One of the greatest things about Gerald Ford as a former president was that he didn't say much. He had no need for the spotlight. He was modest in the old-fashioned way of stepping aside and not getting in the way of the new guy.
Ford seemed happy when things turned out well for America. That was apparently his primary interest.
He seemed lacking in vanity. There is no evidence that he was obsessed with his legacy. He didn't worry and fret about whether history would fully capture and proclaim his excellence, and because of this he didn't always have to run around proving he was right. He just did his best and kept walking. What a grown-up thing to do. Former, current and future presidents would do well to ponder this approach. History would treat them more kindly. The legacy of a man who spends his time worrying about his legacy is always: He worried about his legacy.
There are three points about Ford that I'm not sure can ever be sufficiently appreciated.
The first is that when he pardoned Richard Nixon, he threw himself on a grenade to protect the country from shame, from going too far. It was an act of deep political courage, and it was shocking. Almost everyone in the country hated it, including me. But Ford was right. Richard Nixon had been ruined, forced to resign, run out of town on a rail. There was nothing to be gained--nothing--by his being broken on the dock.
Second, Ford's personal dignity--his plain Midwestern rectitude, his old-style, pipe-smoking American normality, and his characterological absence of bile, spite and malice--helped the nation over and through the great tearing of the fabric that was Watergate. This is often referred to, and yet it is hard to communicate what a relief it was. Whether right or wrong, hopeless or wise, a normal man was in charge. This was a balm, a real gift to the country.
Third, he did not understand, and so was undone by, the rise of the modern conservative movement. He did not understand the prairie fire signaled by the California tax revolt, and did not see it roaring east. He did not fully understand how offended the American public was by endless government spending and expanding federal power.
In all this he proved that it is not enough in politics to be good. You have to have vision. You have to be able to see. If you can't, they can tell, and they'll retire you.
And yet. This must be said and should be said. He was a good man, and that's not nothing--it's something. Gerald Ford fought for his country. He didn't indulge his angers and appetites. He seems to have thought, in the end, that such indulgence was for sissies--it wasn't manly. He was sober-minded, solid, respecting and deserving of respect. And at that terrible time, after Watergate, he picked up the pieces and then threw himself on the grenade.
We were lucky to have him. We were really lucky to have him. Rest in peace.
I was too young to remember President Ford being in office. Most of what I know about him (besides the Nixon pardon) is what I am hearing now. From many I have spoken to, he seems to have been a very decent man. Noonan's article underscores this impression. I think America's longest lived president was a greater man than I realized. May he rest in peace.
P.S. -- Here is Ford in his own words:
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