Richard Norton Smith: Says it's time to give Gerald Ford a second look
Perhaps the worst that could be said of Gerald Ford is he was the last act of the Nixon Administration, an accidental president who pardoned his predecessor and accomplished little else.
Eighteen months after Ford's death is not too soon to begin examining him as a more-complex historical figure, said Richard Norton Smith, a message he will deliver Sunday evening at the presidential museum he once led.
"We're in the very early stages of forming historical impressions about Ford and the Ford presidency," Smith said. "It's the perfect time to ask questions about alternative ways of thinking about this president. The danger is the Ford presidency may be defined by his first month. It was not a coda to the Nixon White House, but a curtain raiser to subsequent events."
t was more than a time of "healing the nation" -- another overly simplistic epitaph -- but a period of rapid change in domestic affairs and foreign policy that still is defining much of the nation's course.
Smith, a nationally noted historian and presidential biographer, will deliver this year's William E. Simon Lecture 8 p.m. Sunday at the Ford Museum.
His title -- "What Would Jerry Do?" -- is intended to start the debate over Ford's historical significance and dispel some of the myths about his 29 months in the White House.
"I want to call into question some of the assumptions about Gerald Ford," said Smith, scholar in resident at George Mason University. "It's about time we see him as a historical figure who somehow transcends a particular period. This is not a guy who should be walled off with Pet Rocks and leisure suits."
While Ford is recalled for his civility, integrity and willingness to compromise, those traits are seen in some quarters as naive Midwest affectations that cannot survive the no-holds-barred partisanship of Washington.
But as politics and public perceptions change, "he's relevant to the current campaign," Smith said, "and he's relevant to the question of what kind of president do you want?
"Jerry Ford was an Eagle Scout. In some ways, that's all you need to know."
But he also was a shrewd political operative who knew how to get things done and could be calculating and manipulative when necessary.
"Gerald Ford deserves to be seen as more than the man who pardoned Richard Nixon, more than the man who healed the country," Smith said.
"Nothing would do Gerald Ford a greater disservice than to make him into something he wasn't or rob him of his humanity. He deserves more than that."...
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Eighteen months after Ford's death is not too soon to begin examining him as a more-complex historical figure, said Richard Norton Smith, a message he will deliver Sunday evening at the presidential museum he once led.
"We're in the very early stages of forming historical impressions about Ford and the Ford presidency," Smith said. "It's the perfect time to ask questions about alternative ways of thinking about this president. The danger is the Ford presidency may be defined by his first month. It was not a coda to the Nixon White House, but a curtain raiser to subsequent events."
t was more than a time of "healing the nation" -- another overly simplistic epitaph -- but a period of rapid change in domestic affairs and foreign policy that still is defining much of the nation's course.
Smith, a nationally noted historian and presidential biographer, will deliver this year's William E. Simon Lecture 8 p.m. Sunday at the Ford Museum.
His title -- "What Would Jerry Do?" -- is intended to start the debate over Ford's historical significance and dispel some of the myths about his 29 months in the White House.
"I want to call into question some of the assumptions about Gerald Ford," said Smith, scholar in resident at George Mason University. "It's about time we see him as a historical figure who somehow transcends a particular period. This is not a guy who should be walled off with Pet Rocks and leisure suits."
While Ford is recalled for his civility, integrity and willingness to compromise, those traits are seen in some quarters as naive Midwest affectations that cannot survive the no-holds-barred partisanship of Washington.
But as politics and public perceptions change, "he's relevant to the current campaign," Smith said, "and he's relevant to the question of what kind of president do you want?
"Jerry Ford was an Eagle Scout. In some ways, that's all you need to know."
But he also was a shrewd political operative who knew how to get things done and could be calculating and manipulative when necessary.
"Gerald Ford deserves to be seen as more than the man who pardoned Richard Nixon, more than the man who healed the country," Smith said.
"Nothing would do Gerald Ford a greater disservice than to make him into something he wasn't or rob him of his humanity. He deserves more than that."...