In the years since Watergate I have come to believe that Gerald Ford was telling the truth about his blanket pardon of Richard Nixon. I believed that he weighed the pros and cons of a pardon and made the decision that he felt was in the nation's best interest and not as a favor to Nixon. I believed that there was no quid pro quo. I believed that Nixon picked Ford as VP because he was confirmable. I didn't agree with the decision at the time and have only grudgingly accepted it over time. However, I did believe that Ford thought long and hard about the decision and came to the decision with difficulty. Even though I voted for Jimmy Carter I always felt a little sad that Ford lost the Presidency because of a decision made with difficulty and honor.
Now it can be told: Nixon picked the man he considered his most loyal friend; the man he knew he didn't have to ask for a pardon; it was understood in that Tony-Soprano-Don-Corleone unspoken request/command way so prized by felons and their minions.
more below the fold. . .
According to the Washington Post article Ford and Nixon were very good friends for many years. Almost no one knew of it and it was not something that either advertised or bragged about. Apparently, the Nixon tapes tell the story of a deep and abiding friendship over many years, going back to the 40s. Nixon knew what he was doing when he picked Jerry Ford. And, Jerry Ford knew what was expected of him. There will be no smoking gun. There was no need for anything to be said. Nixon knew about the taping system and was not about to leave any evidence. He knew he could rely on Ford to "do the right thing" if and when it became necessary.
The whole writeup is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
It is interesting to read.
During one of the darkest days of the Watergate scandal, Nixon secretly confided in Ford, at the time the House minority leader. He begged for help. He complained about fair-weather friends and swore at perceived rivals in his own party.
snip ...
"Anytime you want me to do anything, under any circumstances, you give me a call, Mr. President," he told Nixon during that May 1, 1973, conversation. "We'll stand by you morning, noon and night."
This and other previously unpublished transcripts of their calls, documents and personal letters provide a portrait of an intensely personal friendship dating to the late 1940s but so hidden that few others were even aware of it. Until now, the relationship between the two presidents has been portrayed largely as a matter of political necessity, with Nixon tapping Ford for the vice presidency in late 1973 because he was a confirmable choice on Capitol Hill.
And, stand by him he did. Ford with his Everyman mien and his photogenic family was the polar opposite of Nixon. How could you not trust Ford? Even in defeat Ford was gracious and accepted that his pardon was probably the reason he lost but he did it out of a sense of duty to his country. He didn't want to put us through a trial and several years of appeals, he said. He would do it again because it was the right thing to do. Right for whom? Right for Nixon and right for the Republican Party. But, was it right for our country? In a word, no. We let Nixon off the hook; we let Caspar Weinberger, Ollie North and Elliott Abrams off the hook. There is no law that applies to these men. They are above the law. If they get caught, someone will pardon them. Don't worry, Scooter, we won't let you rot.
... the close political alliance between the two men seriously influenced Ford's eventual decision to pardon Nixon, the most momentous decision of his short presidency and almost certainly the one that cost him any chance of winning the White House in his own right two years later. Ford became president on Aug. 9, 1974; he pardoned Nixon just a month later. "I think that Nixon felt I was about the only person he could really trust on the Hill," Ford said during the 2005 interview.
Ford returned the feeling.
"I looked upon him as my personal friend. And I always treasured our relationship. And I had no hesitancy about granting the pardon, because I felt that we had this relationship and that I didn't want to see my real friend have the stigma," Ford said in the interview.
That acknowledgment represents a significant shift from Ford's previous portrayals of the pardon that absolved Nixon of any Watergate-related crimes. In earlier statements, Ford had emphasized the decision as an effort to move the country beyond the partisan divisions of the Watergate era, playing down the personal dimension.
I guess what bothers me most is the continuing lies Ford told about his reasons for the pardon. I'm not so naive to believe that deals like this aren't made in back halls and closets. But, he continued the charade til his death.
Bernard Kalb was on one of the cable shows today and essentially called Ford a coward for not coming forward with his doubts about the war when it would have meant something. Kalb said that his duty to his country came before his loyalty to a sitting President and his party.
I guess it's pretty hard to change the habits of a lifetime.
Mr. Ford, whatever reputation you had is now soiled. And, soiled by your own hand.