Forty years ago today (September 8, 1974), President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard M. Nixon for all offenses against the United States during Nixon’s presidency. Ford maintained that, despite Nixon’s culpability in the Watergate scandal, the pardon was necessary for the good of the nation, “The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.” Ford deemed it more important for the nation to move on from the Watergate Scandal than for Nixon to stand for trial. Also, Ford had doubts that Nixon would receive a fair trial. Regardless of his reasoning, Ford’s decision was unpopular at the time, and Ford paid a hefty political price with losing a re-election bid to Jimmy Carter. However, as time passed more and more people saw Ford’s actions as not only correct but courageous. Today, where even the original Watergate reporters – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward – opine that Ford’s action was the right thing to do, this signifies that history may vindicate President Ford and his unpopular decision, which became the final chapter in the Watergate scandal. youtube/watch?v=eM9dGr8ArR0
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 21:40:31 +0000
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