Former President Ford dead at 93

1 minute ago

LOS ANGELES - Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93.

Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments — including an angioplasty — in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

He took office minutes after Nixon flew off into exile and declared "our long national nightmare is over." But he revived the debate a month later by granting Nixon a pardon for all crimes he committed as president. That single act, it was widely believed, cost Ford election to a term of his own in 1976, but it won praise in later years as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on.

The Vietnam War ended in defeat for the U.S. during his presidency with the fall of Saigon in April 1975. In a speech as the end neared, Ford said: "Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned." Evoking Abraham Lincoln, he said it was time to "look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the nation's wounds."

Ford also earned a place in the history books as the first unelected vice president, chosen by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew who also was forced from office by scandal.

He was in the White House only 895 days, but changed it more than it changed him.

Even after two women tried separately to kill him, the presidency of Jerry Ford remained open and plain.

Not imperial. Not reclusive. And, of greatest satisfaction to a nation numbed by Watergate, not dishonest.

Even to millions of Americans who had voted two years earlier for Richard Nixon, the transition to Ford's leadership was one of the most welcomed in the history of the democratic process — despite the fact that it occurred without an election.

After the Watergate ordeal, Americans liked their new president — and first lady Betty, whose candor charmed the country.

They liked her for speaking openly about problems of young people, including her own daughter; they admired her for not hiding that she had a mastectomy — in fact, her example caused thousands of women to seek breast examinations.

And she remained one of the country's most admired women even after the Fords left the White House when she was hospitalized in 1978 and admitted to having become addicted to drugs and alcohol she took for painful arthritis and a pinched nerve in her neck. Four years later she founded the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, a substance abuse facility next to Eisenhower Medical Center.

Ford slowed down in recent years. He had been hospitalized in August 2000 when he suffered one or more small strokes while attending the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

The following year, he joined former presidents Carter, Bush and Clinton at a memorial service in Washington three days after the Sept. 11 attacks. In June 2004, the four men and their wives joined again at a funeral service in Washington for former President Reagan. But in November 2004, Ford was unable to join the other former presidents at the dedication of the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.

In January, Ford was hospitalized with pneumonia for 12 days. He wasn't seen in public until April 23, when President Bush was in town and paid a visit to the Ford home. Bush, Ford and Betty posed for photographers outside the residence before going inside for a private get-together.

The intensely private couple declined reporter interview requests and were rarely seen outside their home in Rancho Mirage's gated Thunderbird Estates, other than to attend worship services at the nearby St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.

Awww, that's sad. I wonder if he wanted to go all out and have the kind of Presidental Funeral that Reagan had. That was cool.

Edited December 27, 200618 yr by Kylie

R.I.P.

I don't think his death will be glorified for the press as Reagan's was. I know that sounds crass, but I doubt the world will stop still as it did when Reagan passed died which I found excessive.

Ford played a crucial part in history. I hope his memory is paid due diligence nonetheless.

Oh, no!

I’m not a Republican, but I’ve always felt a special connection to Gerald Ford because he was raised in my hometown (Grand Rapids, Michigan). My great aunt went to high school with him. I always liked him because he seemed more moderate on issues rather than to one side. Betty Ford is a cool lady, too!

R.I.P., Mr. President.

RIP Ford.

He was the silent, unheard of living president of our generation. But he did many great things!

Hopefully this doesn't mess up the soaps tomorrow though! lol - am I bad for saying that?

Mr. Ford will be missed greatly. He was more common sense than party line...thats what made him great.

Jude..Kalamazoo here...I know what you mean!

Jude..Kalamazoo here...I know what you mean!

Cool! We're neighbors. My sister went to Western.

This is horrible news. We studied him extensively in American History and I honestly believe that he was a great president. I wasn't around then, but just reading up on him, he seemed to have the right ideas, just not enough time to get his plans into motion.

He was a calming influence on theentire country, and one of the very few Republicans that I actually liked. He will be missed, and alot of current Republicans could take some lessons from him in humility.

This is horrible news. We studied him extensively in American History and I honestly believe that he was a great president. I wasn't around then, but just reading up on him, he seemed to have the right ideas, just not enough time to get his plans into motion.

I completely agree.

President Ford was one Republican I greatly respected. He never intended to become the President. He did the best job he could have in the 3 years he had. His pardon of Nixon, while unpopular in the ‘70s, is seen as the right thing to have done by many historians today. He spared the country months of misery and allowed us to move forward. He was a decent and moderate man… he will be missed.

He was a calming influence on theentire country, and one of the very few Republicans that I actually liked. He will be missed, and alot of current Republicans could take some lessons from him in humility.

Good post, Roman! ICAM. I was a child when he was in office, but I remember my parents ( who were Democrats) talking about what a great president he was. As I grew older, I've admired President Ford for the difficult job he took on. Personally, I don't think Nixon was awful...he simply got caught when others didn't. Ford was in office during a very bad time and managed to hold things together. May God rest his soul.

He was also one of the few Republicans that supported gay rights:

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid40691.asp

RIP... You were a great man and will be missed by all. Thank you for serving our country.

Here are the funeral plans:

Ford's state funeral to begin Friday By CALVIN WOODWARD and LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writers

17 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Gerald R. Ford will be mourned in the rare and solemn spectacle of a state funeral crafted to honor his reverence for Congress, the institution that launched him to the presidency.

Ceremonies begin Friday in a California church, and end five days later with Ford's entombment on a hillside near his Grand Rapids, Mich., presidential museum.

In between, according to funeral details announced Wednesday, Ford's body will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, offering both dignitaries and the public a chance to pay final respects to the former Michigan congressman who rose to the White House in the collapse of Richard Nixon's presidency.

And in a departure from tradition meant to highlight his long congressional service, Ford's remains will also lie in repose outside the doors of both the House and the Senate for short periods.

"I know personally how much those two tributes themselves meant to President Ford," said family representative Gregory D. Willard, who detailed arrangements in a news conference in Palm Desert, Calif.

The 38th president died Tuesday at age 93. He had been involved in his own funeral planning, as former presidents typically are.

The Capitol will intensify its preparations by closing for tours at noon Thursday. The public will be admitted to pay respects Saturday evening — sometime after a 6:30 p.m. arrival ceremony — and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Sunday and Monday.

Events begin at St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert, which Ford and his wife, Betty, frequently attended. A family prayer service will be followed by visitation by friends and a period of public repose.

On Saturday, Ford's body will be flown to Washington in late afternoon, his hearse pausing at the World War II memorial in joint tribute to the wartime Navy reserve veteran and his comrades in uniform.

The state funeral will be conducted in the Capitol Rotunda that evening and after that, the public will be able to file in to pay last respects. Ford was expected to lie in state until Tuesday morning, in a closed casket.

The last major event in Washington will be Tuesday morning, with a funeral service at the National Cathedral before Ford's interment the next day in Michigan.

The nation has witnessed just two presidential state funerals in over three decades — those of Ronald Reagan in 2004 and Lyndon Johnson in 1973. Nixon's family, acting on his wishes, opted out of the Washington traditions when he died in 1994, his presidency shortened and forever tainted by the Watergate scandal.

"The nation's appreciation for the contributions that President Ford made throughout his long and well-lived life are more than we could ever have anticipated," Betty Ford said in a statement thanking the multitudes who offered condolences.

"These kindnesses have made this difficult time more bearable."

Ford is to become the 11th president to lie in state in the Rotunda.

He served his Michigan district in the House for 25 years, rising to the vice presidency when scandal drove Spiro Agnew from office and then to the presidency when Watergate consumed Nixon.

One open question was how involved the funeral procession to the Capitol, often the most stirring of Washington's rituals of mourning, would be for a man whose modest ways and brief presidency set him apart from those honored with elaborate parades.

Planners are guided by the wishes of the family and any instructions from the president himself on how elaborate the events will be, how much of it takes place in Washington and more.

The Military District of Washington turned to the task quietly but with increasing urgency as Ford went through several bouts of ill health in recent years.

What happens in Washington, particularly, unfolds according to guidelines that go back to the mid-1800s and have been shaped over time.

No longer are government buildings draped in black, as they were in the time of Abraham Lincoln and before.

But if a chosen ceremony requires mourners to be seated, for example, seating arrangements are detailed with a precision dictated by tradition. The presidential party is followed by chiefs of state, arranged alphabetically by the English spelling of their countries.

Royalty representing chiefs of state come next, and then heads of governments followed by other officials.

Two presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, John F. Kennedy and William H. Taft. Reagan was buried on the hilltop grounds of his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., in a dramatic sunset ceremony capping a week of official public mourning.

___

He was also one of the few Republicans that supported gay rights:

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid40691.asp

http://www.newyorkblade.com/thelatest/thel...m?blog_id=10635