Every living president showed up except for Ford. Is he ill? Was he snubbing Clinton?
No. He (Ford) is 91 years old and in poor health. Travelling from Michigan to Arkansas might just have been too much for him.
If George HW Bush could come to the dedication and make gracious remarks about Clinton, I can’t see that Gerald Ford would have had any problems doing the same.
Ah, I see.
I just didn’t see in any of the news reports the explanation for Ford’s absence. Thanks for clearing that up.
Are there any stairs at the Clinton Library?
For what it’s worth, until just a few years ago, Ford regularly made public appearances with Jimmy Carter, so it’s pretty clear he’s neither the type to hold a grudge, nor a terribly partisan Republican.
I have no doubt he’d have made an appearance if he was physically up to it.
I was dismayed at how frail he looked at the Reagan funeral this summer. He may not have made a huge impact as a President (and he’s the first one I really remember), but he’s a brilliant lawyer and a good writer.
I second that. Jerry Ford was/is a great man.
He just happened to be Speaker of the House when Nixon needed a back-up Vice President. Then after he pardoned Nixon, which in retrospect was probably the right thing to do*, he was chastised by the public, thus losing the election to Carter.
- I saw Mr. Ford in an interview taped not too long ago, maybe a couple years ago, and he addresses the Nixon pardon issue. His argument is that is was the right thing to do for the country, there would have been no good resulting from prosecuting Nixon. I agree. Nixon got off easy, but the alternative was just too much of an unnecessary burden for our country and our leaders.
Actually Ford was the Minority Leader of the House when Nixon called on him. The Republicans went a long time without holding the Speakership. From Joseph Martin in 1954 until Newt Gingrich in 1994.
Yes, my mistake.
http://www.ford.utexas.edu/grf/fordbiop.htm
Because the Republicans did not attain a majority in the House, Ford was unable to reach his ultimate political goal–to be Speaker of the House. Ironically, he did become president of the Senate.
Because he was the only one smart enough to stay in out of the rain.
Ford was once a congressman from Grand Rapids, Michigan but I’m pretty sure he lives in California now.
I admire Ford because he was part of the Warren Commission who correctly determned that Oswald acted alone when he killed Kennedy. Time and all the subsequent credible evidence have established that beyond all rational doubt. Good job, Jerry.
The down side to that is that Ford helped Jedgar Hoover [that’s an old Lily Tomlin joke] cover his ass by “leaking” Commission discussions to the FBI director.
I say this not to dis Mr. Ford, who did a helluva job at an impossible time (it took balls of steel to pardon Nixon which, in retrospect, was the best thing to do), but to “set the record straight.”
I wonder, would Ford have made a good, moderate Supreme Court Justice?
Yeah, he lives in Rancho Mirage, but he comes back occasionally. I think he was on hand for the groundbreaking for the new building for U-M’s Public Policy school, recently named after him.
You can find, online, his writings about Clinton. He was against impeachment, and argued for censure (and argued for this along with Jimmy Carter).
Is Ford now the second oldest former president of all time? When would he pass Reagan?