Jerry

What is the meaning of Gerald Ford?

The television eulogies were polite, respectful, and full of references to 'honesty' and 'loyalty' and 'realism'.

The real-world water cooler dialog questioned whether backroom deals had been made to pardon an indicted criminal ex-president. Debate gaffes were recalled, in which the appointed incumbent misstated a belief that Eastern Europe was not dominated by the Soviet Union. He was not exactly in his element, and he was forgiven.

I recall President Ford gamely staying on message during the debate with Mr. Carter, gesturing palms-downward while repeating the phrase "Keep the lid on spending" with reliable Republican anal retentiveness.

My lasting impression of that debate was the amiable and folksy Carter driving his horse-drawn vehicle of virtue along a branching, twisting, turning cowpath into unknown territory, and the the grimly determined old jock Ford driving his Ford determinedly for'd down a known and charted course toward a known and nonexistent destination.

Of course the electorate quickly wearied of its adventure in the cart and its driver, knee-jerking back to a slicker version of the known road four years later with a pitchman who was quicker on his feet but lacked both the honesty and the realism of the Eagle Scout from Grand Rapids. As my college advisor said at the time, maybe he wasn't a great president, but he was more of a man than either of his successors.