Question about President Ford

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I was in my twenties when Nixon resigned and Ford took office. I remember feeling a such a sense of relief because it felt as if the Presidency was an honorable office again. Watergate was a really scary time. Nixon seemed to want to do whatever it took to keep himself in office, no matter what that did to our democracy. Ford clearly cared about maintaining the sense that we are a nation of laws, and no one is, or should be, above them.

Once Ford came in it seemed like the nation quickly settled down and went back to being what we so fortunately consider "normal" in this country. He made it look easy, and in my twenties I was grateful, but took it for granted.
I laughed at Chevy Chase, voted for Carter (another honorable man) and life went on.

But as I've gotten older, I've really come to appreciate how lucky this country was that we could choose between 2 such decent, honorable, patriotic men as Ford and Carter in that election. I've found myself crying several times since Mr. Ford died, not in sadness that a 93 year old man has passed away, but in real gratitude for his midwestern, nonflashy, unselfish, honest service to his country. We really needed him, and he didn't make a big deal out of it, he just did a job he was qualified to do when asked to do it.

 

[Maryr1]

I was very young when President Ford was in office, but I remember the turmoil of the time. I remember a man who gave up a tremendous amount of himself to serve his country. He gave up his own dreams-political,private,family to live a very public life with tremendous responsibility. He made decisions based on his own belief of what was right, not easy, popular or politically correct. A road not easily traveled I am sure. His decisions cost him dearly of what might have been-but were what he believed to be the correct actions for the time. It is interesting to me that often our greatest leaders are not recognized at their time of service-but years later when the turmoil and passions of the day have settled. I think the legacy they create is built on the foundation they lay at the time of service. President Ford was a man who returned to private life with little fanfare and really did not seem to seek the limelight-I felt he enjoyed his later years as a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and mentor a great deal. In rare interviews I have seen, he speaks so warmly of his family-Just my opinion.