There were a lot of kind words spoken at his memorial service at the Capitol, tonight. I don't really recall a lot about President Ford except that, as most speakers noted, he took us from a tumultuous period of uncertainty and distrust in government to a period of relative calm in only 20-something months. Quite an accomplishment.
In retrospect, Ford was a decent, honest, straightforward man who led a rather remarkable life. We didn't appreciate him nearly enough at the time. Instead, we villified him for a decision that was, ultimately, proven to be the right one - pardoning President Nixon.
As I listened to the words being spoken about him at his memorial, I followed as the camera panned the room and stopped at different politicians' faces, I couldn't help but wonder; when they die, will we be able to say the same kinds of things about them as were said about President Ford tonight?
For most of them, in a word - no. We can say without smiling or laughing that we knew Gerald Ford . . . . . and, they are no Gerald Fords!!