Shoot...I am more impressed with you making relish than interviewing Gerald Ford....that should tell you about how I feel about politics. Or, it might remind you of how I feel about tomatoes.
This ain't politics....Bill Lawrence called his memoirs "Six Presidents, Too Many Wars" He started with Roosevelt. I had the oportunity to observe Six of them also...Johnson-Bush 1...There was only One of those in my opinion who understood the Common Man...at that was Geral Ford. He was deserted by his own father and adopted the name of his step father. He was an astute politician...He was a Moderate Republican...but he was a REAL Republican, not a RINO....He was able to laugh at HIMSELF and I saw him do that many times. He loved his country and he served it well. Say what you like about any of them but this guy was the REAL DEAL and Ronald Reagan screwed him out of victory over the Peanut Farmer in 1976. No Politics Just what I observed and believe with all of my heart.
Thanks for an observation front the front lines.
I,for one,realize the public may never know the whole truth about the strength or weakness of statesmen,or so-called-statesmen.
You were there AND you're a REAL gentleman, so I'll take your word for that and quit putting President Ford in the same basket as "Peanuts" and "Slick."
I think maybe my favorite of all the Presidents was Harry Truman...who was first and foremost and up front and primarily (That even outdoes Henry B. Gonzales!)a REAL person!
...but as Reagan related, Bess never did manage to teach Ol' Harry to say "fertilizer," rather than "S-H-I-T"!
That kind of stuff actually makes a man "real," rather than "nasty" --- my daddy said it ANYtime he was really angry...EVEN TO HIS BOSS --- and I don't give a FERTILIZER what ANY uptight would-be Ersatz Taliban says!
Harry Truman has my vote also...For the things you mention plus saving me and a lot of guys on Luzon, other staging areas plus many ships and planes from having to invade Japan..where the Japanese had already prepared to fight to the last for the emperor..
I always liked the letter he wrote to Washington Post critic who beat up on Harry's daughter's singing...it is probably on the internet somewhere...it is a masterpiece. It is the center piece of every book ever writte by or about him.