The thing that I remember about that summer of 1974 was staying inside watching the events as they transpired, and was immersed in the coverage. Back in them thar days, there was no such thing as Cable TV, and that was all that was on TV here in the NYC area.

I saw an interview today with the speechwriter who wrote that famous line about our national nightmare finally being over. President Ford at first balked about saying that, but the speechwriter said he would quit if Ford did not say that, and wisely, he came around and agreed that it was something that had to be included in his remarks to the country that August day.

To me he was a fine man, and I will be watching the events unfold here the next week, and pay tribute to this distinguished American.

Hope all is well.

Regards from the Garden State,

Steve

Here is the quote that I like about Ford: he “helped restore the presidency when it needed some restoring.”

Being somewhat cynical about our political past I never quite got incensed at the smarminess of the Nixon underbelly. FDR, a godly Democrat used Hoover’s FBI as shamlessly as Nixon used his confederates – they just didn’t get caught.

First thought of Ford is how Chevy Chase made a living on SNL doing pratfalls every week in Presidential routines.

Funny how this subject dovetails with your piece on A Hamilton recently. The Federalists died of Hamiltonian arrogance. The 1804 election pitted Adams against Jefferson in the ugliest catfight for power ever conducted in our politics. The Alien and Sedition Acts were employed to arrest Democrats. Jefferson got in such a tizzy he was roaring about Democratic states seceding from the Union (Madison muzzled Jefferson and just managed to get him made President in spite of himself).

Ford brought humanity and a sense of proletarian contact back to the oval office, post Nixon.

Too bad it wasn’t quite enough. We got a sniffling, liberal whiner for our next fearless leader; and regretted the absence of Ford.