Gerald Ford, 93
LOS ANGELES (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, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93."My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," Mrs. Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."
The statement did not say where Ford died or list a cause of death. 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.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 12/26/2006 09:15:00 PM
12 Comments:
RIP Mr. Ford. You lived a good life, thank God you didn't live in CD 14.
Open Thread Mayor?
Open thread.
RIP Gerald! Chevy Chase made you famous, and I , to this day, cannot deboard a plane at Burbank Airport
without thinking of you!
The defeat of Ford in 1976 spawned the conservative backlash on this country that is still being felt today - from Reagan to Bush Jr.. After Ford (Watergate), every president of this country has been a born again Christian - Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. - no matter how hypocritical the claim. Ford was the last honest republican president.
Unlike Mayor Sam, I rarely have met Republicans that I'm willing to celebrate. Gerald Ford though is a man worth remembering - not just for his remarkable 'rise' to the presidency, but because he came to it humbly and fulfilled the duties honestly.
I have a statement hanging on the wall in my classroom from President Ford, and I judge it to be an important message for those of us here in Los Angeles trying to make Neighborhood Councils work. As he took the oath of office following Watergate and President Nixon's resignation he said:
"Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule."
Many thanks Mr. President. All the best.
Not that matters but I don't think George H.W. Bush considers himself a born again Christian. He is an Episcopalian who generally don't use that term. I remember back in the 80s some religous activists were upset that when Daddy Bush was asked if he was born again, he said that he was born once.
Ronald Reagan was also Episopalian but I remember seeing an interview with Christian broadcaster George Otis. Otis asked Reagan if he had been born again and Reagan said "Yes I have had an experience like that."
Anyway, RIP President Ford. He wasn't President very long but he came to office during a rotten time in this country and did very well to get the country back on track.
President Reagan identified himself as a Presbyterian during most of his adulthood. His father was Catholic; his mother was a member of the Disciples of Christ and Reagan was raised in the denomination. But he was also a "born-again Christian."
As if the Wolverines needed any more motivation for the Rose Bowl . . .
RIP, Mr. President. A grateful nation says thank you for all you have done.
President Ford was a decent, humble man. Ford did not mind the humor that came at his price. I concur, with a chuckle, with 9:32 about the Chevy Chase comedy skits. But even better for political comedy was the Sid and Marty Kroft "DC FOLLIES" puppet show. The ex president puppets were a classic.
"RED SPOT OF REASON IN CD 14"
President Ford was a decent, humble man. Ford did not mind the humor that came at his price. I concur, with a chuckle, with 9:32 about the Chevy Chase comedy skits. But even better for political comedy was the Sid and Marty Kroft "DC FOLLIES" puppet show. The ex president puppets were a classic.
"RED SPOT OF REASON IN CD 14"
Good morning ladies and gentlemen (removes hat, places it over heart and stands at attention):
From one commander in chief to another, the crew of the Black Pearl wish you Godspeed, Mr. President. Our condolences to the Mrs. and your family.
(Gives order to lower Skull And Crossbones and raise Stars And Stripes at half-mast)
Mayorsam,
When Bush Sr. was in office he was simple known as George Bush. Now he is known as George H.W. Bush - if he wasn't born again he surely was named again. But to his credit and character, he did not realy like the moral majority all that much - I think he was even pro choice, but he did ride their fervor into office.
That is true, GHW Bush was a moderate, Rockefeller Republican before he took the nomination to be Reagan's VP. The Reagan people told him he had to be pro-life even though he had been pro-choice. Babs was always pro-choice but kept her mouth shut to protect George I guess. Interestingly, there was some move to make Ford Reagan's VP because Ronnie really didn't want GHWB. But the Ford and Reagan people realized it wouldn't work and the Reagan people didn't want Ford bringing in Kissinger and folks like that.
Interesting side note though about Ford is that both Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld were pretty high up in Ford's team.
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