The passing of any individual is a time for sadness and sober reflection. Gerald Ford lived a long, full life surrounded by a loving wife and family. Few of us could hope for more than that, and Ford was both cognizant of and grateful for the blessings he had. Nonetheless, in the media’s rush to fall over themselves in gushing tributes to this late President, as they trumpet him as a man of surpassing decency and integrity, they’re managing to gloss over one sad truth: Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon.
I hold no ill will towards Ford. What’s done is done, and Nixon has long since departed the scene to reap whatever eternal reward he may have sown. Even so, if we’re going to remember the life of the nation’s only unelected President (besides Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader) and the service of a man who never sought the Presidency, shouldn’t we be remembering his decision to condone Nixon’s criminality and pardoned him for it? By setting a precedent that is particularly relevant today, Gerald Ford denied this country the opportunity to seek the justice it deserved. As we remember the life of President Gerald Ford, let’s not lose sight of his most egregious mistake.
