Gerald Ford's Indecent Interval

The day after former President Gerald Ford died, the Washington Post's Bob Woodward released an interview in which Ford said that the Iraq War was a "mistake." Conservative pundit Bill Bennett criticized Ford's comments, saying, "Just how decent, how courageous, is what Jerry Ford did with Bob Woodward? He slams Bush & Cheney to Woodward in 2004, but asks Woodward not to print the interview until he's dead. The effect of what Ford did is to protect himself, ensuring he can't be asked by others about his critiques, ensuring that there can be no dialogue."

Bennett is right. Releasing the interview posthumously deprived us of the opportunity to accuse the 93-year-old former President of being a traitor and of wanting America to lose. And so instead of having a "dialogue" with Ford about the War in Iraq, Bennett was forced to accuse Ford of being a coward and not being "decent," while Ford--conveniently--"doesn't have to defend himself," according to Bennett. By dying, Ford effectively cut and run from any discussion about why he hates America.

Once someone has died, it's a lot more difficult to attack them without people thinking you are being unseemly. While it was very courageous of Bennett to do so anyway, his words have opened him up to a torrent of criticism, the kind of criticism that Ford avoided by dying. Bennett realizes that it would have made him look a lot better if he had picked on a 93-year-old man while he was still alive instead of the day after he died, but Bennett cares more about this country than he does about what people think of him personally. It's too bad that Ford was not as brave as Bennett is.

Only someone as morally irreproachable as Bill Bennett could have made a convincing case that President Ford should be vilified. Even many of his political opponents say that Ford was a decent man who was honest and served with distinction and credit him with healing the country after Watergate. While many disagree with Ford's decision to pardon President Nixon, they usually concede that he did it with good intentions. Others salute him for having a good sense of humor, despite the fact that Chevy Chase's portrayal of him as a bumbling idiot was probably unfair. (What is Chevy Chase going to do now? Sadly, his career will probably go the way of Vaughan Meader's after Kennedy was assassinated.) Some point out that his support for détente with the Soviet Union and signing the Helsinki Accords lessened Cold War tensions. Many have saluted Ford's reputation for reaching out to people on the other side of the aisle and his support of an inclusive Republican Party.

But what some see as Ford's decency may actually have been evidence of moral laxity. Many people might be shocked to know that in 2002 he joined the Republican Unity Coalition, which supports making homosexuality a "nonissue." "I have always believed in an inclusive policy, in welcoming gays and others into the party," Ford said. "I think the party has to have an umbrella philosophy if it expects to win elections." Gerald Ford (whose real name, by the way, was Leslie) was not only on the wrong side on the War in Iraq, he was on the wrong side on the culture wars as well.

So while it is traditional not to speak ill of the dead, or at least to wait a decent interval, I think Bill Bennett is right that we should not let social niceties prevent us from pointing out what a terrible person President Ford actually was. We are at war and people must decide whether they believe in President Ford's kind of "decency" or Bill Bennett's. Which side are you on?

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Jon Swift, Gerald Ford, Bill Bennett, Bob Woodward, Bush, Cheney, Nixon, Watergate, Homosexuality, Gay, Iraq, Politics