Gerald R. Ford 1913-2006

The image at left is a drawing I made of Gerald Ford on the day he became president back in 1974, when I was 14. At various times over the 32 years since I made that drawing I thought about trying to get former President Ford to sign it, but the opportunity never presented itself. Now, of course, it never will.
President Ford died last night of undisclosed causes at the age of 93. He was the oldest living former president in U.S. history, beating out John Adams and Ronald Reagan. Historians will debate what if any impact this man, our only unelected president, will have on the history of our country. but right now I just want to jot down some random impressions.

I don't know if Gerald Ford "healed the wounds of Watergate," as some people have been saying on the morning shows, but he was certainly a breath of fresh air after the glowering atmosphere of the Nixon years. Ford and his wife Betty had an inherent decency about them that made people think that things might turn around after all the months of Constitutional crisis caused by Nixon's paranoia and desire to crush his enemies at all cost, and his family came off as refreshingly normal after the way-too-tightly-wound Nixons.

Something about Gerald Ford that most people forget is how close he came to being elected president in his own right. In fact, President Ford came very close to pulling off a Truman-like upset against Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. If a couple of factors had been different -- if Ford had not lost his voice towards the end of the campaign or if (and granted, this is a big if) Ford had not pardoned Nixon two years earlier -- Ford would have been the winner. I've always thought as a result that the entire Carter Administration was a bit of a fluke.

But mostly what I think of when I think of Gerald Ford is what a contrast he makes with the man currently sitting in the Oval Office. This may not be the time to point out the contrast. but then, do I really have to?

Gerald Ford was a good and decent man, and with any luck we'll have another such man in the White House soon.

Rest in peace, Mr. President.

Tom Moran