93. Yes, Brokaw, he really did.

shit. i wonder if i have the day off work tomorrow. we got a day off when reagan died.

Gerald Ford and James Brown.

There's a pair.

No shit. How does this trifecta finish?
Queen Elizabeth?
Muhammed Ali?
Jack Nicholson?

Anyone of a lesser caliber doesn't even register right now.

Fidel Castro

Gerald and I shared a birthday.

Other than being a stumblebum, can Gerald Ford claim to have actually done something as president? I mean besides pardoning Dick Nixon.



The presidential library they build for this guy will be about as big as a gift shop they have for Herve Villachez.

He used the veto 60 times, and his administration brought us such monsters as Brent Scowcroft, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and Jim Baker.

I actually watched a PBS special a couple years ago on the Ford Administration and was surprised by some of the things that they accomplished.

The bottom line though is that dude was never elected, but the country really did need Gerald Ford to get past Watergate.

Jesus, Bush's statement was a travesty. He seemed annoyed that he had been interrupted from watching cartoons in his underwear.

Looked like he just crawled outta bed. Amazing that his handlers didn't at least comb his hair. I'm thinking he's back on the sauce.

It would be nice if one day Ford was given a pass on his short time in the White House. He was caught in a pretty fucked up position: Nixon's resignation, Vietnam, economy in the shitter, etc.

He built his resume in 20+ years in the House of Representatives, including part of that time as Minority Leader. Keep in mind that unlike today, the House would turn over about 10% every two years, compared to about 2-3% now.

The only President I had actually met in person.

I think that he'll last too long to be the third in the trio. I did find BIG DICK MICK'S suggestion of Muhammad Ali intriguing, though. But, throw Richard Pryor & Annette Funicello in there, too. They've lived quite awhile with Parkinson's... They can't live forever, that said.

I think anybody who knows anything about anything does give him that respect as evidended by the glowing terms that people like Andrea Mitchell and Chris Mathews who covered Washington at that time are speaking of him now on MSNBC.

This is the kind of day where I could sit in front of the TV as long as they let this go on.

I thought this was an interesting read: The Washington Post reprinted its fron page article from the day Nixon resigned and Ford took office:

Here

At least one of them didn't.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/10/pryor.obit/index.html

Richard Pryor died a year ago.
And he and Annette both have/had Multiple Sclerosis, not Parkinson's disease. Sorry to nitpick on such a strange topic, but I do know what I'm talking about here.

Aargh. Caught me.

Pryor lasted so long that I forget he'd finally kicked it.

NITE OF THE UNDEAD BASEHEADS.

I should have known this, but Ford was also the last living member of the Warren Commission.

That means another round of Kennedy Konspiracy Bukkake, huh?

FUCK.

Like Carter after him, Ford was underappreciated and has been generally given short shrift by the American public. He wasn't an all-time great President, or anything, but like Bloor said earlier, he was the perfect fit post-Watergate/'Nam/Tricky Dick.

Old-school Republican who I could respect, even in disagreement.
Seemed like a decent sort.

Also a helluva athlete, which you never think about because of the couple of unintentional public pratfalls he took.

Played college football and was an avid golfer for as long as his body would allow it.

Self-quote, but to correct: Arlen Specter lives, so there is still a living-tie to the Single Bullet Theory.

AWESOME.

I love these photos of him especially in contrast of photos of our more recent presidents in their youth.
[img][393:500]http://www.ford.utexas.edu/avproj/hseries/h35-2b.gif[/img]

Love that pic. So intense.