Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them

Gerald Ford was a nice guy. And college athlete. And a World War II veteran. And a former Congressman. And a member of the Warren Commission; which investigated and released a report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And the only person to become both Vice-President and President of the United States without being elected to either office by the people. And...a nice guy.

Gerald Ford was appointed Vice-President by President Richard Nixon when his running mate and current Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with income tax evasion in October of 1973. This was in the middle of the Watergate scandal. When tapes of conversations in the Oval Office (the President's private office) showed that President Nixon had participated in an attempt to cover up the scandal and in attempts to block the investigation into it, he resigned rather than face impeachment proceedings. He did not want to go down in history as the only President removed from office for committing a criminal act. On that same date, August 9, 1974, Gerald R. Ford became the 38th President of the United States.

Now, even though the US Congress could no longer impeach the former president for his actions, criminal charges could still be brought against him. On September 8, 1973 Ford using "the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution." granted Richard Nixon a full and unconditional presidential pardon, which meant Nixon could never be prosecution for any crimes he committed while he had been President of the United States. Ford justified this action by saying in his speech to the nation he was doing it in order to put an end to the "bad dream" of "bitter controversy and divisive national debate."

He also said that, "In this,(pardoning Nixon) I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a long-time friend of the former President, nor my professional judgment as a lawyer, and I do not.

That last part was a lie as he admitted to journalist Bob Woodward during an interview in 2005, "I looked upon him as my personal friend, and I always treasured our relationship," Ford said. "And I had no hesitancy about granting the pardon. I didn't want to see my real friend have the stigma.".

Gerald Ford was a nice guy. He was also a man who, when the chance of greatness was thrust upon him, threw it away when he put friendship ahead of the oath of office he took when he became President of the United States.