Ford is, first of all, a destiny such as only America can forge. A child abandoned by his father, raised by his mother and a stepfather who gave him his first and last name (he was born Leslie Lynch King in 1913). A Yale-educated lawyer and lieutenant on an aircraft carrier during the Pacific War. A deputy, for twenty-five years, from the constituency of Grand Rapids in Michigan and a vice-president called to replace Spiro Agnew (carried away by a case of tax fraud and corruption) with Richard Nixon, with whom he had an old friendship . And finally the Oval Office, which he had never coveted.
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The end of a long nightmare
Gerald Ford became president in the most difficult of circumstances – and the situation he faced bears similarities to that of today. The country was traumatized by Watergate and the unprecedented resignation of the head of the executive branch who was therefore indeed the “crook” that he claimed not to be. It was going through a major economic crisis, caused by the oil shock of 1973 and marked by galloping inflation. The Vietnam War and the Cold War continued to emerge. No doubt Ford was not exaggerating when he promised, the day after taking office, that “a long national nightmare was over.”
In a short time, the new President changed the situation. He revived the economy, reduced taxes and curbed inflation. He signed a nuclear disarmament treaty and the Helsinki Accords with Leonid Brezhnev. With Deng Xiaoping, he continued the Sino-American reconciliation initiated by Nixon. There was, of course, the dramatic fall of Saigon – the worst moment of his presidency, he admitted – but at least the Vietnam War was over. He was not re-elected probably because he shocked public opinion by pardoning Nixon. Not for himself, he explained, but to allow America to focus on its real problems, without being distracted by an endless trial.
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Truth and transparency
Above all, Gerald Ford restored Americans’ confidence in politics by reestablishing the values that had been violated: honesty, transparency, respect. He liked to talk about the principles of life instilled by his parents: “tell the truth, work hard and… be on time for meals”. Convictions shared by his wife, Betty, who was an exceptional First Lady. Engaged in her own battles, for equal rights between men and women, or for health, she who survived breast cancer. Determined to say what she also thought, even if it meant upsetting her own party. In a memorable August 1975 television interview, she, the wife of a Republican president, declared that “it was the best thing in the world” that the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion by adopting the decision “Roe v. Wade”. This same judgment that the Court formatted by Donald Trump repealed in June 2022.
Singular role reversal
Leaving the museum, we return to today’s world, where another Republican, fifty years later, brings a radically different response to similar problems, preferring lies to truth, division to unity. In recent weeks, Donald Trump has developed a speech that leaves you speechless. He who has multiplied sexist remarks as much, in all likelihood, as extramarital relations, prides himself on defending the family. He who continually insults his opponents, plans to mobilize the army against his “internal enemies”, and commits to massively deporting migrants, accuses Kamala Harris of leading a campaign based on hatred. He who encouraged the assault on the Capitol in January 2021, now sets himself up as a bulwark of democracy – and assures that it is his Democratic rival who constitutes a threat to it.
In an extraordinary reversal of roles, Donald Trump now attributes to Kamala Harris all the faults that she is accused of. He claims that she is “stupid” and has “very low IQ”that she keeps lying. He proclaims that she is “lazy” et “do nothing“. He repeats that she is corrupt. He goes so far as to argue that she is racist, after having doubted that she was black.
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The trash cans of history
Campaigning in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, the former President got into a garbage truck to respond ironically to Joe Biden who, the day before, had called his supporters“garbage”. “I could very well say who the real trash is, but won’t”he commented. Elon Musk, his damned soul, found the process “awesome”. However, it is not certain that the dumpster allegory works as Donald Trump would like. And it makes it so distant that time when the former speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill – a Democrat – could say: “God has been good to America, especially in difficult times. During the Civil War, he gave us Abraham Lincoln. And during Watergate, he gave us Gerald Ford.”
