GERALD FORD WAS A FULCRUM to my emerging political philosophies as a teen. My paternal grandparents were staunch Democrats of the "New Deal" era. My parents were Republicans as were my mother's clan. It was the compilation of the Viet-Nam War, Watergate and the accession of Gerald Ford to President that drove my parents to vote for Jimmy Carter, and therefore out of the rank and file of the Republican Party. I was pulling for Ford that year (being six months shy of the vote) and couldn't understand why my parents were abandoning the G.O.P. Then my Dad gave me a funny look and said " That man is not the elected President of the United States". Which pretty much summed it up I guess. I think that we all had grown to respect President Ford for his straight-forward-ness and decency.

President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon was nothing less than a self-less act of a true patriot. He put the best interests of the country ahead of his personal ambition. He will be missed.

His last recorded interview insured that his funeral wouldn't be a political ploy for the hacks in the White House. And as we look back upon this man's many selfless and far-sighted accomplishments, shouldn't we harken to his words?