He may be one of the more forgotten Presidents in recent memory, but Ford was an incredibly important thread in our nation’s fabric. See, his tenure showed us just how strong our Constitution is and why our democracy works. That fact alone should solidify his place in our history books not as an accidental presidency, but as a vital one.

Some background…

A Michigan Republican elected to Congress 13 times before becoming the first appointed vice president in 1973 after Spiro Agnew left amid scandal, Ford was Nixon’s hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straightforward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

He took office moments after Nixon resigned in disgrace over Watergate.

“My fellow Americans,” Ford said, “our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”

And, true to his reputation as unassuming Jerry, he added: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.” [...]

Even to millions of Americans who had voted two years earlier for Nixon, the transition to Ford’s leadership was one of the most welcomed in the history of the democratic process - despite the fact that it occurred without an election.

He was also the President to see Vietnam end…

The Vietnam War ended in defeat for the U.S. during his presidency with the fall of Saigon in April 1975. In a speech as the end neared, Ford said: “Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished as far as America is concerned.” Evoking Abraham Lincoln, he said it was time to “look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”

And concerning that pardon…

Some suggested the pardon was prearranged before Nixon resigned, but Ford, in an unusual appearance before a congressional committee in October 1974, said, “There was no deal, period, under no circumstances.” The committee dropped its investigation.

Ford’s standing in the polls dropped dramatically when he pardoned Nixon. But an ABC News poll taken in 2002 in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in found that six in 10 said the pardon was the right thing to do.

The late Democrat Clark Clifford spoke for many when he wrote in his memoirs, “The nation would not have benefited from having a former chief executive in the dock for years after his departure from office. His disgrace was enough.”

And here are some of his more famous (and infamous) quotes…

“I don’t know what the future may hold for me � or for any of us. But I want you to know that I am a man who likes having critics who are not enemies.�
� Talking to reporters not long before he became president, 1974.

“I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln’s. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.�
� After being sworn in as vice president, December 1973.

“I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station. The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.�
� Announcing he was pardoning former President Richard M. Nixon, September 1974.

“I have been called an unelected president, an accidental president. We may even hear that again from the other party, despite the fact that I was welcomed and endorsed by an overwhelming majority of their elected representatives in the Congress who certified my fitness to our highest office. Having become vice president and president without expecting or seeking either, I have a special feeling toward these high offices. To me, the presidency and the vice-presidency were not prizes to be won, but a duty to be done.�
� Accepting the 1976 GOP presidential nomination.

“There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be any under a Ford administration.�
� Gaffe during October 1976 debate with Jimmy Carter.

“We must now put the divisions of the campaign behind us and unite the country once again. I congratulate you on your victory. You have my complete and wholehearted support. May God bless you and your family.�
� Telegram to Mr. Carter after 1976 election.

“The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms. Guard and cherish it, keep honor and order in your own house, and the republic will endure.�
� Last State of the Union address, January 1977

Mr. Ford you will be missed.