Gerald R. Ford - An Honorable Life

Gerald R. Ford - An Honorable Life by James Canon

I mainly picked this book up because I’m trying to read biographies of every American president.  Although it’s a fairly new book, I recall absolutely no fanfare when the book was released.  Maybe because Ford wasn’t that exciting of a guy?  Maybe because he was president for such a short time?  Well, it didn’t help that the Kindle version of this book was over $20 (!!) either.  Fortunately, I found a copy at my local library.  I was very surprised at how well this book was written.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Well, what exactly do we remember about Gerald Ford?  It seems that we know more about HOW and WHY he became president as opposed to anything the man actually did – either before or during his presidency.  Not surprisingly, a big chunk of this book deals with his predecessor, Richard Nixon, and the Watergate scandal.  Although I’ve read an awful lot of retrospectives about Watergate, I didn’t mind hearing about it again here.  When one really thinks about it, most Watergate books don’t talk much about Gerald Ford.  He’s almost mentioned as a footnote or an afterthought.  So it’s interesting to see the tragedy through his eyes as it unfolds.

I found it fascinating, yet at the same time depressing, as to how he ascended to become Commander in Chief.  For those that don’t know, Nixon’s Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, was having problems of his own and was actually forced out of office a year before Nixon’s resignation.  Most on the inside knew that it was only a matter of time before Nixon would be forced out as well, so Congress decided they needed to pick the “best person” to become the new Vice-President – as this individual would, almost surely, become the next president as well.  Think about that for a minute.  Never in our country’s history have we “chosen” a president by this process.  I mention that this factor was fascinating, yet also depressing.  This is because, well, Ford was actually a great candidate for the particular job, and both Republicans and Democrats felt he was the best.  Yet, at the same time, Gerald Ford had one of those personalities that would never allow himself to get elected for the office by the people.  Forget the fact that he was well qualified, he simply wasn’t “sexy” enough to be a President.  The American people place far too much emphasis on style, and not enough on substance.

This book does cover Ford’s entire life, but it wisely doesn’t spend that much time on his early years.  We learn just enough about the man to understand his character and how he acts once he’s elected to the House of Representatives.  He’s very smart, very calm, has a strong local constituent base, and doesn’t need to do a lot of preening for the camera.  Some would say his lack of charisma should be a deterrent for a “leader”, but the current political climate (2016 as I write) has me believing otherwise.

Once he takes over as President in August of 1974, his main job – heal the nation. Not only is the country reeling from Watergate and the first ever resignation of a President, but there are other problems as well – inflation, unemployment, Mid-East tensions, and many other normal things that president’s deal with every day.   Ford’s most notable decision was a pardon for Richard Nixon.  There are those that argue that this was his worst mistake, and those arguments have plenty of validity.  However Ford makes a strong argument.  He states that the country has had enough of Watergate and needs to move on.  Had he not pardoned Nixon, the spotlight would have remained on Nixon and his travails for several more years.  So I agree with Ford.  Enough was enough.

The shadow of Watergate can’t escape Ford as he runs for President in 1976.  He does an o.k. job during his campaign, but when an unknown governor of Georgia starts smiling a lot and charming the socks off everyone with his enduring southern accent, it proves to be just the antidote that the country needs to forget about Watergate and Vietnam.  Hindsight being 20-20, I’m actually surprised how well Ford did – it’s not like he got whooped a la Barry Goldwater or Walter Mondale.  The popular vote was rather close.

Of course, we read about his post-presidential life, but there really isn’t anything that exciting, so the author doesn’t devote too much time to that phase of his life either.

You really have to wonder just what type of leader Gerald Ford would have been had he been president for a normal length of time. His entire tenure lasted less than 1000 days, and the majority of that time was either spent cleaning up Nixon’s mess and/or campaigning for the 1976 election.  Although, again, he was very smart and even tempered (and not as far right as, say, Ronald Reagan), you have to wonder if his lack of chutzpah may have hindered a four year term.

A great book.  Don’t pass up just because you think his presidency was somewhat inconsequential.  Dare I say – we could use more men and women like Gerald Ford in leadership these days.