Gerald Ford pardons Nixon, September 8, 1974.
Richard M. Nixon resigned as president on Aug. 9, 1974, while facing almost certain impeachment because of his role in the Watergate political scandal.
[Gerald] Ford became the 38th president of the United States at noon that day. He became the only person to serve as vice president and president without winning election to either office.
“The moment he became the president, we never again called them in public Jerry and Betty, but in private, we still did,” said Sheika Gramshammer, operator – with her husband, Pepi – of Vail’s landmark Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer. The couples had become close friends while Ford was a congressman.
“Even today, I still address him as Mr. President,” she said.
Vail quickly became a dateline familiar to the world, as the site of the Colorado White House or the Western White House, while President Ford and his family were vacationing.
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Ford will go down in history as the most underrated President. I took courage to pardon Nixon. He saved the nation from 5 years of Watergate hell. If you do not believe this, think about the Impeachment of Bill Clinton for a land deal where he lost money and we were introduced to Monica. If the Congress bungled that, think of how bad the Nixon trial would have been.
It was the right call, albeit extremely unpopular at the time.
….and the second best GOP President since Teddy Roosevelt. Today, Ford wouldn’t stand a chance because he was RINO!
I remember being really upset at the pardon and then 6 months later thinking that it was exactly what the country neeeded.
At the time Ford said privately it was the right thing and would probably cost him re-election. Right on both points.