Michael Beschloss makes a really important point

[Bleacher Creature]

Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

1. Nixon not having been duly punished, prison term, is precisely why magas feel so emboldened

The only way to stop bullies is by meeting their affronts with extraordinary force, physical or legal, as the case may be.

[PatSeg]

67. Or basically do to them

what they would do to lawbreakers. Nixon was quite a "Law and Order" politician and he wouldn't be nearly so lenient.

That said, he at least should have been tried and judged in a court of law. Even if he didn't go to prison if found guilty, history would forever know him as a criminal, a felon. That pardon was too easy and his crimes deserved far more attention. Meanwhile, I don't think the man ever thought he did anything wrong. Pompous and arrogant to the end.

[wryter2000]

2. Hindsight

It's true, of course, but a lot easier to see now.

[TheRickles]

27. People were predicting this back then, too, so it's not at all hindsight.

[wryter2000]

51. I followed Watergate closely, even watched all the hearings

When Ford pardoned Nixon, I just felt relief that it was over. I'm sure there were people who saw the error, but most of us felt that the punishment of having to resign in disgrace would be a deterrent for the future.

It might have worked if the Republican party hadn't become so corrupted. The Republican party of the early 1970's would have convicted Trump and thrown him out on his ass.

I know it was an mistake, but it would have been very difficult to predict Trump and the current Republican party.

[Cadfael]

53. My mom sent a telegram to Ford

It read : “Add another name to the cover-up list”

My mom and dad (and I) watched every hearing that we could. She was really pissed by that pardon.

[Dave says]

60. I was too young, but ...

… my parents felt the same way. They were pissed.

[moondust]

3. And it didn't take long.

The presidency of Ronald Reagan in the United States was marked by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials, the largest number for any president in American history.
~
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals

[Upthevibe]

23. moondust.......

And, of course, the right worship Reagan....He did so much harm...

[calimary]

46. No kidding. And worshipped all the while by the far wrong.

[cilla4progress]

4. Ford's pardon of Nixon was

my first demonstration. I was a college student in Vermont at the time!

[KPN]

17. Well that's pretty cool! In the great state of Vermont, eh? I was a college student

a bit south of you in western MA at the same time -- but still working my summer job around then.

[Fullduplexxx]

5. That's when I 1st learned of presidential pardons

[OMGWTF]

6. Eisenhower was the last honest Republican president.

Nixon, Reagan, GHW Bush, Cheney the Dick and GeeDumbya, and now Traitor Tot -- should all have been sent to prison.

[Captain Zero]

15. You know, I find myself saying this far too often

Eisenhower really stood up to generals who wanted to nuke everything in the 50s. Whenever they suggested it, I read that Ike's reply always was, "THEN, WHAT?"

[electric_blue68]

18. Oh, I didn't know That! Phew! I do know his "beware the Military Industrial complex" quote late...

on. (I was 7 in 1960)

A decent President.


And what a great, chilling retort!

[calimary]

47. In hindsight, that was the last time we had a Republican president

we could actually respect, if not agree with.

Eisenhower. What was it? Some seven DECADES ago?

[electric_blue68]

49. Definitely respect. Maybe agree with some things? Must look up his record. It's been about 62 yrs!

[central scrutinizer]

58. Read the 1956 Republican platform

Pro-union, reasonable and a stark contrast to now. They have no platform except investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop

[MacKasey]

16. I agree

[Upthevibe]

25. OMGWTF...........

I completely agree...

[Hekate]

7. That's exactly what I have always thought

[MurrayDelph]

10. Me, too

It's why I thought Obama's "looking forward, not backward" reaction to Guantanamo torture was weak tea. We might not have a DeSantis at this point if he'd followed up.

[Sky Jewels]

21. Yeah, I get that Obama was afraid to rock the boat much, being the first black president,

but it was frustrating to see him capitulate too much on too many issues.

[not fooled]

39. ++++++++++++++++++

[stopdiggin]

8. I think that is kind of a facile and shallow read

The pardon may have been ill considered (from a rule of law point of view) over the long run. But - the power of the presidency (and the expansion of that envelope) can hardly be attributed wholly, or even primarily, to that one (purported) misstep.

The fear of later indictment ... Not that big a factor.

[onenote]

44. +1

[Raven123]

56. Well said. A lot has happened in 50 years

Also, President Ford never imagined the current state of American politics

[DENVERPOPS]

61. Ford and countless others after him

didn't just "imagine" it, they were each instrumental in making a small piece of the current state of politics happen.............

[stopdiggin]

70. Hmm. Perhaps in the same sense

that each of of us is 'instrumental' (in a small way) for the creation of global warming. But that sort of glosses over the impact of some of the major players. Fossil fuels, chemical industry, deforestation might be slightly bigger actors? I don't think I'll ever be able to put Gerald Ford, or Bob Dole - on the same level or playing field with Newt Gingrich, Limbaugh, Cheney, Murdock, FOX, or more recently, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Taylor-Greene, or Trump.

And, yes - I do think that Dole and Ford would find the current state of the GOP (and the actions and positions taken post election) - almost beyond belief. Not the same animal at all.

[DENVERPOPS]

71. The list is endless..........NC

[Cosmocat]

69. Correct

This line of thinking MASSIVELY underestimates the moral and ethical corruption of the republican party.

[erronis]

9. Be really nice to have a synopsis of the content for us musk-averse DUers.

[Shipwack]

34. Here ya go...

"Had President Ford not granted Nixon an almost immediate "full, free and absolute" pardon in 1974, later Presidents might not have felt so licensed to break the law." -Michael Beschloss

[erronis]

37. Excellent. Thank you. I could/should research this myself - just want to encourage OP to add context

[True Blue American]

62. Ford announced

“This is the end of a long national nightmare!” When in truth it was the beginning! Now we have a bought Congress, corrupt Supreme Court and Judges!

[Ligyron]

63. By gawd you're right!

[Rebl2]

11. So very

True!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. And at least some of us knew that

on the day of the pardon.

[electric_blue68]

50. I was a bit out of college. I was angry that he was pardoned but wasn't learned enough to consider..

later ramifications!

[momta]

13. My husband makes that point all the time. n/t

[Callalily]

14. That may hold some truth,

but with a personality as Trump has, who totally thinks he's above the law, I don't think in his case it would matter.

[KPN]

20. Yeah, in his case especially. Nevertheless, it was and is emblematic of the failures of

our society's justice system relative to white collar crime generally, and it seems they have only gotten worse with time. There is no question that weak response to corrupt, immoral and even illegal acts only encourages more of the same by those who feel entitled to act in those manners.

[Kennah]

19. Very true, but in 1974, the idea of President Donald Trump was anathema

[Upthevibe]

22. Bleacher Creature..........

Thanks for posting.....

I love Michael Beschloss....

[Cheezoholic]

24. Dick "Shotgun" Cheney did more to expand the power

and protect the office of the executive than anybody in the 20th/21st century.

[soldierant]

45. The problem with "protecting the office"

is that in theory it is to protect the state. But when actually applied, it does just the opposite. By protecting a criminal office holder, it destroys the integrity of the office it is supposed to protect. One might call that a paradox.

[FakeNoose]

26. If Ford hadn't agreed to the pardon, then Nixon wouldn't have resigned

We would have had 2.5 awful years of trying to get Nixon to leave the White House by any means possible.

[dhol82]

28. Wasn't he the who pushed the idea of a unitary president?

That would certainly help democracy.

[FakeNoose]

31. I don't remember that, but it may be true

However I DO remember why Nixon selected Gerald Ford as his VP after the criminal Spiro Agnew resigned. Nixon's motive was to nominate someone that Congress would approve quickly without much fuss. Nixon also saw Ford as someone who was unlikely to be seen as his replacement, if indeed Nixon were to be impeached. He wanted Ford simply because everyone thought he was "unpresidential," and not very ambitious.

[True Blue American]

64. Ford really thought he was saving us from that

But instead set up what we see today.

[UpInArms]

29. Been saying that since he did it

Ford was a stupid weak monster

[evolves]

30. This is 100% true.

We have reaped the bitter harvest of that mistake for 50 years and counting.

[irisblue]

32. 2019 article by Professors Kevin Kruse & Julian Zelizer on this.

The article was published during the first impeachment of the apricothellbeast, so it speaks to that point.

source-https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/04/democrats-impeach-trump-accountability-watergate-gerald-ford-richard-nixon-column/2762361002/

title-Watergate's lesson? If Democrats want to heal America, Trump must be held accountable

snip-"Accountability is essential to the long-term health of our democracy, more important than even healing the nation’s partisan divisions."

snip-"The United States learned this lesson 45 years ago. In August 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned from office in disgrace as soon as it became clear that the House would vote to impeach him for obstructing justice in the Watergate scandal and, moreover, that the Senate would likely vote to remove him from office. In a flash, Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency."

snip-" On Sept. 8, 1974, Ford announced to the nation on television that he was issuing a “free, full and absolute pardon” to Nixon for any crimes he might have committed as president. Further legal investigations and prosecutions would paralyze the nation, Ford warned, as “ugly passions would again be roused, our people would again be polarized in their opinions, and the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.”


snip-"The nation has continued to pay for its failure to hold Nixon accountable. The divisions that Ford had hoped to paper over with his pardon have only continued to widen. Moreover, the general trend — toward a vague sense of “healing” instead of holding specific wrongdoers accountable — has only continued to erode the public’s faith in government over the ensuing decades. High-level officials in the Reagan administration clearly subverted the law in the Iran-Contra scandal but escaped any real punishment thanks to pardons from President George H.W. Bush. War crimes committed during the George W. Bush administration, meanwhile, were swept under the rug when the Obama White House refused to insist on accountability there."

more there, worth the time to read IMO

[temporary311]

33. Not punishing Nixon,

or the Business Plot conspirators, or the Confederate traitors, all contributed to that. Hopefully Trump and the other Jan. 6th plotters don't get added to the list of right wing evil that our country gives a pass to.

[Poiuyt]

35. In this case, I disagree

Donald Trump is a sociopath. He doesn't know right from wrong like a normal human.

[JI7]

36. This wouldn't apply to Trump

[Ferrets are Cool]

38. Let me fix that for you Michael.....later REPUBLICANS

might not have felt so licensed to break the law. There haven't been any Democrats to take this license.

[True Blue American]

65. Great point!

[LittleGirl]

40. I was 14 I think

And I was furious about Ford pardoning Nixon.
He was a crook!

And then came the biggest crook in the world! 45

[Historic NY]

41. Absolutely

[relayerbob]

42. A lot of us felt that way then, too

[jaxexpat]

43. Well, no shit.

[chowmama]

48. Exactly!

I have always blamed Ford for all of this. And if Trump gets off, the next one will go all the way and we can kiss democracy goodbye.

Ford said in later life that the pardon was not only 'to spare the country', but also for 'friendship's sake'. He only found as time went on that Nixon didn't have any friends, including Ford. Nixon was incapable of friendship.

So it really was all for nothing.

[NNadir]

52. We had a nice lunch with an old friend of ours, an attorney, and I made exactly that point. n/t.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

54. The Ford Pardon helped elect Jimmy Carter

Ford was stupid to issue this pardon and paid the price

[rurallib]

55. said that the night Ford pardoned him and

have been saying ever since that the lesson Repugs learned was not that doing illegal stuff was bad, no - the lesson they learned was that you can get away with it.

[BigmanPigman]

57. Enough people were pissed off at Ford that he wasn't elected.

That was a different time....before The Christian Right, before Fux Ruse and before social media influences.

[tclambert]

59. In my elementary school, teachers taught that in America "no one is above the law."

They stopped teaching that after Ford pardoned Nixon. And when I mentioned it to a current teacher, he just laughed and laughed.

[DownriverDem]

66. Ford lost

because of the Nixon pardon.

[cab67]

68. I've said this very thing on DU

A number of people said I was dead wrong to put any of the blame on Ford, but I stand by it.

Ford’s intent may have been different from those of Limbaugh, Gingrich, or Murdoch, but the effect was the same.