Regarding the recent death of Gerald Ford, let me say that Betty Ford was one of the best First ladies the country has ever had. She turned her problems into opportunities to help millions and brought things that were suppressed out into the open so that solutions could be actively sought.
[A point of information: Harry Truman was President when I was born, so my feelings about Presidents since Harry are based on personal knowledge.]
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2 comments
Well and diplomatically put, Bryan.
I’m afraid my initial respect for the service Ford did under very awkward circumstances has since been tempered considerably by the release of the Woodward tapes.
Ford clearly had potential influence with his buddies Rummy and Cheney; why did he not wield that influence while he was alive, when it might have done some good? I hope that doesn’t count as speaking too ill of the dead, but with 20-20 hindsight, I think that the man who “enabled” Rumsfeld and Cheney had some responsibility to attempt to influence them in regard to the mess they are making. In the end, I suppose the Republicans’ “Eleventh Commandment” prevailed over all else.
OTOH, he may just have felt that he was too old to want to put up with the grief of saying anything negative about the Shrubbery. He never defended the old line Republicans against the conservatives who took over the party he lead and he assuredly would have had strong views about the changes in the House under Gingrich and DeLay.