R.I.P. Former President Gerald Ford

[Animal]

Gerald Ford dies at 93



Former president took over during depths of Watergate scandal



• Pres. Gerald Ford dies
Dec. 26: Betty Ford is reporting that former President Gerald Ford has died, at age 93.
MSNBC



Updated: 4 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - 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.

“My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age,â€Â￾ Mrs. Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband’s office in Rancho Mirage. “His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country.â€Â￾

The statement did not say where Ford died or list a cause of death. Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments â€â€￾ including an angioplasty â€â€￾ 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.

He took office minutes after Nixon flew off into exile and declared “our long national nightmare is over.â€Â￾ But he revived the debate a month later by granting Nixon a pardon for all crimes he committed as president. That single act, it was widely believed, cost Ford election to a term of his own in 1976, but it won praise in later years as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on.

The Vietnam War ended in defeat for the U.S. during his presidency with the fall of Saigon in April 1975. In a speech as the end neared, Ford said: “Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned.â€Â￾ Evoking Abraham Lincoln, he said it was time to “look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the nation’s wounds.â€Â￾

Ford also earned a place in the history books as the first unelected vice president, chosen by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew who also was forced from office by scandal.

He was in the White House only 895 days, but changed it more than it changed him.

Even after two women tried separately to kill him, the presidency of Jerry Ford remained open and plain.

Not imperial. Not reclusive. And, of greatest satisfaction to a nation numbed by Watergate, not dishonest.

Even to millions of Americans who had voted two years earlier for Richard Nixon, the transition to Ford’s leadership was one of the most welcomed in the history of the democratic process â€â€￾ despite the fact that it occurred without an election.

After the Watergate ordeal, Americans liked their new president â€â€￾ and first lady Betty, whose candor charmed the country.

They liked her for speaking openly about problems of young people, including her own daughter; they admired her for not hiding that she had a mastectomy â€â€￾ in fact, her example caused thousands of women to seek breast examinations.

And she remained one of the country’s most admired women even after the Fords left the White House when she was hospitalized in 1978 and admitted to having become addicted to drugs and alcohol she took for painful arthritis and a pinched nerve in her neck. Four years later she founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, a substance abuse facility next to Eisenhower Medical Center.

Ford slowed down in recent years. He had been hospitalized in August 2000 when he suffered one or more small strokes while attending the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

The following year, he joined former presidents Carter, Bush and Clinton at a memorial service in Washington three days after the Sept. 11 attacks. In June 2004, the four men and their wives joined again at a funeral service in Washington for former President Reagan. But in November 2004, Ford was unable to join the other former presidents at the dedication of the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.

In January, Ford was hospitalized with pneumonia for 12 days. He wasn’t seen in public until April 23, when President Bush was in town and paid a visit to the Ford home. Bush, Ford and Betty posed for photographers outside the residence before going inside for a private get-together.

The intensely private couple declined reporter interview requests and were rarely seen outside their home in Rancho Mirage’s gated Thunderbird Estates, other than to attend worship services at the nearby St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.

In a long congressional career in which he rose to be House Republican leader, Ford lit few fires. In the words of Congressional Quarterly, he “built a reputation for being solid, dependable and loyal â€â€￾ a man more comfortable carrying out the programs of others than in initiating things on his own.â€Â￾

When Agnew resigned in a bribery scandal in October 1973, Ford was one of four finalists to succeed him: Texan John Connally, New York’s Nelson Rockefeller and California’s Ronald Reagan.

“Personal factors enter into such a decision,â€Â￾ Nixon recalled for a Ford biographer in 1991. I knew all of the final four personally and had great respect for each one of then, but I had known Jerry Ford longer and better than any of the rest.

“We had served in Congress together. I had often campaigned for him in his district,â€Â￾ Nixon continued. But Ford had something the others didn’t, he would be easily confirmed by Congress, something that could not be said of Rockefeller, Reagan and Connally.

So Ford it was. He became the first vice president appointed under the 25th amendment to the Constitution.

On Aug. 9, 1974, after seeing Nixon off to exile, Ford assumed the office. The next morning, he still made his own breakfast and padded to the front door in his pajamas to get the newspaper.

Said a ranking Democratic congressman: “Maybe he is a plodder, but right now the advantages of having a plodder in the presidency are enormous.â€Â￾

It was rare that Ford was ever as eloquent as he was for those dramatic moments of his swearing-in at the White House.

“My fellow Americans,â€Â￾ he said, “our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.â€Â￾

And, true to his reputation as unassuming Jerry, he added: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.â€Â￾

For Ford, a full term was not to be. He survived an intraparty challenge from Ronald Reagan only to lose to Democrat Jimmy Carter in November. In the campaign, he ignored Carter’s record as governor of Georgia and concentrated on his own achievements as president.

Carter won 297 electoral votes to his 240. After Reagan came back to defeat Carter in 1980, the two former presidents became collaborators, working together on joint projects.

Even as president, Ford often talked with reporters several times a day. He averaged 200 outside speeches a year as House Republican leader, a pace he kept up as vice president and diminished, seemingly, only slightly as chief executive. He kept speaking after leaving the White House, generally for fees of $15,000 to $20,000.

This breaking new story will be updated.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Death2all]

By all accounts he was a decent and genuine man. He survived two assassination attempts and relentless mocking by Chevy Chase, who portrayed him as hopelessly clumsy (even though he was quite athletic and a college football star).

Plus the dude smoked a pipe. That’s a stone cold mack-daddy Prez, there.

Not much happened on his term, which in a grim decade of worldwide socialism, squalor, and chaos is quite an achievement. His was a thankless job, cleaning up after Nixon and then inevitably turning over the country to the tender mercies of Carter. He did it well, and we thank him for it. RIP.

[stalindrummer]

eh he was only appointed to office. one of the most unimportant presidents ever. none the less he was our head of state, so R.I.P.

[kfoll]

eh he was only appointed to office. one of the most unimportant presidents ever. none the less he was our head of state, so R.I.P.

Yep, but he also managed to avoid being hated the way just about every president has been since then.

[Death2all]

eh he was only appointed to office. one of the most unimportant presidents ever. none the less he was our head of state, so R.I.P.

Yep, but he also managed to avoid being hated the way just about every president has been since then.

By today's standards he would have been hated.

Ford wanted to stay in Vietnam to the finish, but the Democratic-controlled Congress refused to honor our promises to support the South Vietnamese, and cut off funding for the war. The bloodbath that ensued when the Communists took over in 1975 was their creation, and a national disgrace.

[stalindrummer]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

[Death2all]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

Yeah I agree Jimmy Carter (D) was not any better. It wasn't till the Reagan years that the U.S. developed a back bone.

"With respect to the economy, Reagan said, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan

[braindrag]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

Yeah I agree Jimmy Carter (D) was not any better. It wasn't till the Reagan years that the U.S. developed a back bone.

"With respect to the economy, Reagan said, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan

Reagan ran as a self proclaimed F.D.R. Democrat under a Republican ticket. Smart move to win over the traditionally democratic south. Too bad he never followed through but the public bought it anyway. During his infamous reign as Gov. of California he declared that ketchup be considered a fruit in public school lunches and brought in the National Guard to pepper spray unarmed, peaceful protesters at U.C. Berkeley.

Who says that Hollywood only backs the Democratic agenda? It backs it's own agenda, their own people.

[Death2all]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

Yeah I agree Jimmy Carter (D) was not any better. It wasn't till the Reagan years that the U.S. developed a back bone.

"With respect to the economy, Reagan said, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan

Reagan ran as a self proclaimed F.D.R. Democrat under a Republican ticket. Smart move to win over the traditionally democratic south. Too bad he never followed through but the public bought it anyway. During his infamous reign as Gov. of California he declared that ketchup be considered a fruit in public school lunches and brought in the National Guard to pepper spray unarmed, peaceful protesters at U.C. Berkeley.

Who says that Hollywood only backs the Democratic agenda? It backs it's own agenda, their own people.

Reagan didn't change partys till the election of John F Kenndy. Reagan considered Kenndy a socialist and saw that socialism was a threat to the American way of life.


Reagan saw the creation of People's Park in ideological terms. He considered the creation of the park a direct leftist challenge to the property rights of the University, and this was an opportunity to make good on his campaign promise. Reagan decided to put an end to People's Park, and he proclaimed "If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with."" Appeasement is not the answer."

The irony of it all was that the mob of people that were protesting the Vietnam war in Peoples Park used violence to try to take it back.

[NeuroNomicon]

Fuck that! Reagan was bum! 300+ Million people, and the best we can get is a washed up actor? Pitiful. This country ought to be ashamed of itself. Ah, well, Reagan only got the position because he agreed to get Prescott's son on his ticket, so they let him play ball. It's all irrelevant. They're a bunch of shit-sucking corporate shills to the bitter end.

http://www.nathanielblumberg.com/neil.htm

[Death2all]

Fuck that! Reagan was bum! 300+ Million people, and the best we can get is a washed up actor? Pitiful. This country ought to be ashamed of itself. Ah, well, Reagan only got the position because he agreed to get Prescott's son on his ticket, so they let him play ball. It's all irrelevant. They're a bunch of shit-sucking corporate shills to the bitter end.

http://www.nathanielblumberg.com/neil.htm

Again with the conspiracy theories

[stalindrummer]

I like how a President of the United States dies and all you guys can do is bitch about your "views". This board gets more lame than FDRs legs everyday.

[braindrag]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

Yeah I agree Jimmy Carter (D) was not any better. It wasn't till the Reagan years that the U.S. developed a back bone.

"With respect to the economy, Reagan said, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan

Reagan ran as a self proclaimed F.D.R. Democrat under a Republican ticket. Smart move to win over the traditionally democratic south. Too bad he never followed through but the public bought it anyway. During his infamous reign as Gov. of California he declared that ketchup be considered a fruit in public school lunches and brought in the National Guard to pepper spray unarmed, peaceful protesters at U.C. Berkeley.

Who says that Hollywood only backs the Democratic agenda? It backs it's own agenda, their own people.

Reagan didn't change partys till the election of John F Kenndy. Reagan considered Kenndy a socialist and saw that socialism was a threat to the American way of life.


Reagan saw the creation of People's Park in ideological terms. He considered the creation of the park a direct leftist challenge to the property rights of the University, and this was an opportunity to make good on his campaign promise. Reagan decided to put an end to People's Park, and he proclaimed "If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with."" Appeasement is not the answer."

The irony of it all was that the mob of people that were protesting the Vietnam war in Peoples Park used violence to try to take it back.

A University is only as good as its people.

[WREKage-Paul]

Sorry to see Gerry Ford go.

On the plus side, I get a paid holiday for it.

[braindrag]

Thats right! and the Republicans brought integrity back to our nation after this national disgrace by...........oh thats right, continuing to disgrace our nation by promising alot and never delivering. You can't blame one party without blaming both.

Yeah I agree Jimmy Carter (D) was not any better. It wasn't till the Reagan years that the U.S. developed a back bone.

"With respect to the economy, Reagan said, "I'm told I can't use the word depression. Well, I'll tell you the definition. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; depression is when you lose your job. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."

Ronald Reagan

Reagan ran as a self proclaimed F.D.R. Democrat under a Republican ticket. Smart move to win over the traditionally democratic south. Too bad he never followed through but the public bought it anyway. During his infamous reign as Gov. of California he declared that ketchup be considered a fruit in public school lunches and brought in the National Guard to pepper spray unarmed, peaceful protesters at U.C. Berkeley.

Who says that Hollywood only backs the Democratic agenda? It backs it's own agenda, their own people.

Reagan didn't change partys till the election of John F Kenndy. Reagan considered Kenndy a socialist and saw that socialism was a threat to the American way of life.


Reagan saw the creation of People's Park in ideological terms. He considered the creation of the park a direct leftist challenge to the property rights of the University, and this was an opportunity to make good on his campaign promise. Reagan decided to put an end to People's Park, and he proclaimed "If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with."" Appeasement is not the answer."

The irony of it all was that the mob of people that were protesting the Vietnam war in Peoples Park used violence to try to take it back.

And this is what the city of Berkeley says today about Peoples Park.

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/parks/park ... sPark.html

"In the late 1960s, the University of California purchased the land and tore down the houses with the plan of building athletic fields. In the face of protest, the university delayed building the fields and left the land vacant, angering community members even further."