Gerald R. Ford: Statesman

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Statesman

On Wednesday December the Twenty Sixth Two Thousand and Six the United States lost a statesman, and the world lost one of the finer human beings in its midst. The death of the Thirty–Eighth President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. Ford ascended to the Presidency in a time of Constitutional upheaval, and political uncertainty never seen in the United States before or since. In the course of doing what he saw as his duty to himself, his God, and his country, he started being a leader; he made unpopular decisions for the good of his country and Constitution. Mr. Ford did this with an unassuming grace very seldom seen in politics. For those qualities of leadership, the United States will be forever grateful.  

 As Vice President of the United States, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned amidst allegations of corruption and President Richard M. Nixon himself under close scrutiny because of the Watergate break-in, the United States House of Representatives chose Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, Republican from Michigan, and former Chairman of the Warren Commission investigating the President Kennedy assassination as the new Vice President of the United States. Ford took over the office under authority of the Twenty Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.  Then, at noon on August the Ninth, Ninety Seventy-Four, Nixon resigned the Presidency of the United States and Ford became President, setting off a chain of events that would have a lasting effect on politics in the United States for years to come. 

 Ford brought a ray of light to the Presidency after the darkness of the Nixon Administration. The sense of honor and trustworthiness at the dawn of this new day was contagious, Ford’s first words were to set the tone of his entire administration “our great national nightmare is over”, and with those words, so it was.  

 Fords first and most controversial act was to pardon President Richard Nixon for all crimes committed by him as President. This is the act of one who leads, one who does an unpopular act for the good of his country. This single act, he knew might doom his own political chances in the future. Ford knew that pardoning of Nixon was the way to end the nightmare, and that he and only he could do that. A modern day political Socrates. The pardon was the political hemlock, and the high-minded Ford drank it without reservation or purpose of evasion.     

This one act of political suicide is and will be forever Ford’s legacy, for right or wrong. He had a conscience, and it shows in his one and only Supreme Court appointee, in his legislative agenda, and the respect of his peers in Congress and his peers in the electorate. Like Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman, Ford made the hard choices no matter the cost. Politicians are made, leaders are born. We have seen the last politician with the honor, courage, and vision to be a true leader. May Mr. Ford rest in peace, may the Lord have mercy on his soul, and may the lord forgive him of his sins. 

 

                            Melvin Marvin Thayer III     

                                December 30, 2006

 

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