Memories of the Ford Administration

(That was the title of a novel by Updike, which I didn't read, but given the title, who did?)

I have very few memories of the Ford Administration, because I was six years old when he became president. I remember watching him on TV announcing the pardon of Nixon, and remember being really worried about it, not because I had the faintest idea what it was all about, but because I watched a lot of TV back then and I remember the pardon upset a lot of people. And I remember Sarah Jane Moore, and Squeaky Fromme. Come to think of it, I remember being anxious back then, even as a child, that things were falling apart. I remember asking my dad over and over again if I was going to grow up to have to fight in "Indochina," as they called it on TV back then. Ford was part of that. My parents voted for him over Carter, and my memory of him -- no doubt colored by their support of him, such as it was -- was that he was a decent man outmatched by history.

My impression of him was also shaped by Chevy Chase's cruel stumblebum caricature. (I told you I watched too much TV: the first season of SNL was 1975-76, and I knew it well; in fact, I am reminded how old and media-obsessed I am when I'll make some Generalissimo Francisco Franco remark, or crack wise about a floor wax and a dessert topping, and realize that the reason my wife isn't laughing is because she was an infant when SNL debuted. But I digress.) I tell you all this because I can't form a clear impression of Ford. The truth is, I don't think much of him -- meaning not that I think poorly of him, but that I don't know what to think about him, and I'm wondering if I'm judging him too harshly because Reagan -- in many ways the anti-Ford, insofar as he took the fight to liberalism instead of dutifully following the GOP establishment line -- burned so bright. In fact, the greatest contribution Ford might have made to conservatism, and indeed to America, is to have lost to Carter to pave the way for Reagan. That's not nothing. And he certainly seemed like an honorable ex-president. I suppose we'll be talking about whether or not he should have pardoned Nixon for a long time. My head tells me no, but my heart says that was probably the wiser move for the country, even though it probably cost him the election.

Sorry, I wish I had stronger opinions about Ford. I also wish I had stronger opinions about mashed potatoes. R.I.P.