Goodbye President Ford

I'm watching the funeral right now, it's very moving, poor Betty is one tough cookie

Dunno if you caught it on TV, but my hero, Teddy Kennedy, said he now realizes that President Ford was right in granting Nixon the pardon.  He also said that, at the time, he was very vocal in his opposition to the process, but time has a way of changing your thinking.
 
Not much about Kennedy impresses me, but in this case, he did.

I'm watching the funeral too.  It's very moving, the music is beautiful.  I was listening to the commentary while the motorcade was on the way to the church.  They were saying that there were many beautiful pictures of him and his dog, Liberty.  They said she loved him and he deeply loved her. 
 
There's just something about a dog lover that carries to everything they do. 

What a beautiful service...

From a totally different standpoint, I'm sure it's a beautiful service, but it's tying up traffic and has closed alot of thoroughfares so my drivers can't deliver parts...
 
AAaargh.
 
RIP Mr. President.

Ed - [sm=lol.gif]
 
I was only 7 years old when he took office, so the only thing I recall is thinking it was kinda cool he was from Michigan!  Heck, our history books didn't even get to the whole Kennedy business when I was in high school - I think history stopped at WWII for a long time.

Can't say you didn't have advance notice, though, Ed...

I'm old enough to have been on my first honeymoon when the Watergate scandle hit.[:@]
 
I admired President Ford as a leader and as a human being.  We have Betty Ford to thank for the lives of millions of women who may have died of breast cancer had SHE not led the way, and also for lessening the taboo of needing help with an addiction.
 
My hat is off to both of them.  Mr. President, I'm sure that Liberty was awfully glad to see you.

ORIGINAL: marty_ga

Can't say you didn't have advance notice, though, Ed...

True, very true...We knew just as we were closing for the holiday...

But on a better note, I did respect Ford-and yes I was just a little tyke when he took office.  I'll still always remember the Chevy Chase impressions of him though.  And yes Betty Ford is probably one of the most influential women from the 20th century and thousands of women and men probably owe their lives to her work.

I was only 7 years old when he took office, so the only thing I recall is thinking it was kinda cool he was from Michigan!

 
As a new Omahan, I must pipe up that Ford was born here in Omaha Nebraska!
 
To be perfectly honest, though, I get a little annoyed at the way the press so gloriously and exaggeratedly eulogizes people regardless of how good, bad, ugly, or just plain unremarkable they were in life or in office... I don't mean to be disrespectful to a dead President but some of the TV coverage is just foolish... at one point the news show I was watching noted that, if nothing else, the man gave us the variable rate mortgage - ! - talk about grasping at straws.

President Ford was a decent man who did his best in a turbulent time.
 
"Into Thine hands do I commend my spirit ..."
Amen.
 

I wasn't born when Pres. Ford was in office, but he seemed to be a very good man. At least compared to Nixon.  I watched some of the service Sat. night and did ok until Betty Ford went to the casket, then I started crying.  I didn't get to see the service today, but I did Tivo it so I could watch it later.

I didn't get to see the service this morning, but I saw some coverage on tonight's news.  I told my husband that we must be getting old because we're now starting to be emotionally affected by the deaths of significant people that have been around a while.  I remember when I was a kid and my mother would be exclaiming aloud at the TV or shedding tears while hearing the news of the death of some significant person, and all I'd think was "oh, just some old person died."  President Ford was the first President I remember being "aware" of.  Even though I was too young to pay much attention to his politics, in recent years I've always been struck by what a genuinely kind man he seemed to be when he was interviewed.  From what I've heard in the coverage, he was one of the last politicians to be genuine - not with any skeletons, baggage, hidden agenda.  And Mrs. Ford was most definitely an inspiration to many people who face cancer and addiction issues.
 
I hope he's reunited with his pets, as well as with family, special friends and colleagues who've gone before him.