If Americans circa 1975 really had felt "healed" and "comforted"

[blitzen]

by Gerald Ford, they would have re-elected him in 1976. Like many DUers, I was there and remember it well. Ford was considered by most as a mediocrity in almost every respect, and that's why he lost. This revisionist history of Ford as a "healer" is a bunch of bull--and, insofar as it's an intentional revision by the right-wing press, it's meant as preparation for the post-Bush era, when we'll be told to forget his war crimes for the sake of "healing."

[mntleo2]

1. Plus He Set the Stage for Today

...so now we have another pResident who thinks he is above the law because Ford refused to hold the other president accountable. Thanks for continuing the ReThug legacy, Gerry!

Cat In Seattle

[blm]

15. Exactly - and Clinton leaned on that excuse of 'good for the country' when he refused

to pursue any of the outstanding matters in IranContra, BCCI and Iraqgate, and even helped to cover up BushInc's CIA drugrunning policies that were revealed in 1996. Gary Webb, the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist was targeted for takedown by Clinton and Bush1.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. It's amazing how much the media are hyping that "pardoned Nixon so nation could heal" meme

I, with you, think it's being overblown and constantly harped on as a dig to the Democrats (or whoever) not to impeach Shrubbie, not to send him to jail, and to shut up about him after he's out of office.

[Bjornsdotter]

3. I didn't feel

..."healed" and "comforted" at all.

I voted for Carter.

Cheers

[depakid]

4. If Americans had re-elected Ford

Then Ronald Reagan, the far right and the fundamentalists would have remained on the fringe, where they belong.

[Lost4words]

12. thats a real big MAYBE!

[havocmom]

5. RWers put an affable (and malleable) buffoon front boy up then just like now

Only what happened then (pardon) emboldened the criminal un-American greed heads to go further this time.

[EFerrari]

6. Ford the Healer.

I was a young mother and I was pissed that the Dick wasn't impeached.

Heal that.

:rofl:

[The Traveler]

7. I don't remember being particularly healed.

I think a large percentage of folk simply shrugged and observed that rich, powerful men tend to take care of rich, powerful men. It did not come as a surprise, though it pissed a lot of people off.

Still, the country was in really bad shape in those days. Ford's basic accomplishment was not to screw up too badly and make things worse. The condition of things back then was so bad, that actually is a pretty significant accomplishment. It would have been really easy to make things worse.

Faint praise, I suppose.

[Cleita]

9. That's sort of how I felt about it. I felt it was good enough to

be rid of Nixon/Agnew for the time being because I knew there would be no real justice done to them by the established rich guy's code. Although, now I am of the opnion that we shouldn't let any of this kind of criminal behavior by our elected officials go unprosecuted ever again.

Because of Nixon and his cabal walking off into the sunset untouched, they all started resurfing in the Reagan/Bush years and again the in GWB administration, if not actually in it but as part of a wider circle of advisors. These clowns should have been in prison.

[The Traveler]

10. You are so right

Had we dealt with those sick bastards then, we wouldn't be dealing with their crap now.

[demnan]

8. I don't think we were healed

until we got Carter in. I don't have anything against Ford in a way. I can almost understand why he granted a pardon. Why did he do it? Because it was the easiest way for him to get by and that was what this guy was into, the easy way.

[Penndems]

11. The real post-Watergate healing didn't come until Jimmy Carter was elected President

Former President Ford felt more like an intermediary who was filling the job until the next election. He carried on the policies begun under the Nixon Administration and, unlike Nixon, didn't evolve into a power-mad, paranoid megalomaniac. In 1974, that was a welcome change. People didn't have the feeling that they were about to embark on "Watergate II: The Sequel".

"Our long national nightmare" wasn't completely over until the 1976 election.

[Old and In the Way]

13. With all the punditry discussions on Ford the Healer....why isn't that

basic question of why he wasn't elected addressed? There's that damn elephant in the room again....

[SaveElmer]

14. I lived through that period as well...

And I remember a sigh of relief when Ford came in...things with Nixon were beginning to spiral out of control.

I don't think Ford healed the country, but he started it on that path, and certainly stemmed the rolling wave of distrust toward the government.

[On the Road]

17. To Paraphrase Chuck Palahniuk,

'Healer' is not the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

Ford was not charged with a mandate. And he didn't pursue one. He managed the country adequately to the general satisfaction of most of the voters. Carter's win was partly due to the voters not wanting to give the White House back to the Republican party, but because of Nixon, not so much Ford. And also because of Carter's self-proclaimed honesty - it was a refreshing change from Nixon's public persona.

[SaveElmer]

18. Yes I think that is right on...q

Ford does deserve some credit for recognizing the mood of the country and acting accordingly

[LanternWaste]

16. Being part and parcel of healing or comforting

Being part and parcel of healing or comforting a nation doesn't preclude that someone may be better at it, recognized for it and then elected in the other's stead. I don't think the '76 election was a indicator of whether we were healed yet or not; I do think it was a choice on who would be more effective at it.

A Doctor may heal and comfort me prior to me replacing him with a doctor who can better heal and comfort me, even if it's only by a razor thin margin (as was the election outcome).

Look, I don't particularly love the guy or hate him-- he's a non-issue to me in most respects. But I certainly won't buy into any of this as "revisionist" history. People will judge Ford on his own merits as they will judge * on his when the time comes.