Gerald Ford

Who would have thought that of the three men in this photo, it would be Gerald Ford who would be the last standing? President Ford died Tuesday at the age of 93, living longer than any U.S. president, a testament to physical fitness, because he was also the most accomplished athlete to ever hold the office.

For a country that revolted against monarchy, the United States still has a penumbra of royalty, and this shows bright on the occasion of a death of a president. There is much pomp and circumstance and protocol. Since they come along with great infrequency, it seems to allow the citizenry a rare chance to reflect on recent history. With Gerald Ford, despite his brief, transitional presidency, there is no exception.

Ford's life is uniquely American in its rise. A football player in college, then a lawyer, then a Congressman for 25 years, where he spent much of his time brokering compromise, Ford was tapped from obscurity by Richard Nixon upon the resignation of the sitting Vice-President, Spiro Agnew. Nixon's first choice was John Connally, the ex-governor of Texas, famous for riding in the car with JFK when he was assassinated. But Nixon, under a storm cloud of his own, needed someone easily confirmable by Congress, and Ford fit the bill, as he had no enemies, and no particular agenda. When Nixon resigned in disgrace less than a year later, Ford had made the unlikely journey to President of the United States, despite the fact that not one person had voted for him.

Ford was the right man for the job. He was no fire-breathing idealogue, and projected a sense of honesty and decency that appear to be genuine. He was more down to earth and folksy than his scowling, paranoid predecessor. When he pardoned Nixon a mere thirty days into his presidency, though, some of the luster came off of Ford. "The fix is in!" went the cry, though Ford forever denied there was a deal, stating that he believed pardoning Nixon was key to helping the nation heal from a constitutional crisis. That's all well and good, but to many Americans, the idea that Nixon would never be prosecuted for his crimes rankled, and likely lost Ford the election in 1976.

Ford resurfaced into the news again in 1980, when Ronald Reagan had the interesting idea of making Ford his vice-presidential running mate. It would have been unprecedented for a former President to come back to take the number two spot, and Ford reasonably wanted more power than the post usually has. The deal fell through, and thus Ford is indirectly responsible for the course of American history since then, since if he had taken the gig, there likely would have been no President George H.W. Bush, and for damn sure no President George W. Bush, who couldn't have been elected dog-catcher let alone governor or president, without a father who had warmed his chair.

The encomiums that have peppered the airwaves since Ford's passing have all centered on the man's decency and likability. He was an average leader, no great thinker or visionary, but certainly the right man at the time.