I Always Knew I Liked Gerald Ford

I have always thought that some of the best presidents were the "accidental" ones, the ones that didn't come to the office on their own but found themselves in office due to the death of their predecessor. In Gerald Ford's case he came to office by a very circuitous route, having been appointed Vice President by Congress after the resignation of Spiro Agnew and becoming president following the resignation of Richard Nixon.

I just finished reading a book on Ford entitled Write it When I am Gone by  Thomas M. DeFrank, a reporter that covered Ford for Newsweek having been assigned to the new vice president when he took office.

The book is pretty much a love letter to one of the most decent men that ever held the office of President.

But what I really love are Ford's observation on Ronald Reagan. I wanted to share them because I finally feel sane for having long harbored the opinion that Reagan was one of the biggest phonies to ever become President. (Maybe one of the only ones.....I tend to believe that most of the Presidents are generally good men who may or may not have policies I agree with)

Ford says of Reagan, "It's not in his nature to help someone else." and "Totally off the record, he was not what I would call a technically competent president. You know, the knowledge of the budget, his knowledge of foreign policy - it was not up to the standards of either Democrat or Republican presidents. But he had a helluva flair. He could sell himself probably better than any president since FDR and maybe JFK. So I praise his assets. but I have reservations about his technical ability."

Wow! I love it when I am right!