As I pen this first entry for the New Year, it is a somber occasion. This morning as I compiled all of the stories for the main page, I had the television turned on to watch the ceremonies surrounding the funeral of former President Gerald Ford, from the processional that took his body from where it lay in state underneath the Capitol Rotunda (where is was viewed by tens of thousands of Americans paying tribute) to the National Cathedral. As I write this, President Bush is escorting Ford’s widow, Betty, to her seat between her four children, in the front pew.
Over the past few days, much has been written about the life of Gerald Ford. About the years before his Presidency, where the college athlete and veteran became a Congressman from Michigan, ultimately rising to the post of Minority Leader, as the top Republican in the House of Representatives. Also about his time as President, coming in on the heels of President Nixon’s resignation, his controversial pardon of Nixon, and the healing he brought to the nation. And finally about his decades of life as a former American President, seldom weighing in on political issues. Brit Hume, on the Fox News Channel described Ford as the President who "seemed most at ease and comfortable in his post Presidency years."
I am sure that I speak for all of our FR contributors when I say that we salute the service of this President who was also a husband, a father, a grandfather, a veteran, a Congressman, and an important citizen of our nation. Rest in peace, Mr. President.
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