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	The Manchester Enterprise A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Local residents share thoughts on Ford

Former president is praised for a legacy of fairness and honesty

By Alana West, Special Writer

PUBLISHED: January 4, 2007

In his 1977 inaugural address, Jimmy Carter praised outgoing President Gerald Ford, saying "For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land."

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Ford, who died Dec. 26 at age 93, was interred Wednesday near his presidential library in his childhood hometown of Grand Rapids following a state funeral Saturday, and a ceremony Tuesday at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

This past week, Manchester residents took time to remember the former president, and praise his legacy of fairness and honesty.

"What really strikes me is that people remember him for being a good person," said Manchester Village President Pat Vailliencourt, who recalls voting for Ford in the 1976 election in which he lost to Carter. "Everybody in the news talks about what a good person he was."

In response to media coverage of an interview with The Washington Post in 2004 –– which was not released until after his death at his request –– in which Ford disagreed strongly with President George W. Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq, Vailliencourt shared her own concerns about the war.

"I, too, have some strong disagreements and concerns about the war in Iraq, and its policies," she said.

Former Manchester village president David Little said he, too, voted for Ford because he admired the president for his ability to make the right decisions.

"(Ford) typically did the right thing," he said.

"He pardoned (President Richard) Nixon because he knew something had to be done, and he did it."

Karen Jenter of Manchester said Ford appeared to be an approachable and down-to-earth man, based on the newspaper interviews with him that she has read and glimpses she saw on television.

"The quote that I remember over and over is that he said, "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln," she said.

"He took a job given to him to do, and he did a fine job," she said.

Charlotte Major of Manchester said she remembered the fall of Nixon over Watergate.

"We watched trials and investigations. When Ford was appointed to take (Vice President) Spiro Agnew's place and then Nixon's place, he seemed like the right person (for the job). The whole dilemma was going to get resolved," she said.

Major agreed with and trusted Ford's decision to pardon Nixon. "I think he did the right thing," she said.

"I thought, 'He's our leader. He must be right,'" said Major's husband, Lewis. "I believe people did have a high regard for his decisions.

Marsha Chartrand, former editor of The Manchester Enterprise, remembers being among the people who voted for Sen. George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election.

She recalls Ford taking office after the resignation of Nixon, and thinking that Ford "was a guy who was much too honest to ever have been elected to the presidency."

"This is a feeling that is even stronger given 30-plus years of retrospect," she said. "I have always had a lot of admiration for him and, even though his presidency was not very well rated at the time, I think he did a great job of bringing the country back from the Watergate era.

"It was a time of so much mistrust and he and his family were so real," she added.

Ford was a member of the House of Representatives for 25 years, eight of them as House minority leader. He was named to replace Agnew as vice president on Oct. 12, 1973.

After Nixon's resignation Aug. 9, 1974, Ford assumed the presidency. He addressed the nation at this time with words that portrayed his understanding of his position as an un-elected president:

"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers."

Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon Sept. 8, 1974, for any crimes he may have committed against the United States while president, which many political analysts say cost him re-election to the presidency in 1976.

Alana West is a freelance writer. She can be reached at mmagwest@sbcglobal.net.