A Witness to History

[silverdee]

I was three days shy of my ninth birthday when Richard Nixon resigned on 08/08/74. We were on vacation in Destin, FL and my dad rushed us in from the beach to watch the resignation speech on television. He wanted to make sure we all witnessed the historic moment

Comments

[miz_landry]

Thanks for posting this. I agree with you. I am confused at how pardoning Nixon healed the country. Why can't we say that Jimmy Carter healed the country by being a moral president who eventually was ridiculed for being "too nice." Ugh.

Funny about you being in Florida. I was also nine and in St. Augustine on the tail end of our trip to Disneyworld. I was going to see the ocean for the first time in St. Augustine (as opposed to the gulf) and was quite disappointed when we didn't spend much time out there so we could go back to the hotel to watch the resignation. I remember watching a lot of that at the time too, but wasn't too into it. I was all about Gilligan's Island reruns and the Big Movie at 3pm on Channel 8 (or was it 6, can't remember).

I do remember my dad voting for Carter and my mom voting for Ford. My mom has issues with Carter's "2,000 teeth." My mom, the ultimate swing voter.

[silverdee]

The only other place I heard this term was on NPR and I look upon this benign analysis of Ford's actions as "revisionist history". I remember very well how angry people were after the pardon. And now it's viewed with warmth and admiration.

[dabroots]

I'm glad to see Amy Goodman being carried by a major newspaper. Good column, too.

[silverdee]

I was glad to see a major paper presenting this sentiment because I haven't seen or heard much but glowing praise for Ford this week. Although, I did just find an Aussie article about Ford's role in the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. I'd forgotten about that.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/east-timor-a-dark-stain-on-fords-legacy/2007/01/05/1167777279111.html

[weelisa]

I avoided all coverage of Ford's funeral as soon as I read a headline along the lines of "He may have been the bravest of all presidents." I nearly puked when I read that - he was a complete cipher, a puppet who did exactly as he was ordered to do and nothing more. I can't believe the way people re-write history. Asshats.

[silverdee]

I couldn't watch much of the coverage either. It was galling to me to hear endlessly of his nobility and steadiness during our nation's dark time.