president, Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his actions during the Watergate scandal, which would cost Ford the presidency in the election of 1976 (saving Nixon the trouble of going to prison). Ford would lose one of the closest presidential elections in history to former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. Even before the general election Ford barley received the nomination of his party, but managed to win a closely fought battle with a man by the name of Ronald Reagan. His legacy will forever be associated with the pardoning of Nixon.

In hindsight his pardoning of Richard Nixon seemed to help heal the massive wound that pervaded the country. The Watergate scandal made many Americans question the authenticity and honesty of the entire political stratum. Ford’s candor while in office helped to heal the gaping wound in the political world of Washington D.C. Nixon was a president whose time and attention was closely guarded by his handlers and even himself. Ford was known for his “open door policy” and un-bureaucratic office structure. Essentially, he was open to everyone, even two women, whom would try to assassinate Ford on two separate occasions. His time in the oval office was not without his handling of major crises that pervaded the country at the time, including inflation, an economic recession, massive unemployment numbers, and of course, the energy crisis. Yet, the country survived those days with the leadership of President Ford. You ever hear of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld? Well, they got their start with President Ford, as chief of staff and defense secretary, respectively.

After losing to Carter in 1976, Ford would lead a quiet life out of the public eye. He spent most of his time in either Colorado or California, as do most former presidents. Surprisingly, he has been a closet opponent to "W's" Iraq war. A 2004 interview he did with Bob Woodward of the Washington Post was released this week, but no one ever knew about it, as Ford insructed Woodward to release it only upon his death. In the interview he criticizes the Bush Administration's imperial notions about even going to war in the first place. Needless to say, he has gone down as the most implausible president in our nation’s history. But the man himself truly managed to silence his doubters while in office, as it takes a special sort of man to take on the responsibility of president of the United States. You do not have to respect the man, but you should respect the office.