[Pox]

Gerry may have been a nice guy, but he was afflicted with the same appeasement/spineless gene that has de-balled countless Americans over the last 4 decades.

It is certainly no surprise that the MSM would trot this out asap after his passing.

[CT]

Ford was the last GOP pol that had my mindless support. And once Reagan came on the scene I worked for his election.

Ford did little to advance what later became the Reagan Revolution. Both he and his wife fit the bill more as cdountry club Republicans, which was borne out by their final residence. God's Peace to Ford. But I am not going to get caught up in his views on this or that through Woodward.

[ASA Vet]

afflicted with the same appeasement/spineless gene that has de-balled countless Americans over the last 4 decades

That was caused by the left starting immediately after WW II on their "Nuclear Guilt" campaign.
It's been taught by the NEA ever since that American is guilty of crimes against humanity.
We are the evil ones in the world and only turning our government over to the enlightened left will redeem ourselves.

Their "Nuclear Guilt" campaign continues to be successful.

[My2Cents]

he was afflicted with the same appeasement/spineless gene that has de-balled countless Americans over the last 4 decades

His foreign policy, such as it was, was crafted by "the realists," the same people who did nothing about Islamist terrorism until it hit home in a spectacular way on 9/11. As the GOP leader of the House, he was accustomed to being in the minority, and was willing to engage the Democrats in a way which would have ensured the GOP's minority status for eternity.

[21stCenturyFreeThinker]

Gerry may have been a nice guy, but he was afflicted with the same appeasement/spineless gene that has de-balled countless Americans over the last 4 decades.

Of course he wanted to intervene to save the South Vietnamese government soon after he inherited the dramatically weakened office. Congress had other ideas.

Pardoning Nixon to keep his Administration from being consumed with Nixon's legal issues at a time when we needed a president took courage.

I don't think that qualifies as spineless or an appeaser. You need to look at him in the context of the troubled times he served in. He played the bad hand Nixon left and he played it well.