Remembrances of President Ford
Re “Gerald Ford dies at 93,” Dec. 27
I am sorry to hear about the passing of President Ford. America has lost a true gentleman politician, a very rare breed today.
There are very few educated politicians who want to do something good for their country, and Ford was among the very best of them. Words fail to describe how he was a politician of great stature and one of the most able leaders in American politics. Goodbye my friend; you will always be in our thoughts.
RAMESH MANGHIRMALANI
Danville, Calif.
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Many nowadays consider kindness a weakness. Ford’s genuine kindness was a strength I admired. For a man who didn’t seek out controversy, he inspired it by doing the right thing. He served the nation well. God bless Ford for being a good example of what a man and a president should be.
DEBORAH CAMARGO
Corona
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Take another look at the funeral picture on Page A23 of The Times on Dec. 27. The former presidents and then-President Clinton were probably not celebrating the life of Richard Nixon; they were saluting the presidency. No way could reverence of the presidency have survived a Nixon trial. A hung jury would have made things worse, in addition to wasting effort and money. That is why Ford’s pardon of Nixon was the right thing to do -- to end the nightmare. It pardoned the presidency and left Nixon, the person, hanging in history.
GILBERT S. BAHN
Moorpark
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Whatever good Ford did during his short presidency will be forever overshadowed by the ill-advised pardon of Nixon. Instead of letting our justice system do its job, Ford -- no doubt paying back a personal debt -- let Nixon off the hook and, in the process, destroyed any personal credibility he would have had as our president.
JACK WOLF
Westwood
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Re “The Ford presidency,” editorial, Dec. 27
The Times says that the pardon was a mistake. I don’t know where The Times was then, but where I was, we all breathed a sigh of relief. We were still in Vietnam, the OPEC embargo was still on and the Soviet Union was rattling sabers in every corner of the world.
Is The Times suggesting that the U.S. would have benefited from a Nixon trial -- for a crime we knew he was guilty -- as opposed to a quick, clean finish? That’s why we have pardons; for the good of the state. Ford’s pardon was a great act of statesmanship.
KEVIN CROZIER
Los Angeles