Letters to the Editor

This letter is associated with the following article:
Read other letters about this article
The man who ended our Nixon nightmare
Although ultimately an ineffective leader, Gerald Ford was the right person for the presidency in the wake of the Watergate crisis.
By Walter Shapiro [2006-12-28]

  • The Nightmare Continues

    So much to comment on in such a short article! If there is a nightmare that Jerry Ford ended it was the War in Vietnam. No, Ford can't take any credit for ending it, but he was indeed president when it happened. It is interesting that now, thirty years later it can be referred to as a defeat for the US. It was rather a victory for the people of this country who forced our leaders to reluctantly withdraw from a shameful situation.

    But aside from that, about the big "what if" about the Nixon pardon, my comment is that had things been done differently, I can't imagine it turning out worse than it did. It dealt a death blow to moderate Republicans and percipitated the rise of the religious right out of an unresolved collective guilt. And as the Republicans had been tarnished by Watergate it gave rise to the "centerist" wing of the Democrats (the DCL) who could now talk just like republicans but be free from association with Nixon. And now in 2006 our foreign policy is driven by messianic ideas and our domestic policy has turned back the New Deal in a way Nixon never dreamed.

    -- larrfirr
    [Read larrfirr's other letters]
    Friday, December 29, 2006 05:44 PM
Read other letters about this article

Letters Help