President Gerald R. Ford has Died

Well, after taking a break over Christmas, I thought I would start putting a few things on the blog. A few weeks ago we started getting Fox News on the satellite here in NZ, so I went downstairs to see how Michelle Malkin was doing filling-in for O'Reilly on the "Factor." Then this news flash:

Former President Ford Dead at 93

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93.

Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments _ including an angioplasty _ in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly-controlled and conspiratorial.

I remember the day Nixon resigned and Ford took office. I also remember the day that Ford lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter - the beginning of the demise of the US as far as I'm concerned. I thought Ford was a good man, stuck between a rock and a hard place, who served our country well in his too-limited time in office.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Ford.