It was not difficult because I knew him and felt his loss -- quite the opposite. I had never met the man, and, during his term in office, I was young enough to studiously avoid anything having to do with politics. I was, after all, an artiste. I was sleepless last night because I felt I had missed an opportunity.
Over the course of the past couple of decades, I have learned to appreciate a few important things about the man. The primary aspect of Gerald R. Ford seems to have been that he was an honorable, humble and decent man, not at all interested in having himself bathed in the light of glory. When his stay in office was ended, he discreetly returned to his private life, and passed no public judgments on his successors. He stands, therefore, in stark contrast to other former presidents I have seen.
The funny thing is, Ford knew instinctively what was the moral and right thing to do, and he did it, regardless of the political flak he knew he would take. When his own popularity was at a high, he threw it away in order to pardon Richard Nixon, thus beginning the healing process for the nation. That probably cost him his reelection and any other political future, and he, no doubt, knew it would and did so anyway. That takes real character.
I wish I had known more about him before today. It goes without saying, I respect him. I probably would have really liked him, though, too.
He will be missed.
Update:
Captain Ed has an interesting take on the Nixon pardon.
Rick Moran has a very nice tribute to Ford, as well.
And here's a local tie I didn't know about until this afternoon: his mother studied in nearby Knoxville, IL, at St. Mary's College
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