Gerald Ford died...

**my5thNewUsernameHere** · 12-26-2006, 07:57 PM

Heard it on TV...I have not seen it on the net yet...

Edit:

Looked again, here it is:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2753167

LOS ANGELES Dec 26, 2006 (AP)— Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife said. He was 93.

**my5thNewUsernameHere** · 12-26-2006, 08:03 PM

Here too:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/26/D8M8VQT00.html

Former President Ford Dead at 93
Dec 26 11:57 PM US/Eastern

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal- shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93.
Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments _ including an angioplasty _ in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly-controlled and conspiratorial.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

He took office minutes after Nixon flew off into exile and declared "our long national nightmare is over." But he revived the debate a month later by granting Nixon a pardon for all crimes he committed as president. That single act, it was widely believed, cost Ford election to a term of his own in 1976, but it won praise in later years as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on.

The Vietnam War ended in defeat for the U.S. during his presidency with the fall of Saigon in April 1975. In a speech as the end neared, Ford said: "Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned." Evoking Abraham Lincoln, he said it was time to "look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the nation's wounds."

Ford also earned a place in the history books as the first unelected vice president, chosen by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew who also was forced from office by scandal.

He was in the White House only 895 days, but changed it more than it changed him.

Even after two women tried separately to kill him, the presidency of Jerry Ford remained open and plain.

Not imperial. Not reclusive. And, of greatest satisfaction to a nation numbed by Watergate, not dishonest.

**Dax** · 12-26-2006, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by my5thNewUsernameHere

Here too:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/26/D8M8VQT00.html

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly-controlled and conspiratorial.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

You can say that again, breitbart.

**TARZAN** · 12-26-2006, 09:52 PM

-Will

**jad628** · 12-27-2006, 06:40 AM

Isn't it ironic that an HONEST man who served as a President remained so anonymous and media-ignored after he left office? His tenure was at a tumultuous time in our history, yet the thing most people remember about him were a couple of well-documented stumbles on some stairs.

A good man who was basically forced into two positions where he served with honor and humility. He served this country well, and I hope history remembers him in that light.

May he rest in peace.

**SexOnWheels** · 12-27-2006, 06:49 AM

Rip!

**eddierox** · 12-27-2006, 07:01 AM

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.js...27/549708.html

President Bush on Wednesday remembered former President Gerald Ford as a "man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts" and helped restore faith in the presidency after the Watergate scandal.

Ever the criminals of high treason, Bush & the Neo-criminals step right up and get in the face of the American People trying to avert their own *greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War* by suggesting Watergate was.

Watergate is a long forgotten pansygate compared to what the Bushycrat Neoclowns have done.

"In that troubled era, America needed strength, wisdom, and good judgment, and those qualities came to us in the person of Gerald R. Ford," (Neocriminal Haliburton) Cheney said in a statement. "When he left office, he had restored public trust in the presidency, and the nation once again looked to the future with confidence and faith."

We have news for you pal, the last elections have shown that you and the Bushycrat Neoclowns need to get out of office so this nation and all nations will be able to once again look to the future with confidence and faith.

**98 bird or prey** · 12-28-2006, 02:24 AM

RIP, Butn now we can find out who killed JFK

**SLIM_DURST** · 12-28-2006, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by jad628

A good man who was basically forced into two positions where he served with honor and humility. He served this country well, and I hope history remembers him in that light.

May he rest in peace.

what is so good about him? I bet you can't name anything Ford did that leads you to say he was a good man.

**jad628** · 12-28-2006, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by SLIM_DURST

what is so good about him? I bet you can't name anything Ford did that leads you to say he was a good man.

He let the Vietnam war end with the fate of South Vietnam hinging on their own ability to hold off the North rather than more American troops doing it for them.

He cared more about AMERICANS than he did world opinion.

There's one in my book.

**SLIM_DURST** · 12-28-2006, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by jad628

He let the Vietnam war end with the fate of South Vietnam hinging on their own ability to hold off the North rather than more American troops doing it for them.

He cared more about AMERICANS than he did world opinion.

There's one in my book.

it was Nixon that pulled us out of Vietnam, all ford did was continue the final pullout.

**jad628** · 12-28-2006, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by SLIM_DURST

it was Nixon that pulled us out of Vietnam, all ford did was continue the final pullout.

Is that not an important aspect of that conflict? He was also an integral part of that policy, both as an elected official and an appointed VP.

**SLIM_DURST** · 12-28-2006, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by jad628

Is that not an important aspect of that conflict? He was also an integral part of that policy, both as an elected official and an appointed VP.

well i guess he's a good man then

**jad628** · 12-29-2006, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by SLIM_DURST

well i guess he's a good man then

That's my take anyway. He had a pretty good idea of how to stay out of the media's way. Very rare in a President. He flew under the RADAR most of the time, and I'm pretty sure that's where he wanted to be.

Did you see the remarks he had about Bush and Iraq that are only now being released? That shows his integrity. He differed with Bush about it (the WMD concern), but he still supported efforts that were underway. He agreed that Saddam was a threat that had to be dealt with, but he was very disappointed that Bush stressed WMD's as the main reason we had to act. I think it shows that even in his last years, Ford had an enviable grasp on reality and how to dissect it.

Take care.