the ford pardon was quite a controversy at the time
recall that ford was an appointee, himself
nixon's elected vice president, spiro agnew (who would have been a hero to today's neocons) left under scandal (he pleaded nolo contendre - no contest - to a bribery charge for bribes accepted before he became vp. a condition of the prosecutor accepting the plea agreement was that he would have to resign as vp)
gerald ford was not thought to be extremely smart, but he was found to have a good character ... something the nation needed after nixon
it was probably his decent character that allowed him to survive the controversy of granting nixon a full pardon. the evidence was available to convict nixon
but we had just lost the war in vietnam, and our economy was paying for the costs of that war, not unlike what we will soon experience in the aftermath of iraq and afghanistan
ford believed that dragging the nation into a televised impeachment proceeding was not good for the country ... others thought he was just allowing nixon to escape just punishment
i tend to side with Jimmy Carter:
Quote:
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On Inauguration Day, President Carter began his speech: "For myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."
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it was a very tumultous era. the counterculture was experimenting with drugs, sexual freedom was underway (yay) as the womens' movement was in full swing, and europe was now rebuilt after WWII, as was japan, providing the first taste of international competition in world trade we had experienced since the late 30's. they were strange times, indeed
10-26-2009, 06:53 PM
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