Gerald Ford dies at 93
SuzannePjam
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Gerald Ford dies at 93
Former president took over during depths of Watergate scandal
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10949314/
LOS ANGELES - Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon’s scandal-shattered White House as the 38th president and the only one never elected to nationwide office, has died. 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,” former first lady Betty 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.”
He died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, his office said in a statement. No cause of death was released. Funeral arrangements were to be announced Wednesday.
He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93.
“The American people will always admire Gerald Ford’s devotion to duty, his personal character and the honorable conduct of his administration,” President Bush said in a statement Tuesday night. “We mourn the loss of such a leader, and our 38th president will always have a special place in our nation’s memory.”
Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
“I was deeply saddened this evening when I heard of Jerry Ford’s death,” former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement. “Ronnie and I always considered him a dear friend and close political ally.
“His accomplishments and devotion to our country are vast, and even long after he left the presidency he made it a point to speak out on issues important to us all,” she said.
An accidental president
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 straightforward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.
Minutes after Nixon resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal and flew into exile, Ford took office and famously declared: “Our long national nightmare is over.”
But he revived the Watergate 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 was 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.
After the Watergate ordeal, Americans liked their new president — and first lady Betty, whose candor charmed the country.
She remained one of the country’s most admired women even after the Fords left the White House when she was hospitalized in 1978 and said she had become addicted to drugs and alcohol she took for painful arthritis and a pinched nerve in her neck. Four years later she founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, a substance abuse facility next to Eisenhower Medical Center.
Former president took over during depths of Watergate scandal
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10949314/
LOS ANGELES - Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon’s scandal-shattered White House as the 38th president and the only one never elected to nationwide office, has died. 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,” former first lady Betty 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.”
He died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, his office said in a statement. No cause of death was released. Funeral arrangements were to be announced Wednesday.
He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93.
“The American people will always admire Gerald Ford’s devotion to duty, his personal character and the honorable conduct of his administration,” President Bush said in a statement Tuesday night. “We mourn the loss of such a leader, and our 38th president will always have a special place in our nation’s memory.”
Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.
“I was deeply saddened this evening when I heard of Jerry Ford’s death,” former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement. “Ronnie and I always considered him a dear friend and close political ally.
“His accomplishments and devotion to our country are vast, and even long after he left the presidency he made it a point to speak out on issues important to us all,” she said.
An accidental president
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 straightforward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.
Minutes after Nixon resigned in disgrace over the Watergate scandal and flew into exile, Ford took office and famously declared: “Our long national nightmare is over.”
But he revived the Watergate 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 was 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.
After the Watergate ordeal, Americans liked their new president — and first lady Betty, whose candor charmed the country.
She remained one of the country’s most admired women even after the Fords left the White House when she was hospitalized in 1978 and said she had become addicted to drugs and alcohol she took for painful arthritis and a pinched nerve in her neck. Four years later she founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, a substance abuse facility next to Eisenhower Medical Center.
"Where there is sacrifice there is someone collecting the sacrificial offerings."-- Ayn Rand
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
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Lollapalooza. 8.5.07 West Palm Beach. 6.11.08 Bonnaroo. 6.14.08
Hartford. Mansfield.
www.myspace.com/lkatmeimsandrab
Who will be the third? These things happen in 3's.
Clint Eastwood is pretty old. :(
old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
Tell you what: you learn a lot more about a public figure when they die, cos I have learned at last 3-4 new facts about President Ford that I never knew before.
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
I learned he gave the neocons (Rummy and Cheney) the headstart they needed to screw up this nation. Thanks, Gerald.
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Very true.
I learned that he was still alive, well until he just died. I mean I thought he was dead and gone for many years, so I learned that he was'nt.
On a side note, I think we often don't appreatiate things when we have them, only when we don't have them do we seem to understand this. I dunno, that's just something that i've been thinking about.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
I know that the dimwitted Democrats back then thought the pardon was a bad idea. We see now that it wasn't.
They were more moderate back when working for Gerald. Ford even told Bob Woodruff the war in Iraq was a bad idea, and named Rumsfeld and Cheney in his quote. Continue to hate for no apparent reason other than association.
please let it be rumsfeld. please let it be rectal cancer.
Another habit says its long overdue
Another habit like an unwanted friend
I'm so happy with my righteous self
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And you think conservatives would have been so forgiving of slick willy?
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
Not when you come on posting crap like this.
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You're a degenerator?
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except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
It's not partisan just because everyone doesnt view him as a sweet little puppy like you do. I dont dislike him because he is a Republican...I dislike him because he is a douchebag.
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Educate me on the "bad" he did, besides being a Republican..
So you think he is bad because he is a Republican? I cannot possibly teach anyone who is that closeminded.
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Perhaps douchebag is too strong...how about "fruity ass" ?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/floyd/floyd50.html
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength