Presidential Highs and Lows: Gerald Ford
"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over." That was how the Presidency of Gerald Ford began. Ford was the only person ever to become President of the United States without having ever been elected either to that office or to the office of Vice-President. The start of his Presidency was also its high point.
Just a few years before becoming President, Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was unofficially campaigning for the job he really wanted: Speaker of the House. He had worked to help House Republicans win their seats across the country and in 1974 he promised his wife that he would try again that year, and then retire in 1976. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering. It was part of a plea bargain. Agnew had accepted $29,500 in bribes while governor of Maryland and his past had caught up with him. By this time President Richard Nixon was under fire for the unfolding Watergate scandal. He sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement for Agnew. According to House Speaker Carl Albert, "We gave Nixon no choice but Ford." Ford agreed to take the job, telling his wife that the Vice Presidency would be "a nice conclusion" to his career. Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on October 12, the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented. The Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27.
On Thursday, August 1, 1974, Chief of Staff Alexander Haig contacted Ford to tell him that "smoking gun" evidence had been found, leaving little doubt that Nixon had been a part of the Watergate cover-up. Haig told Ford, "I'm just warning you that you've got to be prepared, that things might change dramatically and you could become President." Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, and Ford assumed the presidency, making him the only person to assume the presidency without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office. Immediately after taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House, he spoke to the assembled audience in a speech broadcast live to the nation. Ford said:
"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers. I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people."
He concluded by saying:
"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice, but mercy. Let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and hate."
It looked as if the nation was ready to restore its trust in the Presidency under Ford, who received his highest approval rating on 70% in a poll released on August 13, 1974. But in less than a year, Ford would spend much of that political capital on one of the most controversial decisions of any presidency.
On September 8, 1974, Ford issued Proclamation 4311, better known as the Pardon of Richard Nixon. Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while President. It was an extremely move. Ford's popularity began to plummet as many Americans suspected a corrupt bargain had been made. Ford tried to justify his decision in a televised broadcast to the nation that evening. He told his audience that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country. He described the Nixon family's situation as "a tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must."
Ford's critics alleged that Ford's pardon was granted in exchange for Nixon's resignation, which had elevated Ford to the presidency. Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald terHorst disagreed with the decision so strongly that he resigned his post in protest after the pardon. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, one of the two reporters who had uncovered the Watergate story, alleged that Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig proposed a pardon deal to Ford. Many historians believe that the controversy was the major reason that Ford lost the 1976 presidential election, an insurmountable handicap. Ford agreed with this assessment. In an editorial at the time, The New York Times called the Nixon pardon a "profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence".
On October 17, 1974, Ford testified before Congress on the pardon. He was the first sitting President since Abraham Lincoln to testify before the House of Representatives. As the new year of 1975 began, things got worse for Ford. The country sank into the worst recession since the Great Depression and the new President struggled to try to stem the tide of the rise in unemployment, which reached nine percent in May 1975. In January 1975, Ford proposed a 1-year tax reduction of $16 billion to stimulate economic growth, along with spending cuts to avoid inflation. The proposed amount of the tax reduction increased to $22.8 billion in tax cuts, but did not include any spending cuts. In March 1975, Congress passed, and Ford signed into law, these income tax rebates as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. This resulted in a federal deficit of around $53 billion for the 1975 fiscal year and $73.7 billion for 1976. When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975, Mayor Abraham Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. The New York Daily News published a famous headline which read "Ford to City: Drop Dead", after Ford gave a speech in which he said that he would veto any bill calling for "a federal bail-out of New York City". On March 25, 1975, Ford received his lowest approval rating of 36%.
Ford's troubles continued as he escaped two assassination attempts in September of 1975. Both would-be assassins were women. Ford faced further problems when he ran for President in 1976, only to be met by a strong challenger for his party's nomination, former California Governor Ronald Reagan, the unofficial leader of the party's conservative wing. Reagan criticized Ford for failing to do more in South Vietnam, for signing the Helsinki Accords, and for negotiating to cede the Panama Canal. Reagan won numerous primaries, including North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, and California, but failed to get a majority of delegates. Reagan withdrew from the race at the Republican Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ford was also the target of negative media. On the new popular NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, comedian Chevy Chase did pratfalls imitating a clumsy Ford, who had been seen stumbling on two occasions during his term that received unending replay in the media.
Despite all of these impediments, Ford pressed on valiantly in his 1976 election campaign. He took advantage of his status as an incumbent president during several anniversary events held to commemorate the United States Bicentennial. The Washington, D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally. On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service network. The 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts gave Ford the opportunity to deliver a speech calling for "reconciliation, not recrimination" between the United States and those who would pose "threats to peace".
But the specter of the Nixon pardon loomed over Ford. The Democratic presidential nominee was former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, who campaigned as an outsider and reformer. He courted voters who were still angry over the Watergate scandal and Nixon pardon. After the Democratic National Convention, he held a huge 33-point lead over Ford in the polls. However, as the campaign continued, the race tightened, and, by election day, the polls showed the race as too close to call. On September 24, Ford performed well in what was the first televised presidential debate since 1960. Polls taken after the debate showed that most viewers felt that Ford was the winner. Carter was also hurt by Ford's charges that he lacked the necessary experience to be an effective national leader, and that Carter was vague on many issues. In the second debate Ford was criticized for saying "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford Administration." Carter promised a full presidential pardon for political refugees from the Vietnam era during the presidential debates, Ford's surge stalled and Carter was able to maintain his lead in the polls.
Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral votes for Ford. The election so close that if 25,000 votes shifted in Ohio and Wisconsin, Ford would have won the electoral vote with 276 votes to 261 for Carter. Ford had managed to close what was once an alleged 33-point Carter lead to a 2-point margin. But it was too little, too late.
In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Ford for his pardon of Nixon. In presenting the award to Ford, Senator Edward Kennedy said that he had initially been opposed to the pardon, but later decided that history had proved Ford to have made the correct decision.
Just a few years before becoming President, Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was unofficially campaigning for the job he really wanted: Speaker of the House. He had worked to help House Republicans win their seats across the country and in 1974 he promised his wife that he would try again that year, and then retire in 1976. On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering. It was part of a plea bargain. Agnew had accepted $29,500 in bribes while governor of Maryland and his past had caught up with him. By this time President Richard Nixon was under fire for the unfolding Watergate scandal. He sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement for Agnew. According to House Speaker Carl Albert, "We gave Nixon no choice but Ford." Ford agreed to take the job, telling his wife that the Vice Presidency would be "a nice conclusion" to his career. Ford was nominated to take Agnew's position on October 12, the first time the vice-presidential vacancy provision of the 25th Amendment had been implemented. The Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27.
On Thursday, August 1, 1974, Chief of Staff Alexander Haig contacted Ford to tell him that "smoking gun" evidence had been found, leaving little doubt that Nixon had been a part of the Watergate cover-up. Haig told Ford, "I'm just warning you that you've got to be prepared, that things might change dramatically and you could become President." Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, and Ford assumed the presidency, making him the only person to assume the presidency without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office. Immediately after taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House, he spoke to the assembled audience in a speech broadcast live to the nation. Ford said:
"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers. I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people."
He concluded by saying:
"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice, but mercy. Let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and hate."
It looked as if the nation was ready to restore its trust in the Presidency under Ford, who received his highest approval rating on 70% in a poll released on August 13, 1974. But in less than a year, Ford would spend much of that political capital on one of the most controversial decisions of any presidency.
On September 8, 1974, Ford issued Proclamation 4311, better known as the Pardon of Richard Nixon. Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he might have committed against the United States while President. It was an extremely move. Ford's popularity began to plummet as many Americans suspected a corrupt bargain had been made. Ford tried to justify his decision in a televised broadcast to the nation that evening. He told his audience that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country. He described the Nixon family's situation as "a tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must."
Ford's critics alleged that Ford's pardon was granted in exchange for Nixon's resignation, which had elevated Ford to the presidency. Ford's first press secretary and close friend Jerald terHorst disagreed with the decision so strongly that he resigned his post in protest after the pardon. Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, one of the two reporters who had uncovered the Watergate story, alleged that Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig proposed a pardon deal to Ford. Many historians believe that the controversy was the major reason that Ford lost the 1976 presidential election, an insurmountable handicap. Ford agreed with this assessment. In an editorial at the time, The New York Times called the Nixon pardon a "profoundly unwise, divisive and unjust act" that in a stroke had destroyed the new president's "credibility as a man of judgment, candor and competence".
On October 17, 1974, Ford testified before Congress on the pardon. He was the first sitting President since Abraham Lincoln to testify before the House of Representatives. As the new year of 1975 began, things got worse for Ford. The country sank into the worst recession since the Great Depression and the new President struggled to try to stem the tide of the rise in unemployment, which reached nine percent in May 1975. In January 1975, Ford proposed a 1-year tax reduction of $16 billion to stimulate economic growth, along with spending cuts to avoid inflation. The proposed amount of the tax reduction increased to $22.8 billion in tax cuts, but did not include any spending cuts. In March 1975, Congress passed, and Ford signed into law, these income tax rebates as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. This resulted in a federal deficit of around $53 billion for the 1975 fiscal year and $73.7 billion for 1976. When New York City faced bankruptcy in 1975, Mayor Abraham Beame was unsuccessful in obtaining Ford's support for a federal bailout. The New York Daily News published a famous headline which read "Ford to City: Drop Dead", after Ford gave a speech in which he said that he would veto any bill calling for "a federal bail-out of New York City". On March 25, 1975, Ford received his lowest approval rating of 36%.
Ford's troubles continued as he escaped two assassination attempts in September of 1975. Both would-be assassins were women. Ford faced further problems when he ran for President in 1976, only to be met by a strong challenger for his party's nomination, former California Governor Ronald Reagan, the unofficial leader of the party's conservative wing. Reagan criticized Ford for failing to do more in South Vietnam, for signing the Helsinki Accords, and for negotiating to cede the Panama Canal. Reagan won numerous primaries, including North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, and California, but failed to get a majority of delegates. Reagan withdrew from the race at the Republican Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ford was also the target of negative media. On the new popular NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, comedian Chevy Chase did pratfalls imitating a clumsy Ford, who had been seen stumbling on two occasions during his term that received unending replay in the media.
Despite all of these impediments, Ford pressed on valiantly in his 1976 election campaign. He took advantage of his status as an incumbent president during several anniversary events held to commemorate the United States Bicentennial. The Washington, D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and televised nationally. On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United Kingdom, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service network. The 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts gave Ford the opportunity to deliver a speech calling for "reconciliation, not recrimination" between the United States and those who would pose "threats to peace".
But the specter of the Nixon pardon loomed over Ford. The Democratic presidential nominee was former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, who campaigned as an outsider and reformer. He courted voters who were still angry over the Watergate scandal and Nixon pardon. After the Democratic National Convention, he held a huge 33-point lead over Ford in the polls. However, as the campaign continued, the race tightened, and, by election day, the polls showed the race as too close to call. On September 24, Ford performed well in what was the first televised presidential debate since 1960. Polls taken after the debate showed that most viewers felt that Ford was the winner. Carter was also hurt by Ford's charges that he lacked the necessary experience to be an effective national leader, and that Carter was vague on many issues. In the second debate Ford was criticized for saying "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford Administration." Carter promised a full presidential pardon for political refugees from the Vietnam era during the presidential debates, Ford's surge stalled and Carter was able to maintain his lead in the polls.
Carter won the election, receiving 50.1% of the popular vote and 297 electoral votes compared with 48.0% and 240 electoral votes for Ford. The election so close that if 25,000 votes shifted in Ohio and Wisconsin, Ford would have won the electoral vote with 276 votes to 261 for Carter. Ford had managed to close what was once an alleged 33-point Carter lead to a 2-point margin. But it was too little, too late.
In 2001, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to Ford for his pardon of Nixon. In presenting the award to Ford, Senator Edward Kennedy said that he had initially been opposed to the pardon, but later decided that history had proved Ford to have made the correct decision.