Bucks
Gerald Ford’s Legacy of Civility
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Former President Ford’s funeral occurred at a most strategic time in American history. Mighty Betsy and I watched both days of the impressive ceremonies and thought about the cast of players, past and present, that Americans saw on TV.
Yes, the living former Presidents were present as were their significant cabinet members. But every important member of congress attended as well. Let us pray that those elected representatives understood the legacy of Gerald Ford. To me, his legacy was built upon civility and fairness. America had the good fortune of having the right man in the oval office during America’s worst crisis since the Civil War.
Again and again, we heard that word, civility, when speakers eulogized Gerald Ford. This man had the willingness to meet any opponent more than half way.
My friends, Francis Ballard and Larry Grim, gave me the idea for this column. Ballard led a prestigious Philadelphia law firm. He and I often row together on the Schuylkill River. Grim is a respected lawyer from Perkasie. He and I have been close friends from childhood. Both hope that elected officials at every level of government understand the obvious message about Gerald Ford.
And speaking about civility, another of my rowing friends is Rob Fleming who is on the board of the Wallace House Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa. Its mission is to build community through conversation [about contemporary issues]. The foundation sponsors citizen dialogue projects. I’m impressed with the common ground dinners, which the foundation sponsors. You can access the Wallace House Foundation’s website. Wallace.org.
One of the
Wallace’s was Henry A. Wallace who was Franklin Roosevelt’s Vice President from
1940 to 1944. His son, Robert Wallace, lived in
Gerald Ford was often called the “Accidental
President.” But it was no accident that Ford became Vice President in 1973
after Spiro Agnew resigned his office in disgrace. Richard Nixon would follow
shortly.
The constitution clearly spells out the method for succession when a Vice President dies or resigns. The congress chooses a successor through a very public process. Ford was the Minority Speaker whom the congress confirmed because Ford was so widely respected as a healer...a thoroughly civil person.
Tom Brokaw spoke at Ford’s funeral in Washington. The former TV news anchor and author of “The Greatest Generation” spoke about Ford’s athletic days at the University of Michigan. An All-American center on the football team, Ford was a lineman, not a star runner or receiver. But no play on offense began without Ford’s hands on the ball, Brokaw told the audience. Ford was the man who held the team together, just as he would hold America together, a generation later.
Pat Oliphant is a national editorial cartoonist. Like Chevy Chase who lampooned Ford for being a stumbler on “Saturday Night Live,” Oliphant’s cartoons showing Gerald Ford wearing a band-aid on his baldhead were notorious. Once, at a Republican gathering, Oliphant used charcoal to draw a band-aid on Ford’s head. The President roared in laughter. On January 3, the day of the Ford funeral, Oliphant drew the identical cartoon…but without the band-aid.
“So I offer this drawing of President Gerald Ford, sans Band-Aid, as a farewell gesture of respect,” Oliphant wrote beneath his editorial cartoon. “He was a gentleman of generous good humor and one heck of a good sport. I have drawn many presidents, but he is the only one I ever drew ON.”
MB and I met President Ford several times during his appearances in Bucks County. He was good-natured, keen, and most accessible. We immediately understood why he was so popular with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
After Watergate and the disastrous Vietnam War, America desperately needed a healer. We found one in Gerald Ford. The parallels for 2007 are so painfully obvious. America has a brand new congress and an embattled President. Let us pray that our leaders reflect upon the legacy of Gerald Ford and put aside the bitterness, which divide us at home and separates America from the world.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith