[governsleastgovernsbest]

Surprising? Bernstein says Ford right to pardon Nixon. Ping to Today show list.

[tiger]

Many of the talking heads say that Ford’s pardon of Nixon cost him the re-election. But look at the electoral map of 1976. The South deserted the GOP for what it thought was one of their own..Jimmy Carter. We lived to regret that decision and voted overwhelmingly to defeat him four years later.

[Vigilanteman]

It might have been the right thing to do, but his timing was godawful. The September 1974 pardon ensured that the GOP lost record numbers of congressional seats and quite possibly ensured the deaths of millions of Indo-Chinese at the hands of the communists.

There was no reason it couldn't have waited until November 15 of that year.

As much as I despise LBJ to this day and think Ford was an honorable and good man with good intentions, I have to agree with LBJ's assessment of him: He played football too many times without a helmet.