Former US President Ford dead at 93

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Oerdin
California has had three presidents all republican. I still can't bring myself to gorgive Ford for pardoning Nixon (who commited vast crimes against the American people and war crimes against the people of indo-China). I think Ford was a good man but he most certainly cut a deal with the outgoing Nixon for some quid pro quo in the form of "give me a pardon and I will make you President".

FDR comitted war crimes and LBJ commited the same war crimes as Nixon. I wonder why you have never expressed any frustration with the fact that they were never punished?

Anyway I think that ford thought prosecution of Nixon would do more harm than good and I happen to agree with him. It's perfectly understandable that he would choose to pardon the man.

[Addled Platypus]

as they say - death comes in three's

James Brown
Gerald Ford
? ____


side note -James and Gerald both from pnemonia

what are the odds ?

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Platypus Rex
as they say - death comes in three's

James Brown
Gerald Ford
? ____


side note -James and Gerald both from pnemonia

what are the odds ?

how much time is there before the third death will no longer be considered to qualify as the third?

[Addled Platypus]

a couple of days

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Platypus Rex

side note -James and Gerald both from pnemonia

what are the odds ?

Pneumonia is one of the commonest causes of death in old people- it tends to finish off people already weakened by other illnesses.

[Ecthy]

Could Saddam die of pneumonia?

[Lord Avalon]

RIP.

And actually, Ford was from Michigan.

[Imran Siddiqui]

History has seen Ford's pardon of Nixon as the correct move. It prevented bitter partisan divides over the past events and helped the country move on. Ford received a Profile in Courage award later on in his life for that act. It surely cost him election victory, but he thought it was the proper thing to do.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Did they really need to throw in the dig at Bush at the end? It's an obituary, for pity's sake...

I think it says something about you that you thought a comparison to Nixon was about Bush

[TCO]

The dig at Nixon, at the end and in that manner, was inappropriate as well.

[TCO]

It's as if they are trying to create some sort of branding. Some sort of stamp on history. Ford is the nice one, etc. We've seen the same thing with Reagan. The Democrats who fought him on the military buildup (wanting unilateral disarmament...remember the "nuclear freeze") now giving him credit. I say, give it a rest, middlebrow media.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
History has seen Ford's pardon of Nixon as the correct move. It prevented bitter partisan divides over the past events and helped the country move on. Ford received a Profile in Courage award later on in his life for that act. It surely cost him election victory, but he thought it was the proper thing to do.

It muted partisanship for sure, but don't beleive for an instant that most of the partisanship of today finds roots in the oust Nixon movement. That ultimately found fertile ground in the payback "slick willie" movement, and now similarly revisited in the Bush is teh evil movement.

Ford by all means did the right thing and things would hav ebeen a lot lot worse had he not pardoned Nixon, but it by no means eliminated partisanship.

[Zkribbler]

I remember the Ford vs. Carter election. It was the last Presidential election where Americas were voting for a candidate rather than against one.

BTW: To call Ford a candidate hand-picked by Nixon is misleading. Ford was the consensus candidate of the House of Representatives. He was the perfect choice to. A calm, steady, virtuous man to lead the nation out of the swirling sewers America found itself in.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I remember the Ford vs. Carter election.

"There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe..."

[rah]

There are many that consider that the statement that lost him the election.