Former President Gerald Ford has died at age 93. He came to office unelected due to the bizarre circumstances of a U.S. Vice President and then a U.S. President who both resigned in disgrace. So it's not unexpected that the press coverage today features prominently the words "Watergate" and "pardon."
However, it's also worth remembering why Ford was compelled to pardon Richard Nixon: the implacable hostility of a Democratic Congress and the insatiable bloodlust of the media powers, who had combined to bring down a president (and deservedly so) but who were then not content to have merely driven Nixon from power. Deprived of impeachment proceedings, they wanted a show trial in the courts.
That pardon decision cost Ford the election in 1976, as 50.1% of the people proceeded to vote for the Sunday School teacher who subsequently proved to one of the worst presidents in the 20th century, with consequences that resonate even today.
Ford knew the personal price to be paid and did it anyway, for the good of the country. That decision alone was an indication of what kind of guy he was. RIP.
Posted by Alan at December 27, 2006 12:20 PM