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Jesus, George, the body isn't even cold yet. Saying Ford "led directly to Jimmy Carter's victory", while ignoring Watergate is like saying Gore led directly to Bush's victory without mentioning the effects of Lewinski/impeachment. Couldn't you have waited one f***ing day before mocking the man?

As for the acrimony, Ford pardoned Nixon to keep the Democrats from running an "All Watergate All the Time" campaign straight into 1976. The acrimony was already there.

I completely agree with George on the vileness of Jimmy Carter.

jsb-I reread the piece once again after reading your comment and I fail to see any mockery of the man. Had Ford been a better president, the disastrous Carter presidency would have never happened.

Actually, I pretty closely agree with all of what George wrote, but I forgot what the Warren commission was, was it that who-shot-JFK thing? Well, castro did, it, that's the latest evidence so that's the best we know now. The interesting thing to ask about Ford is - had there not been a Jimmuh Cahtah, would Ronald Reagan have been possible? I think Americans were radicalized by Carter and it was a response to all his nonstop vileness. They wanted to make a clean sweep of things, so their voting in of Reagan, who might have been considered to radical before Carter, is what did it. Ford wasn't perfect but he was way better than Carter.

Rest in Peace, Jerry Ford.

Scott, all's fair in politics. Ronald Reagan was my candidate in 1976. Country Club Republican maneuvering led to Ford's nomination and that led to, what I kindly called, a lackluster campaign. I lived through it and campaigned for Reagan in 1976. Talk about disappointments. Ford led to Jimmy just as inexorably as PerjuryGate (with a little help from the Elian mess) led to Bush's victory in 2000.

Sorry if you don't like my take. I was actually kinder than I should have been.

Mocking wasn't the right word. Disparaging, perhaps?

Ford was not responsible for Jimmy Carter. The American people and their rebuke of Watergate are responsible for Jimmy Carter.

Ford lost the 1976 campaign and Carter won. He lost because of his inability to articulate any new vision for America. He was viewed as part of the "establishment" and voters didn't like it. (Or the fact that he pardoned Nixon, myself included.) Reagan wouldn't have had the same baggage. 'Nuff said.

I liked Gerry Ford. He provided great material for the 1st few seasons of SNL.

We can always play "what if" until we're blue in the face. Just like "what if Superman would have landed in Germany instead of the US during WWII."

He was an honorable man. Not a great president, but because of peanut breath who was somehow elected in 1976 we got Ronnie for 1980-1988 which was crucial in history. Had Ronnie Won in 1976, he would not have been there when the major events in the USSR took place. Ronnie's great achievements in foreign policy took place in his 2nd term.

It all has to do with the time space continuum. You upset one thing, and a whole new chain of events gets upset altering all history. See Back to the Future, Vol. I-III.

would you believe one of my neighbors actually names all his sons after american presidents!?!?, yes, there is a ford, as there is a lincoln, jackson, washington and reagan (what can i say, they are poor and probably didnt have a tv when they got married).. ive posted about this phenomena before.. they love these historical names here.. i mean i live in a place that has at best 100k residents, and theres kennedys, jeffersons, theres TWO moshe dyans, an idi amin, and luckily i havent run into any fidels, but castro is a common last name..

May He Rest In Peace!

I believe President Ford was a very bright individual, who was greatly underrated. I proudly say that I cast my first presidential vote for Gerald Ford ... no regrets!

I wish you well :) Melek

"It can go 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." ~ President Ford (regarding his pardon of President Nixon)

George, I think you're being unnecessarily harsh on the poor guy. He was right to pardon Tricky Dick when he did. The nation needed an end to the Watergate ordeal and charges or a trial would've been painful for a country reeling from Watergate, the resignation, and Vietnam. He provided a steady hand for the country and after LBJ and Nixon, he restored decency and honesty to the White House. Plus, no Carter, then possibly no Reagan. History has a funny way of working out.

Louis, when the Iranians nuke Tel Aviv or Haifa, remind me about history working out. No Carter, no Ayatollah Khomeini. No Khomeini, and Islam would not be as militant as it is today. He is the godfather of the militant Islamists in the world today.

but george, with that argument, i could present this scenario: no castro, no revolution, many here (on the blog) would have never been born, many here would have never met their husbands or wives, their children would have never been born.. they wouldnt have the lives they lead today.. foreign policy is not as simple as no ford, no carter, no khomeini.. i could go further no british empire, no AIOC, no BP, no meddling with boundries in persia, no hassles with mossadegh, no shah reza pahlavi.. and its all connected to the "west's dependence" on oil, so then who is to blame? and then i can loosely (or directly, depending on the route i take) connect truman into all of this.. james burke of 'connections' would love this thread.. im just trying to counter you no ford no carter no khomeini here..

Ford begot Carter and Carter begot Reagan. You can't take events in isolation, you have to see how they reverberated.

I disagree on the Nixon pardon. I think Nixon paid a huge price anyway and the country was spared a lot of BS.

As far as the JFK assassination I believe it was a conspiracy in that the assassination was planned by more than just Oswald alone (probably castro), but I believe Oswald was the lone gunman.

funny we are talking kennedy assassination here.. in hr hadleman's book 'the ends of power' there is at the very least an 'insinuation' that the 18 1/2 minute gap is related to a conversation regarding the bay of pigs/ kennedy assassination.. something to the effect of "if this gets out the whole bay of pigs thing will blow up in our face"..

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