Dec 27 2006
Former President Gerald Ford Dead at 93
Former President Gerald Ford died last night at the age of 93. As a kid, Ford was really the first president I remember. He came into office following the Watergate scandle and the Nixion resignation at a time when this country was in great turmoil. That was the part I knew and remember. What I didn’t know about for was his athletic past:
From 1931 to 1935 Ford attended The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he majored in economics and political science. He graduated with a B.A. degree in June 1935. He held various part-time jobs to supplement his scholarship. A gifted athlete, Ford played on the University’s national championship football teams in 1932 and 1933. He was voted the Wolverine’s most valuable player in 1934 and on January 1, 1935, played in the annual East-West College All-Star game in San Francisco, for the benefit of the Shrine Crippled Children’s Hospital. In August 1935 he played in the Chicago Tribune College All-Star football game at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears.
He received offers from two professional football teams, the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but chose instead to take a position as boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach at Yale hoping to attend law school there.
He could have been a professional football player, but elected for Yale Law. Clearly a sign of an intelligent man.
When Ford took office, this country was a mess, and the presidency a disgrace. Ford took charge and demonstrated his level of character immediately:
Former President Carter described him Wednesday as “one of the most admirable public servants and human beings I have ever known.”
Ford took office moments after Nixon resigned in disgrace over Watergate.
“My fellow Americans,” Ford said, “our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”
And, true to his reputation as unassuming Jerry, he added: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.”
In the end, Ford issued a pardon for Nixon and that act likely prevented his reelection.
“I simply was not convinced that the country wanted to see an ex-president behind bars,” he wrote. “We are not a vengeful people; forgiveness is one of the roots of the American tradition. And Nixon, in my opinion, had already suffered enormously.”
Ford took a job that he knew would be temporary and did what he could to restore our faith in the office of president:
Taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House moments after seeing the Nixon family off to exile in San Clemente, Calif., Ford observed: “I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. … In all my private and public acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.”
Over the next 30 days, the United States will morn the passing of Ford and we will learn more about the man and the true impact of his presidency. I think it’s time the man receives the credit he is due.
December 27th, 2006 at 11:03 am
President Gerald R. Ford Dead at 93…
We’ve lost our longest-lived President:
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 Tuesda…
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:10 am
Ford is a good car