Okay I capitulate that most of the others on the history board here are much better read about these things than I am.

I just turned 38 in november and most of my life, I always got the feeling that Gerald Ford was a joke without a punchline. He became VP because Agnew became toxic and it was always smirked about that after Nixon resigned Ford pardoned him. A nobody that somehow through the oddest twists of fate, became the main man for a while.

So he had died, and I am literally stunned by the sheer number of articles on the internet and in the paper describing him in such glowing and flattering terms. Did I miss something, or are they just speaking kindly of the dead?

Yes, and yes.

I see him as a fine and decent man, a gracious sportsman, who took office during a difficult time in our nation's history, who imbued it with grace and dignity. His wife, Betty Ford, was one of our more dignified and caring First Ladies, bringing to the forrefront the many problems of substance abuse.

He didn't do a lot but didn't have to. And at least he didn't embarrass himself or the country--that counts for something.

Maybe more ex-sportsmen should be in the Oval Office--Bart Starr for President!

I'd have to agree with you there.

I see him as a fine and decent man, a gracious sportsman, who took office during a difficult time in our nation's history, who imbued it with grace and dignity. His wife, Betty Ford, was one of our more dignified and caring First Ladies, bringing to the forrefront the many problems of substance abuse.

He didn't do a lot but didn't have to. And at least he didn't embarrass himself or the country--that counts for something.

Maybe more ex-sportsmen should be in the Oval Office--Bart Starr for President!

I agree. Not totally screwing up and have grace and stability is underrated.

In large part, the bumbling image is due to Chevy Chase's brilliant imitations on the new show "Saturday Night Live". The truth was that he was quite athletic, and enjoyed skiing and other outdoor sports. He did stumble once while exiting Air Force One. He also did bean a spectator with a mis-hit golf ball.

He was a nice guy, whose main ambition was to be Speaker of the House. His appointment as Vice-President was largely because he was confirmable. He wasn't Nixon's favorite, but he was well liked and respected in Congress.

Did you know that he was also a member of the Warren Comission? In fact he helped write the report, and was responsible for the "magic bullet" idea, that had a single bullet hitting Kennedy and Connely.

As president, he faced a number of problems. The economy was in terrible shape. OPEC had just formed, and oil prices had suddenly risen. Inflation was rampant, due in part to oil prices and in part to the expiration of wage and price controls instituted by the Nixon Administration. He presided over the end of the Vietnam War, when troops had been withdrawn and the South Vietnamese government was attempting to stand on it's own with U.S. aid.

He was also responsible for the Helsinki Accords, a major advancement in asking the Soviet Union to be responsible for it's human rights violations. One still hears that talked about, and it paved the way for further negotiations with the Soviets in the areas of arms control.

He did pardon Nixon. I hated that at the time, but in retrospect it seems to me to have been a better idea than I thought at the time. I am still not convinced totally that it was the right decision, but I can live with it. Watergate had paralyzed the government for a considerable period of time, and the question of whether a President could be criminally prosecuted after leaving office, as opposed to being only responsible to the Congress through the mechanism of impeachment, is a question which has never been decided. Such a prosecution has never taken place, and the constitutional status of such a prosecution is unclear. It had the potential to continue the paralyzation of the government while the case wound it's way through the court system. The pardon ended that.

As America mourns the passing of the late former President Gerald Ford, in the automotive world we remind ourselves of one of the simplest yet greatest things he ever did for drivers in America: the Right Turn On Red (RTOR). Highway traffic policy is a matter for each state to determine, but as President, Ford was a strong proponent of the states passing it into law. He pushed for and signed a federal bill encouraging the policy, but for those unfamiliar, the reason may surprise you. Naturally it wasn't about making driving more convenient, it was an energy decision, designed to reduce the number of hours cars spend idling at intersections. The context was the 1973 oil crisis when OPEC was locked in an embargo, and President Ford had the foresight to initiate policies to reduce America's borderline-addiction dependence on foreign oil.

A right decision (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/01/thank-you-president-ford-for-turning-right/)

Unfortunately it seems like most people assume they can turn right on red and they just do a quick glance at the last minute to confirm no one's coming. Seems like most of the people are halfway around the corner before they notice me and stomp on the brakes.

Still, kudos to Ford on that one.

From the Republicans of the last 40 years, I'd choose the lesser EVIL, him!