Posted on 12/27/2006 5:43:17 AM PST by mmmRamen
WASHINGTON - If you were born in 1974, the year that Gerald Ford took office as America’s first unelected president, his time in the White House isn't even a memory to you.
Even for people older than age 32, the headline events of the Ford era may now be only vague recollections.
Remember the Mayaguez? That was the American merchant ship captured by the Cambodian navy, prompting Ford to order an attack to retake it.
How about Sara Jane Moore? She was the woman who fired a shot from her .38-caliber revolver at the president in 1975 as he was leaving the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, missing him by five feet.
And do you remember Ford being the first president ever to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, where he got rough treatment from Democrats over his pardon of his disgraced predecessor, Richard Nixon?
None of that matters much now, except to historians.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Please don't alter headlines.
No one said it was a good thing. In fact, even Stevens himself is quoted as saying he wished he could have voted the other way. Of course, that was pretty self-serving given that he could have, and did not, and only made the statement after he was pilloried by both the left and the right. It is his legacy though.
ML/NJ
I thought it was a 45 ACP in which she failed to chamber a round.
My bad. That was the Manson whore, Fromme.
Lynette Fromme - Profile of Manson Family Member Lynette 'Squeaky ...
As Ford came through the crowd, Squeaky "Red" Lynette Fromme pointed the gun at Ford and was immediately taken down by the Secret Service. ...
crime.about.com/od/murder/p/squeaky.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynette_Fromme
Ford was a good man who tried his best even though he was much better suited to be a Congressman than President. He never would have been President if it were not for the resignations of both Agnew and Nixon.
Unfortunately, mistakes linger well beyond one's presidency and Stevens was a HUGE mistake, one I am not sure he ever realized the impact of.
While Eisenhower readily admitted that Warren and Brennan were his two biggest mistakes, Ford continued to praise Stevens.
Funny how they don't mention how one of Manson's minions tried to kill President Ford. I think the only reason she failed was because she stuck the pistol in his chest and compressed the slide back so it wouldn't fire. Anyone else remember that?
Re. Stevens' K v. NL vote. Why is there no mechanism to fix it? These people are not infallible and we all know it. K v. NL proves they can be outright stupid. Anyone but a Supreme Court Justice would have known how to vote. They should be able to call a special session and reverse their mistakes. Because they are not doing this, many cities around the country are still at it taking property from small owners and transferring to large interests. It is not just the transfer of stolen property that is at issue, the increased tax receips to the city governments are ill gotten gains. Cities have ceased all pretense at being public municipal entities created to serve the citizenry. They don't even pretend any more. They are open about being out to profit themselves and lord over the citizens.
And, Ford didn't want the government to be to dragged down with it's pursuit of Nixon, who by then had his reputation ruined.
So, he decided he and the Congress couldn't focus on the needs of the government and the prosecution of Nixon at the same time. I think the difference between Nixon and Clinton, though, are that Nixon's reputation had been ruined, and that was plenty enough punishment, in Ford's eyes. Clinton, on the other hand, has no shame, and the press was supporting him, thus he never felt the kind of punishment that fell on Nixon.
But you're right, that it set a bad long term precedent. All the more reason we need to elect leaders who have solid morals.
ML/NJ
"May he rot in hell for the part he played in the Warren Commission."
Wrong!! May Lee Oswald rot in hell for the part he played in ending the life of a U.S. President.
Nixon was held accountable by being forced to resign.
Oh, please! Halderman, Erlichman, Mitchell, et al. resigned too. Nixon was the Big Cheese. Ford let him skate. It was a really bad precedent. Now our current President has been so afraid that he might have to pardon his predecessor that it has been taboo for anyone in his administration to even hint that crimes were committed.
ML/NJ
Ford was a liberal, just like other Repubicans of that era, like Jacob Javits and Nelson Rockefeller. From their perspective, Stevens is perfect.
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