The man who is often called "the accidental president" was eulogized today by official Washington. Gerald R. Ford, who died a week ago at the age of 93, was appointed Vice President when Spiro Agnew stepped down in the midst of a scandal. Ford became President when Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment. After two and a half years, he was defeated by Jimmy Carter in 1976. How did a "creature of Congress" handle executive power in a time of crisis? What are the legacies of Ford himself and the White House staff that included Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney?
The Political Legacy of Gerald Ford
Credits
Guests:
- Thomas DeFrank - Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News
- David Gergen - Former aide to President Bill Clinton
- Kenneth Adelman - Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Ford Administration
- Allan Lichtman - American University; author of “The Embattled Vote in America: From the Founding to the Present" - @AllanLichtman
- John Mueller - Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University