Washington gathers to mourn departed Ford

[thedrifter]

Washington gathers to mourn departed Ford
Sam Knight and agencies

The grand old men of American politics, past and present, came together in Washington today to bid farewell to Gerald Ford, the 38th American President.

More than 3,000 people, including President George Bush and looming, former officials such as Henry Kissinger, gathered in the city's National Cathedral to pay tribute to the so-called "accidental" President who helped end the Vietnam War and restore the dignity of the White House after the fall of Richard Nixon.

Betty Ford, the former First Lady who won public recognition in her own right as the founder of a string of addiction clinics, looked on as her children read from the Bible and honoured their father, who died last Tuesday at the age of 93.

"In President Ford, the world saw the best of America and America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation’s history," said President Bush in his eulogy. "He brought grace to a moment of great doubt."

Mr Bush's father, George H W Bush, one of three living ex-presidents at the service, joined the theme of healing, saying that Ford had "rekindled our national faith", while Mr Kissinger, Ford's Secretary of State throughout his two-and-a-half-year presidency, observed: "Gerald Ford had the virtues of small town America."

On a national day of mourning, the first day of business in 2007, many banks and businesses in America remained closed. In Washington, light, quiet crowds lined the route from the Capitol, where Ford's body had been lying in state since Saturday, to the National Cathedral, where a bell tolled 38 times to signify his position as the 38th president. His term ran from 1974 to 1977.

Ford's remains were moved from the Great Rotunda at the Capitol shortly after nine o'clock this morning, local time. After reposing briefly outside the Senate chamber, his coffin was taken by a cortege to the cathedral, which hosted the funerals of Dwight Eisenhower in 1969 and Ronald Reagan in 2004.

The service began when Ford's coffin, draped in the stars and stripes and followed by a flag bearing the presidential seal, was carried into the cathedral by an honour guard of Marines.

Ahead of the casket shuffled a column of 20 officials, some serving, others retired, whose careers have stretched, like Ford's, over decades of American politics: Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was Ford's chief of staff, was in the group, along with Mr Kissinger, and Bob Dole, Ford's running mate in the failed election campaign of 1976.

Although the ceremony was coloured throughout with the spirit of bipartisan respect associated with Ford, there were reminders of Washington's present controversies.

James Baker, the former Secretary of State whose Iraq Study Group has provided the most comprehensive challenge to the Bush Administration's strategy in Iraq, attended the service, sitting near Donald Rumsfeld, the former Defence Secretary who was stripped of his job in December as the White House searched for a new direction in the war.

After the service, Ford's body will be flown to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a brief ceremony at the Ford Presidential Library and Museum, where he will be buried tomorrow after a private family funeral.

See pictures from President Ford's state funeral

www.timesonline.co.uk/TGD/slideshow/0,,1-2050,00.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 3, 2007
Ford Is Remembered as Bringing ‘Grace to a Moment of Great Doubt’
By SCOTT SHANE

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 — In a soaring tribute to a modest man, Gerald R. Ford was remembered on Tuesday as bringing the ordinary virtues of decency, integrity and humility to mend a broken government after the pain of war and scandal.

“Amid all the turmoil, Gerald Ford was a rock of stability,” President Bush told the gathering of generations of Washington’s powerful at Washington National Cathedral. “And when he put his hand on his family Bible to take the presidential oath of office, he brought grace to a moment of great doubt.”

The cathedral’s grand setting and the pomp of a state funeral provided a counterpoint for the unassuming character praised by the eulogists.

President Bush’s father called Mr. Ford “a Norman Rockwell painting come to life”; Tom Brokaw, the former television anchor, described “Citizen Ford” as a “champion of Main Street values”; and Henry A. Kissinger said the man he served as secretary of state “had the virtues of small-town America.”

When the cathedral’s limestone arches echoed, it was with the drums and brass of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” and the ushers directing the capacity crowd of 3,700 to their seats were uniformed Boy Scouts, a tribute to Mr. Ford’s youthful achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout. Among the hymns was “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” known as the Navy Hymn, a particular favorite of Mr. Ford, who served in the Pacific during World War II.

President Bush, overseeing a deeply unpopular war in Iraq and perhaps pondering his own legacy, lauded Mr. Ford’s “firm resolve” in sending the Marines to rescue the crew of the American merchant ship Mayagüez when it was seized by Cambodia. He suggested that some acts widely condemned during Mr. Ford’s administration in the 1970s had come to look wiser in historical perspective, including his pardon for his immediate predecessor, Richard M. Nixon.

In addition, Mr. Bush noted that Mr. Ford was criticized for signing the Helsinki Accords, the 1975 agreement that ratified borders in Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe while also setting new standards for human rights.

“History has shown that document helped bring down the Soviet Union as courageous men and women behind the Iron Curtain used it to demand their God-given liberties,” Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Ford’s coffin arrived at the cathedral by motorcade from the Capitol, a final journey through the city where he served as 13-term congressman, vice president and finally president, the only person to hold the nation’s top two offices without being elected to either.

After the 90-minute Episcopal funeral service, Mr. Ford’s body was flown from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington to his hometown, Grand Rapids, Mich., for a burial service on Wednesday in a plot beside the museum that bears his name.

In Washington, the Gothic cathedral where Mr. Ford helped dedicate the nave in 1976, became for the morning a crossroads of the capital’s past and present, with Supreme Court justices and members of Congress in the south transept facing scores of foreign ambassadors and former foreign leaders in the north transept.

Across an aisle from the diplomats sat Mr. Ford’s honorary pallbearers, including in the front row Mr. Kissinger; Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as defense secretary to both Mr. Ford and the current President Bush; Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chief who was Mr. Ford’s top economic adviser; James A. Baker III, who ran Mr. Ford’s unsuccessful 1976 campaign for president; and Brent Scowcroft, Mr. Ford’s national security adviser.

Facing the altar, where Mr. Ford’s coffin, draped by a flag, sat, were Mr. Ford’s widow, Betty, who was escorted in and out of the cathedral by President Bush, and the Ford children, Steve, Jack, Mike and Susan.

Across the nave from the Ford family sat President Bush and Laura Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney, who served Mr. Ford as chief of staff, with his wife, Lynne; several current cabinet members and three former presidents — the elder Mr. Bush with his wife, Barbara; Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn; and Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea. With them was Nancy Reagan, the former first lady.

Like much of the outpouring of affection for Mr. Ford since he died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Dec. 26 at the age of 93, the service focused on what President Bush called the “calm and healing” the former president brought to “one of the most divisive moments in our nation’s history.” Mr. Ford, the House minority leader, succeeded first Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and then President Nixon after both men were forced from office by scandal.

“Gerald Ford brought to the political arena no demons, no hidden agenda, no hit list or acts of vengeance,” said Mr. Brokaw, who explained that Mr. Ford had asked him to address the funeral as a representative of the press corps. “He knew who he was, and he didn’t require consultants or gurus to change him.”

Mr. Kissinger in particular emphasized the substantive achievements of Mr. Ford in foreign policy, saying the “deserved commentary” on Mr. Ford’s character “has sometimes obscured how sweeping and lasting were his achievements.” In remarks perhaps intended to reflect on his own record as well as Mr. Ford’s, he credited the former president with keeping ethnic conflicts in Cyprus and Lebanon from spiraling out of control, producing the first peace agreement between Israel and Egypt and presiding over “the final agony of Indochina with dignity and wisdom.”

Historians, Mr. Kissinger added, will find “that the cold war could not have been won had not Gerald Ford emerged at a tragic period to restore equilibrium to America and confidence in its international role.”

A few hours after the service, the plane carrying Mr. Ford’s body circled over the University of Michigan football stadium, where he had been a standout center and linebacker, then landed at the airport named for him in Grand Rapids. The university’s marching band, which arrived on a red-eye flight from California after the Rose Bowl game on Monday, solemnly played its fight song, “The Victors.”

About 200 friends and local dignitaries invited by Mr. Ford’s family attended the brief ceremony before the 13-mile motorcade to his presidential museum in downtown Grand Rapids, passing thousands of residents who lined the streets, some holding signs that said “Welcome home.” Billboards around the city declared “Gerald ‘Our’ Ford: 1913-2006.”

Despite a fierce, bitter wind blowing off the Grand River, Tim Micho waited with his video camera and 7-year-old daughter, Tessa, for two and a half hours to watch the motorcade pass by.

“She’ll probably never get to see something like this again,” Mr. Micho, 43, said. “It’s so moving to see this many people out here to support him.”

A single bagpiper played “Amazing Grace” as Betty Ford and the rest of the family made their way slowly behind the coffin into the museum, a geometric, glassy structure along the water. Inside, they held a brief service for family and honored guests, including former President Carter.

Like many along the streets in Grand Rapids, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm spoke of Mr. Ford’s deep roots in the region.

Here, Ms. Granholm said, Mr. Ford had learned from his family “some good Midwestern values like hard work and sportsmanship and integrity and honesty.” Here, he had played high school football (with a few men, now frail, in attendance on Tuesday), had married and had been elected to Congress.

“Welcome home,” Ms. Granholm said, “to the people that you reflected so well when you were in Washington.”

Monica Davey and Nick Bunkley contributed reporting from Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 2, 2007
Transcript
President Bush’s Eulogy for Gerald R. Ford

Following is the transcript of the eulogy for former President Gerald R. Ford delivered today by President Bush in Washington, as recorded by The New York Times.

Mrs. Ford, Ford family, distinguished guests, including our presidents and first ladies, and our fellow citizens.

We are here today to say goodbye to a great man. Gerald Ford was born and reared in the American heartland. He belonged to a generation that measured men by their honesty and their courage. He grew to manhood under the roof of a loving mother and father. And when times were tough he took part-time jobs to help them out.

In President Ford, the world saw the best of America. And America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation’s history.

Long before he was known in Washington, Gerald Ford showed his character and his leadership. As a star football player for the University of Michigan, he came face to face with racial prejudice. When Georgia Tech came to Ann Arbor for a football game, one of Michigan’s best players was an African-American student named Willis Ward. Georgia Tech said they would not take the field if a black man were allowed to play. Gerald Ford was furious at Georgia Tech for making the demand and at the University of Michigan for caving in. He agreed to play only after Willis Ward personally asked him to. The stand Gerald Ford took that day was never forgotten by his friend.

And Gerald Ford never forgot that day either. And three decades later he proudly supported the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the United States Congress.

Gerald Ford showed his character in the devotion to his family. On the day he became president, he told the nation, “I am indebted to no man and only one woman, my dear wife.”

By then Betty Ford had a pretty good idea of what marriage to Gerald Ford involved. After all, their wedding had taken place less than three weeks before his first election to the United States Congress. And his idea of a honeymoon was driving to Ann Arbor with his bride so they could attend a brunch before the Michigan-Northwestern game the next day. And that was the beginning of a great marriage.

The Fords would have four fine children. And Steve, Jack, Mike and Susan know that as proud as their dad was of being president, Gerald Ford was even prouder of the other titles he held — father, and grandfather and great-grandfather.

Gerald Ford showed his character in the uniform of our country. When Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, Gerald Ford was an attorney fresh out of Yale Law School. But when his nation called, he did not hesitate. In early 1942, he volunteered for the Navy, and after getting his commission worked hard to get assigned to a ship headed into combat. Eventually, his wish was granted, and Lieutenant Ford was assigned to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Monterey, which saw action in some of the biggest battles of the Pacific.

Gerald Ford showed his character in public office. As a young congressman he earned a reputation for an ability to get along with others without compromising his principles. He was greatly admired by his colleagues, and they trusted him a lot. And so when President Nixon needed to replace a vice president who had resigned in scandal, he naturally turned to a man whose name was a synonym for integrity: Gerald R. Ford.

And eight months later when he was elevated to the presidency, it was because America needed him, not because he needed the office. President Ford assumed office at a terrible time in our nation’s history. At home, America was divided by political turmoil and racked by inflation. In Southeast Asia, Saigon fell just nine months into his presidency. Amid all the turmoil, Gerald Ford was a rock of stability.

And when he put his hand on his family Bible to take a presidential oath of office, he brought grace to a moment of great doubt. In a short time the gentleman from Grand Rapids proved that behind the affability was firm resolve.

When a U.S. ship called the Mayagüez was seized by Cambodia, President Ford made the tough decision to send in the Marines and all the crew members were rescued.

He was criticized for signing the Helsinki accords, yet history has shown that document helped bring down the Soviet Union as courageous men and women used it to demand their God-given liberties.

Twice assassins attempted to take the life of this good and decent man. Yet he refused to curtail his public appearances.

And when he thought that the nation needed to put Watergate behind us, he made the tough and decent decision to pardon President Nixon, even though that decision probably cost him the presidential election.

Gerald Ford assumed the presidency when the nation needed a leader of character and humility. And we found it in the man from Grand Rapids.

President Ford’s time in office was brief, but history will long remember the courage and common sense that helped restore trust in the workings of our democracy.

Laura and I had the honor of hosting the Ford family for Gerald Ford’s 90th birthday. It’s one of the highlights of our time in the White House.

I will always cherish the memory of the last time I saw him this past year in California. He was still smiling, still counting himself lucky to have Betty at his side and still displaying the optimism and generosity that made him one of America’s most beloved leaders.

And so on behalf of a grateful nation, we bid farewell to our 38th president. We thank the Almighty for Gerald Ford’s life and we ask for God’s blessings on Gerald Ford and his family.

Ellie