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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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 Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:34 am Post subject: President Gerald Ford has Died |
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Gerald Ford, 38th President and the only unelected President in our history, died this evening at the age of 93.
Foxnews has mentioned that in 1975, as Saigon was falling to Communism, he tried desparately for funds to help support South Viet Nam, but was faced with a very uncooperative Democrat controlled Congress.
He has also faced much criticism for pardoning Richard Nixon, but history is showing that move was best for the country.
Rest in Peace, Mr. President.
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Clark County Conservative |
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Fort Campbell
Vice Admiral
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 896
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Once again I will be the lone detractor, it seems. I lived through WaterGate and remember it well. Gerald Ford was appointed VP when Spiro Agnew was indicted by the state of Maryland and had to resign. Many already felt the winds blowing and knew that it was simply a matter of time until Richard M. Nixon would either be impeached or would resign due to Watergate. I, along with many others, firmly believe that the only reason that Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as VP was because Ford promised in one of those famous Washington back room deals to grant Nixon a Presidential pardon when Nixon did resign. It was Ford's pardoning of Nixon that lost him the opportunity to be elected president by the general populace thus making him the only man in the history of this country to serve as president without being elected by the citizens. NOT our finest hour. |
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BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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Ford's pardon for Nixon was needed for the country to move forward and get over Watergate. Without it, the country would have been mired in courtrooms for years like some sort of extended version of the OJ trial.
It was a necessary but unpopular decision and Ford made it.
If nothing else, Ford was a President of the United States and as such deserving of respect.
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Fort Campbell wrote: | | I, along with many others, firmly believe that the only reason that Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as VP was because Ford promised in one of those famous Washington back room deals to grant Nixon a Presidential pardon when Nixon did resign. |
You can, of course, believe what you will but as I re-read these words, they are not those of a calculating politician but of an honest and honorable man struggling to deal with the infinitely vexing balance of justice and mercy...
| Quote: | President Gerald R. Ford's Remarks on Signing a Proclamation Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon
September 8, 1974
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Listen to excerpts from the speech as delivered by President Ford in .wav format (file size 2.3 MB)
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Ladies and gentlemen:
I have come to a decision which I felt I should tell you and all of my fellow American citizens, as soon as I was certain in my own mind and in my own conscience that it is the right thing to do.
I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions always come to this desk. I must admit that many of them do not look at all the same as the hypothetical questions that I have answered freely and perhaps too fast on previous occasions.
My customary policy is to try and get all the facts and to consider the opinions of my countrymen and to take counsel with my most valued friends. But these seldom agree, and in the end, the decision is mine. To procrastinate, to agonize, and to wait for a more favorable turn of events that may never come or more compelling external pressures that may as well be wrong as right, is itself a decision of sorts and a weak and potentially dangerous course for a President to follow.
I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.
I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became President but many times since. The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions as citizens. Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it.
As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family.
Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.
There are no historic or legal precedents to which I can turn in this matter, none that precisely fit the circumstances of a private citizen who has resigned the Presidency of the United States. But it is common knowledge that serious allegations and accusations hang like a sword over our former President's head, threatening his health as he tries to reshape his life, a great part of which was spent in the service of this country and by the mandate of its people.
After years of bitter controversy and divisive national debate, I have been advised, and I am compelled to conclude that many months and perhaps more years will have to pass before Richard Nixon could obtain a fair trial by jury in any jurisdiction of the United States under governing decisions of the Supreme Court.
I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station. The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.
The facts, as I see them, are that a former President of the United States, instead of enjoying equal treatment with any other citizen accused of violating the law, would be cruelly and excessively penalized either in preserving the presumption of his innocence or in obtaining a speedy determination of his guilt in order to repay a legal debt to society.
During this long period of delay and potential litigation, ugly passions would again be aroused. And our people would again be polarized in their opinions. And the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.
In the end, the courts might well hold that Richard Nixon had been denied due process, and the verdict of history would even more be inconclusive with respect to those charges arising out of the period of his Presidency, of which I am presently aware.
But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me, though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person. My concern is the immediate future of this great country.
In this, I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not.
As President, my primary concern must always be the greatest good of all the people of the United States whose servant I am. As a man, my first consideration is to be true to my own convictions and my own conscience.
My conscience tells me clearly and certainly that I cannot prolong the bad dreams that continue to reopen a chapter that is closed. My conscience tells me that only I, as President, have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal this book. My conscience tells me it is my duty, not merely to proclaim domestic tranquillity but to use every means that I have to insure it.
I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.
I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
Finally, I feel that Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough and will continue to suffer, no matter what I do, no matter what we, as a great and good nation, can do together to make his goal of peace come true.
[At this point, the President began reading from the proclamation granting the pardon.]
"Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974."
[The President signed the proclamation and then resumed reading.]
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth."
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NOTE: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White House, where he signed Proclamation 4311 granting the pardon.
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library |
| Fort Campbell wrote: | | It was Ford's pardoning of Nixon that lost him the opportunity to be elected president by the general populace thus making him the only man in the history of this country to serve as president without being elected by the citizens. NOT our finest hour. |
Perhaps not, but I'd wager it was his.
Your duty is done, your short journey complete Mr. President. Thank you for that service.
Rest in Peace. |
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BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Fort Campbell wrote: | | I, along with many others, firmly believe that the only reason that Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as VP was because Ford promised in one of those famous Washington back room deals to grant Nixon a Presidential pardon when Nixon did resign. |
The Watergate Incident was a watershed event in American political history. It marked the emergence of the Leftist elite and their campaign of being against everything. They dug and dug to get goods on Nixon, and when they finally did, they were vindictive in their pursuit of his impeachment. They have never stopped since. They went after Reagan and were repeatedly unsuccessful. They went after Bush Sr. and were unsuccessful, nor have they been they successfully plying their trade against our current sitting president, but they don't give up.
Gerald Ford may have been appointed to the office, but he was there when the country needed him and stopped the witch hunt being pursued by the liberals in the only manner available to him, a presidential pardon.
Gerry sent troops to Cambodia to rescue Americans on the seized ship SS Mayaguez. What did his liberal successor do when terrorist students seized the American Embassy in Iran? Nothing!!!
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
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Navy_Navy_Navy
Admin
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 5777
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, an honest and honorable man - a rare thing in politics. I appreciate reading his speech, again.
| Quote: | | I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy. |
I pray that Gerald Ford meets with all the mercy that we hope for. He took on a terrible, forbidding job and he did the best he could do under impossible circumstances.
Rest in peace.
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~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother |
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carpro
Admin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 1176
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Fort Campbell wrote: | | I, along with many others, firmly believe that the only reason that Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as VP was because Ford promised in one of those famous Washington back room deals to grant Nixon a Presidential pardon when Nixon did resign. |
To so "firmly " believe something like this with no evidence at all is a personal decision based on feelings and not fact.
I believe Ford did it because it was the right thing to do.
He was appointed to replace Agnew because his integrity was well known and unquestioned by the members of Congress who approved his appointment, which does not tie in at all with what you so "firmly" believe.
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"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service." |
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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“In Washington today the funeral for President Gerald Ford was held and all the living presidents were in attendance. Jimmy Carter said Ford was a wonderful man. Clinton called Ford a true American. And President Bush said Ford was the guy who invented the automobile.” —Conan O’Brien
sorta like Gore who invneted the internet |
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