The 60's gave us Dr. Stranglove...The Man Who shot Liberty Valance and several other classics. The 70's actually were better than the 60's, if you discount all the leftist counter culture pablum they put out.
'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' was a great summation of Ford's career. It was a farwell to the legend of the West that he had put forth just before a new generation, Leone, Peckinpah would present a different vision.