Posted on 01/12/2007 1:45:53 PM PST by NormsRevenge
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In 25 years of interviews with his hometown paper that could only be released upon his death, former President Ford once called Jimmy Carter a "disaster" who ranked alongside Warren Harding, and said Ronald Reagan received far too much credit for ending the Cold War.
"It makes me very irritated when Reagan's people pound their chests and say that because we had this big military buildup, the Kremlin collapsed," Ford told The Grand Rapids Press.
The best president of his lifetime, Ford said, was a more moderate Republican: Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Harry Truman "would get very high marks" for his handling of foreign crises, Ford said. He also praised Richard Nixon as a foreign policy master, despite the Watergate scandal that drove him from office.
Ford considered John F. Kennedy overrated and Bill Clinton average. He admired George H.W. Bush's handling of the Persian Gulf War and had mixed opinions of Carter, who defeated Ford in 1976.
In 1981, Ford said: "I think Jimmy Carter would be very close to Warren G. Harding. I feel very strongly that Jimmy Carter was a disaster, particularly domestically and economically. I have said more than once that he was certainly the poorest president in my lifetime."
But two years later, he praised Carter's performance on the Panama Canal treaty, China and the Middle East. And in 1998, he said Carter "will be looked on as a better president than some comments we hear today."
"He was a very decent, fine individual," Ford told the paper. "There were no major mistakes. There just weren't a lot of exciting results."
Ford's gave the interviews on the condition that his remarks be withheld until after his death.
According to the newspaper, Ford declined to rate George W. Bush, saying he did not know him well enough.
Ford said Reagan, who challenged him unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 1976, was "a great spokesman for attractive political objectives" such as a balanced budget and defeating communism, "but when it came to implementation, his record never matched his words."
Reagan was "probably the least well-informed on the details of running the government of any president I knew," Ford said. In a separate interview, he said Reagan "was just a poor manager, and you can't be president and do a good job unless you manage."
Ford contended his own negotiation of the Helsinki accords on human rights did more to win the Cold War than Reagan's military buildup. Other key factors were the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe after World War II and the establishment of NATO, he said.
"When you put peace, prosperity and human rights against poverty, a massive unsuccessful military program and a lack of human rights, communism was bound to collapse," he said. "No president, no Democrat or Republican, can claim credit for those programs. I'll tell you who deserves the credit the American people."
I thought his (Carter's) biggest nightmare was when he was attacked by the killer rabbit.
???
LBJ-Nixon-Ford-Carter was the worst succession of leaders since Nero-Galba-Otho-Vitellius.
Off subject, but does anyone know how much longer we are going to "mourn" Mr. Ford. I'm tired of seeing the flag flying at half mast. Enough, already!
I think Paul Volcker became Chairman of the FED under Carter. Volcker proceeded to hold interest rates high & keep the money supply tight. This broke the back of an inflationary spiral that had gotten started under LBJ when he decided to fight Poverty & Vietnam by borrowing. Carter paid the political price for Volckers tight monetary policy.
Reagan's contribution, of course, was his tax cutting policies which added dynamism to the economy that really hadn't been there before. Can anybody imagine the go-go '80's under the old tax system? I can't.
Great quote.
Well... this is no doubt why, in the late seventies up to the 1980 election many intellectuals ruminated about the presidence being "just too big for one man." For Carter, yes - it was too big. Carter managed everything down to scheduling of the White House tennis courts. His rather dour re-election TV ads tout this as an asset (see 4president.tv).
Reagan succeeded because he didn't try to micromanage every minute detail. No, he didn't have Carter's IQ but he had a different kind of smarts: inspired leadership, getting the most from people by making us feel good about ourselves as Americans. Reagan didn't HAVE TO do it all precisely because of his leadership skills.
Is it somehow assumed that we respect Ford's assesment of anything?
Are we supposed to agree with both his opinion of Carter AND Reagan?
As I remember that election I wasn't impressed with Ford or Carter so I pulled the Libertarian lever.
Very nice post, Vigilanteman. It put a smile on my face.
...and had mixed opinions of Carter, who defeated Ford in 1976.In 1981, Ford said: "I think Jimmy Carter would be very close to Warren G. Harding. I feel very strongly that Jimmy Carter was a disaster, particularly domestically and economically. I have said more than once that he was certainly the poorest president in my lifetime."
MIXED OPINIONS? AP is being TOO KIND.
Reagan challenged Ford in 1976 in part because of Ford's plans to return the canal to Panama. The proposed treaty was a big issue in the primaries, so it's not strange that Ford praised Carter for putting the treaty through.
The man is dead and he was certainly entitled to his opinion. At least he had the decency to not talk about former Presidents while they were in office. He did what he had to do, nothing more, nothing less. Let the man rest and don't tarnish him with these comments I'm reading here. RIP President Ford.
"...Gerald was indeed a Ford, not a Lincoln."
And Ford has a better idea.
Chevy Chase was too kind to the man.
I attended the debate in San Francisco where he made that statement, except that it wasn't about Poland. He said, "Eastern Europe is not dominated by the Soviet Union."
I was covering the debate as a college newspaper reporter, so I had a press pass and was rubbing shoulders with national reporters in the press room. Roger Mudd with CBS told me that he thought that remark would cost Ford the election, and you should have seen Hamilton Jordan laughing it up with reporters. He was practically orgasmic.
I'm embarrassed to admit I shook Jimmy Carter's hand that night after the debate. I've washed it since.
Beats me, after listening to Kissinger, Cheney and Rumsfeld, Ford did a lot more than what I had ever seen him credited with in terms of establishing significant groundwork. From all I have read though, the Ford team had no use for the Reagan team, and the feeling was mutual. Reagan, reportedly, never once invited Ford to the White House.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.