The quiet man

One of the most unassuming presidents of modern times has passed--a man probably remembered more for his clumsiness or his hazardous golf game (actually he was a pretty good athlete) than for any accomplishments. But Gerald Ford was, by any measure, a great American, his lack of oratorical skills notwithstanding. Lost in the shuffle was a Jeffersonian view of government made popular some years later by Reagan:

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Somebody had to follow Nixon, surely the holy grail of "unenviable tasks". Being a teenager during the 70s I can still remember feeling ashamed during that period of time, which included the images of our choppers leaving Saigon a few years prior. We laughed at Chevy Chase's Saturday Night Live pratfalls because we needed to, the same way people today laugh at Stephen Colbert. The Utopian-minded of my generation largely believed Jimmy Carter would save the nation.

Through all the turmoil and two assassination attempts Ford showed himself a decent man with the tools needed to bridge the gap and help heal America, summarized well by this quote:

"Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.

Rest in peace, sir.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG 12/28/06

(Moved to it's own post).