Rating the Ford presidency

[JPriller]

With the death of former president Ford yesterday I've already seen a good deal of eulogizing on the net of how good he was for the country, coming right after the tribulations of the Nixon regime.

I didn't dislike the guy, he seemed honest and dedicated and that's more than a lot of the guys that came after him, but this is a tribute I can never recall him receiving while living. While nobody hated him, he was seen as an ineffectual president while in office (not to mention a klutz, as was popularly exaggerated by Chevy Chase), he pardoned Nixon, and he got us four years of Jimmy Carter.

So - the Ford presidency - good or bad?

[Philosofy]

I don't think he got much of a chance. He didn't screw things up royally, but was handed a bad economy (which seemed to be getting better until Carter got in), but he wasn't around long enough to put his mark on anything. And with the Watergate scandal, there was no way a republican was going to win in '76.

[jgickler]

I think that there was virtually no chance that Ford would ever become known as a great president, simply because of how and when he took office. I think he was doomed to be viewed at best as a utilitarian president, and at worst a failure, but greatness was never really an option as a republican in the post watergate years.

Ford did some good things, didn't screw up too much, and lead the nation out of the watergate crisis. Not greatness, but what the nation needed. He did the best he could in difficult times, and did so selflessly.

[Otto]

He was no James Brown.

[pseudonym]

What can you say about his Presidency? We left Vietnam on his watch, although that was set in motion well before he took over, and I don't get the impression he was really a driving force in it's execution.

And, of course, he pardoned Nixon. Althought it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to say it, that was probably the right call, after having witnessed the dog-and-pony show that was the Clinton impeachment, over much less substantial charges. Although everyone credits him for guiding us out of Watergate, I'm not sure what he did beyond the pardon to accomplish it, other than refraining from breaking into any more hotel rooms.

So, to sum up, I guess I see him as a placeholder President who made one bold, historically significant act, for better or worse.

[RegBarc]

Wasn't a great President; but, he was a good man at heart from everything we know. I am still iffy on pardoning Nixon, but I think that left the country for the better. His economic policies wern't too shabby. Yeah, he contributed to the Welfare State, but in general he did good things for the market.

I put down "mostly good"; the pardon cost him the reelection but he generally left the place better than when he arrived.

[AntiPC]

And with the Watergate scandal, there was no way a republican was going to win in '76.I think that was one of the main motivations behind the pardon: So he loses by a bit more, who cares? He pardons, and the Republicans can recover in four short years.

Looking back, if Ford had stepped aside and let Reagan run in '76, I doubt Reagan would have won in '80. As a liberal I have to admit the guy fell on a sword for his party, and it really paid off in the long run.