Gerald Ford was stupid to pardon Nixon but he did not support Bush on Iraq. What do you think about this?

Question

Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush had launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration. In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney — Ford's White House chief of staff — and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief. “Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do." In a conversation that veered between the current realities of a war in the Middle East and the old complexities of the war in Vietnam whose bitter end he presided over as president, Ford took issue with the notion of the United States entering a conflict in service of the idea of spreading democracy. "Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush's assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interest." He added: "And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."
To be published after his death
The Ford interview — and a subsequent lengthy conversation in 2005 — took place for a future book project, though he said his comments could be published at any time after his death. In the sessions, Ford fondly recalled his close working relationship with key Bush advisers Cheney and Rumsfeld while expressing concern about the policies they pursued in more recent years. "He was an excellent chief of staff. First class," Ford said. "But I think Cheney has become much more pugnacious" as vice president. He said he agreed with former secretary of state Colin L. Powell's assertion that Cheney developed a "fever" about the threat of terrorism and Iraq. "I think that's probably true." Describing his own preferred policy toward Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Ford said he would not have gone to war, based on the publicly available information at the time, and would have worked harder to find an alternative. "I don't think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly," he said, "I don't think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer." Ford had faced his own military crisis — not a war he started like Bush, but one he had to figure out how to end. In many ways those decisions framed his short presidency — in the difficult calculations about how to pull out of Vietnam and the challenging players who shaped policy on the war. Most challenging of all, as Ford recalled, was Henry A. Kissinger, who was both secretary of state and national security adviser and had what Ford said was "the thinnest skin of any public figure I ever knew." "I think he was a super secretary of state," Ford said, "but Henry in his mind never made a mistake, so whatever policies there were that he implemented, in retrospect he would defend." In 1975, Ford decided to relieve Kissinger of his national security title. "Why Nixon gave Henry both secretary of state and head of the NSC, I never understood," Ford said. "Except he was a great supporter of Kissinger. Period." But Ford viewed Kissinger's dual roles as a conflict of interest that weakened the administration's ability to fully air policy debates. "They were supposed to check on one another." That same year, Ford also decided to fire Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger and replace him with Rumsfeld, who was then Ford's White House chief of staff. Ford recalled that he then used that decision to go to Kissinger and say, "I'm making a change at the secretary of defense, and I expect you to be a team player and work with me on this" by giving up the post of security adviser.

Answer 1

I have never heard of anyone excuse me (besides you) say that the pardon was a bad idea. When in fact it recognized as sound and good move (the timing could have been better) but friends and foes alike agree with the decision. We all know the President lied to get the Senate and people to go along with him but that is old news.

God Bless You and Our Southern People

El dios bendice a le y a nuestra gente meridional.

Answer 2

I disagree that it was "stupid" of Ford to pardon Nixon. It was political suicide, and he knew that. He did it so the nation could move on--I was a teenager at the time, and believe me, the country needed to be able to get past Watergate.
I personally take great pleasure in knowing that Gerald Ford disagreed with Bush about going into Iraq. I'm going to use it the next time I argue with my father about it, because he sure can't call Ford a "liberal."

Answer 3

Ford honestly believed that to continue prosecuting Nixon would have hurt the nation more than help it. He followed his belief, & at the time, I agreed with him. Not only did he have to deal with the winding down of the Vietnam War & the extreme distrust of government in general, the country was facing skyrocketing inflation & unemployment also. By pardoning Nixon, the political posturing wound down enough for both Parties to tackle these overwhelming issues. His interview about the Iraq War was again what he personally believed. He thought for himself & didn't let others do his thinking for him.

What is so difficult to understand? The man used his brain to think with & his conscience to develop his beliefs. And he spoke them. It is called integrity, which simply means saying & doing what you believe in. Anyone who chooses to follow a party line & does not examine its beliefs against his own is lazy at best, & often dangerous.

Answer 4

Ford's pardoning of Nixon was in part to heal the country and help it move on, as well as not ham-string his presidency with a continuing scandal that would not have allowed him to focus his attention on the needs of America. Controversial? Yes. The right thing to do? Yes, and time has proved him wise in his decision.

Please, the man has died and it's all 30 year old history. Let him rest in peace.

Answer 5

I'm not going to bother reading an idiotic question but let me ask you. Could you do better? I highly doubt it with your lack of intelligence. I doubt you've even gone to college or even been a soldier. Gerlad Ford has done both you've done none of that. He isn't alive right now. So show some respect you imbecile. You're a disgrace to humanity. Ford was one of the two completely honest presidents we have ever had.


My two cents.

Answer 6

I don't know how you can compare a pardon of Nixons to a war in a country that will go on forever.....its their way of life over there....even the neighboring countries knew that...but anyway I answered your question...no way to compare the two

Answer 7

Just goes to show you that he was not only a good man , but an intelligent man as well! May he rest in peace.

Answer 8

Ford is dead. May he rest in peace.

Answer 9

Well I think nixon was okay, and bush was dumb to go to war.

Answer 10

blah blah blah