One of the most amazing characteristics of Gerald Ford was the fact that he was just an average guy. He didn't have many political connections and he wasn't known for his charismatic presence, yet he was an outstanding president. Is it possible in this day and age for a president to be elected with Ford's same characteristics, or do you think there is always some kind of hidden agenda?
2006-12-27 04:21:09 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
reading these answers makes me realize how hateful and pessimistic the people are.
you are right he was just a plain guy who ,i think,was caught up in events and did what he thought was his duty at the time.
he was not presidential materiel but tried when shoved into the presidency.
when he pardoned nixon he also ended his presidency.he did it because he thought the right thing to do was to"end americas long nightmare"
like all GOOD former presidents he faded into the background and never said anything about his successor or the policies of those who followed him.
he behaved the way a class former president should have.
he wasn't alway trying to have himself the center of attention.
2006-12-27 06:50:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There will never be another president like Gerald Ford because the will never be another honest person who would want the job. Gerald Ford was a great president and even if he pardoned Nixon, whom I wanted to see burned alive, Ford did the honest and honorable thing at a hard time in our history. I met him and he was a really an outstanding, likable human. America made the worst mistake ever when they put that idiot Jimmy Carter into the White House. He proved it in 1980 and has proven it many times since then with his anti-American stances. Great people like Ford were humble and not media hounds like Carter and his henchmen
2006-12-27 15:47:23 · answer #2 · answered by cuban friend 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have to disagree with you when you say, "he was just an average guy. He didn't have many political connections ." I know a few average guys who don't have many political connections, and they could never become president, elected or not. No average guy with few political connections ever became president, no matter what the media wants you to believe about Gerald Ford. He was rich, an elected official, and therefore well-connected to the government. In fact, he was so well-connected that he became president.
2006-12-27 12:30:51 · answer #3 · answered by homo erectus 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nixon's Vice President in the 1972 election resigned in scandal. Then Nixon himself resigned in 1974 making Gerald Ford the first unelected President in history. It is unlikely this will happen again. I dispute the description of him in the question: Ford was a Congressman for 25 years and served on the Warren Commission. He always defended the lone gunman theory of the JFK assasination. He was minority House leader when Nixon appointed him as Vice President so he definitely had a lot of political connections within the Republican Party. He had access to everything in the White House which Nixon's people had failed to shred or destroy. With his inside knowledge of both the JFK assasination and Watergate, I think he took a lot of secrets with him to the grave.
2006-12-27 12:48:49 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The clue is in your question - Gerald Ford wasn't elected!
With elected Presidents and Veeps there is always a hidden agenda
2006-12-27 12:22:50 · answer #5 · answered by SteveT 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
perhaps you don't realize that gerald ford was never elected to a statewide, much less a national, public office in his entire life. he was an unknown congressman from the midwest that Richard "Tricky Dicky" Nixon pulled out of obscurity when both he and his sleazebag Vice President, Spiro Agnew were found to be crooks. It is not nice to speak ill of the (recently) dead, so I will merely say that Gerald Ford found himself in way over his head and he did the best he could, with an economy that was a mess, and a society that had just experienced a full decade of chaos.
2006-12-27 12:26:19 · answer #6 · answered by niko 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Actually the most amazing thing is that he was the only president not elected by the people, as was his vice president. Extra points if you know who the VP was?
Perhaps the lesson is we elect nitwits during the popularity contest we call the election process. Interesting to note, when the people we given a choice to vote for Ford, they chose the compassionate peanut farmer. Go figure.
2006-12-27 12:24:36 · answer #7 · answered by Dane 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Ford wasn't elected. He was VP when Nixon resigned. He then lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.
I'll never forgive Ford for pardoning Nixon.
2006-12-27 12:23:25 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
NO!!! There will always be some kind of a agenda when
people for President.
2006-12-27 12:25:42 · answer #9 · answered by Vagabond5879 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well Bush and Cheney's as incompetent as Nixon if not more. So the answer is yes. A congressman is as capable to be a president as these two stooges in the W.H.
2006-12-27 15:09:21 · answer #10 · answered by tyrone b 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋