Gerald Ford: America’s Only Unelected President

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  • Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
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    Source/Further reading:
    Miller Center, in-depth biography (multiple pages): millercenter.o...
    NYT obituary: www.nytimes.co...
    Guardian obituary, very damning: www.theguardia...
    Ford Library Museum, official biography: www.fordlibrar...
    Biographics video on Richard Nixon: • Richard Nixon: The Big...
    Ford’s first assassination attempt: www.history.co...
    Ford’s second assassination attempt: www.history.co...
    Ford’s 1974 inaugural address: • Gerald Ford inaugural ...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 2,3 тис.

  • @Biographics
    @Biographics  3 роки тому +81

    Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/BIOGRAPHICS for 10% off on your first purchase.

    • @KingstonTV334
      @KingstonTV334 3 роки тому +2

      Ok... Why was this video uploaded 27 seconds ago but this comment is 12 hours old at the moment?

    • @Tanya-bg2ku
      @Tanya-bg2ku 3 роки тому

      2nd

    • @fibonaccifanzeroviews7839
      @fibonaccifanzeroviews7839 3 роки тому +2

      @@KingstonTV334 same reason they 'forgot' about Johnson after JFK, simply pandering to a number popped out by an algorithm. Actual humans are not respected anymore, only pre fab, molded opinions of the highest paying demographic. I unsubbed. 😔 Guess I'll have to reference BOOKS printed before 1970 for any kind chance for actual known history. SMH good luck to those with little children, I can't even imagine.... ✌

    • @jonathanperry8331
      @jonathanperry8331 3 роки тому

      Simon when are you going to get your own TV show? Seriously!

    • @SonofTiamat
      @SonofTiamat 3 роки тому +2

      Orange man bad!

  • @BrandonJXN2
    @BrandonJXN2 3 роки тому +2660

    One of my favorite Gerald Ford quotes:
    'I'm a Ford. Not a Lincoln.'

    • @MikePlaysYeet
      @MikePlaysYeet 3 роки тому +178

      my favorite:
      "There's no soviet domination over eastern Europe"

    • @ericcloud1023
      @ericcloud1023 3 роки тому +58

      @@MikePlaysYeet secretary of state *facepalm* Mr. Ford.....they own HALF of it already!

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому +10

      And he was absolutely right.

    • @mikhailbashni8936
      @mikhailbashni8936 3 роки тому +11

      Was he like a Pinto Ford?

    • @rickyj5547
      @rickyj5547 3 роки тому +3

      drive me of this picture

  • @0311Mushroom
    @0311Mushroom 3 роки тому +1145

    No mention of Willis Ward?
    A black player at Michigan, he was also Ford's roommate. When Georgia Tech refused to play a game if Willis played, Ford threatened to quit the team. He was a staunch advocate for equal rights even in College.

    • @b-genspinster7895
      @b-genspinster7895 3 роки тому +61

      Very few people know. I listened to a really good podcast about Ford and it mentioned this in detail.

    • @markrobinowitz8473
      @markrobinowitz8473 3 роки тому +11

      Ford, as a Congressional Representative, helped cover up the murder of civil rights advocate John F. Kennedy. Ford was a member of the Warren Dulles Commission.

    • @mebsrea
      @mebsrea 3 роки тому +24

      @@markrobinowitz8473 Do you conspiracy nutjobs ever got bored of spouting this crap?

    • @markrobinowitz8473
      @markrobinowitz8473 3 роки тому

      @@mebsrea None of the people on the Warren Dulles Commission actually believed their own report. Some of the commissioners admitted this (years later). The only way to sincerely believe the report is never to have read any of it. There are false claims of "conspiracy" that are easily debunked but there is also abundant evidence of a cover up. Even French President DeGaulle, who narrowly escaped assassination by ultra right militarists in his country, said the "lone nut" claim was nonsense.

    • @notforsaletoday1895
      @notforsaletoday1895 3 роки тому +26

      @@markrobinowitz8473 Can you send a link to a source?

  • @pdennis93
    @pdennis93 3 роки тому +127

    "Well you voted for him Red"
    "Kitty, nobody voted for him"
    - that 70s show

    • @subsicle1.052
      @subsicle1.052 Рік тому +3

      Funny episode. “How could you pardon Nixon?”

    • @pdennis93
      @pdennis93 Рік тому +1

      @@subsicle1.052 and of course Eric streaking in the Nixon mask 🤣🤣🤣

    • @subsicle1.052
      @subsicle1.052 Рік тому +1

      @@pdennis93 Donna must be so pround

  • @bethanyr6951
    @bethanyr6951 3 роки тому +183

    I'm from Grand Rapids Michigan. We have the GR Ford Airport, presidential museum, GR Ford Freeway, and many other things named after the man. There is definitely a pride from having a president come from your hometown!

    • @BFSilenceDogood
      @BFSilenceDogood 3 роки тому +5

      I'm from GR, too. The Missing Man formation of Ford's funeral was incredibly impressive.

    • @bethanyr6951
      @bethanyr6951 3 роки тому +3

      @@BFSilenceDogood I climbed onto the roof at my work to watch it lol. Very cool!

    • @definitelynotskynet
      @definitelynotskynet Рік тому +2

      True true. I was just as his grave the other day.
      I was also home on leave to GR, pulling onto The GR Ford Freeway when the news broke on the radio that he’d passed.

    • @tedpuckett8066
      @tedpuckett8066 Рік тому

      Unless yur from Carthage, Tn.!

  • @Foul_Ghoul
    @Foul_Ghoul 3 роки тому +1337

    He might’ve been President by dumb luck, but I think the USA got lucky that it was Ford.
    We all know we could’ve gotten a lot worse on that dice roll

    • @natecw4164
      @natecw4164 3 роки тому +19

      For real...

    • @theawesomeman9821
      @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому +17

      who could have been worse than Ford in the 1970's?

    • @pullt
      @pullt 3 роки тому +232

      @@theawesomeman9821 Chevrolet

    • @Bubbaist
      @Bubbaist 3 роки тому +182

      @@theawesomeman9821 Spiro Agnew.

    • @theawesomeman9821
      @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому +2

      @@Bubbaist what's his politics?

  • @thorpeaaron1110
    @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому +797

    Just imagine if Gerald Ford took the football contracts and went to be a famous football player

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому +47

      Lyndon Johnson always said that Ford had played too much football without a helmet.

    • @Hollylivengood
      @Hollylivengood 3 роки тому +72

      @@williamwingo4740 Well he would, right? Ford had an exellant record in the navy. He was a good lawyer. He got that way with inteligence. The only two guys who said he was dumb were crooks. I mean. really.

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому +13

      Had Ford stayed with Football, Americans could have learned more about Nixon's lawlessness and Reagan might have thought twice about selling Arms to Iran to pay for Death Squads in Central America.

    • @chandlerstepina3947
      @chandlerstepina3947 3 роки тому

      Either way, some people are destined to be more "well-known" than others.

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому +2

      @@chandlerstepina3947 That would also apply to Ted Bundy. People recognize how bad Bundy was. People fail to acknowledge the damage that Ford did on the Warren Commission and Pardoning a Criminal before full disclosure.

  • @adamcahoon6362
    @adamcahoon6362 3 роки тому +59

    My grandfather had a saying: “Ford was the best president we ever had. Because after watergate we didn’t let him do a damn thing.”

    • @hggfhh4449
      @hggfhh4449 Рік тому +1

      In Robert Spencer's book rating the American Presidents, Ford got a 5/10 with a rating of did little good but not much damage.

    • @hggfhh4449
      @hggfhh4449 Рік тому +1

      Robert said it was the right move not to do the bailouts in the long run.

  • @jeffreydudgeon4579
    @jeffreydudgeon4579 3 роки тому +108

    If folks want a really telling story about the character of the man, watch the documentary Black and Blue. It is the story of how he almost quit the Michigan football team because during the 1934 home game against Georgia Tech there was a demand that Michigan bench their black starting running back Willis Ward. And Ford pretty much said "if you bench Willis you can count me out."

  • @live2ride18
    @live2ride18 3 роки тому +777

    He got a whole super carrier class named after him. That’s a hell of a thing!!

    • @AtheAetheling
      @AtheAetheling 3 роки тому +60

      That is true, and I like that. He didn't seem like a bad man at all.

    • @rickhale4348
      @rickhale4348 3 роки тому +8

      The swamp honors their cherished members.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +4

      The swamp like to look after their own.

    • @TheEDFLegacy
      @TheEDFLegacy 3 роки тому +21

      @@AtheAetheling I firmly believe that Ford was a great man. Just a bad President. lol

    • @artupage
      @artupage 3 роки тому +7

      @@rickhale4348 the swamp? You mean shrek?

  • @santiagomagana3148
    @santiagomagana3148 3 роки тому +466

    Kitty: "How can you say that you voted for Gerald Ford."
    Red: "Kitty no one voted for Gerald Ford"

    • @LSSYLondon
      @LSSYLondon 3 роки тому +13

      Streaking... I miss that show!

    • @jamesricker3997
      @jamesricker3997 3 роки тому +18

      She may have voted for him in 76 when he ran against Carter

    • @mv7647
      @mv7647 3 роки тому +3

      @@jamesricker3997 That's impossible, since the episode revolves around Ford visiting Point Place as president. Ford wouldn't have been president after '76.

    • @viprthered
      @viprthered 3 роки тому +5

      He ran for re-election

    • @ericlabonte3817
      @ericlabonte3817 3 роки тому +3

      WEE WEE! PEE PEE!
      WEE WEE! PEE PEE!

  • @RGC-gn2nm
    @RGC-gn2nm 3 роки тому +93

    Met him once as a young pfc in the army. Nicest man, he actually spoke to me. Very uncommon for the era.

  • @nigel_saxon
    @nigel_saxon 2 роки тому +15

    Gerald Ford: Say, Homer, do you like football?
    Homer Simpson: Do I ever!
    Gerald Ford: Do you like nachos?
    Homer Simpson: Yes, Mr. Ford.
    Gerald Ford: Well, why don't you come over and watch the game and we'll have nachos, and then some beer.

  • @Finny869
    @Finny869 3 роки тому +208

    My aunt was his secretary after his presidential term. My grandpa and Ford used to golf together a lot.

    • @nicolew6904
      @nicolew6904 3 роки тому +9

      Very cool! He seems like he was a very genuine person.

    • @susantummon3463
      @susantummon3463 3 роки тому +4

      Quite the claim to fame. What was he like?

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому

      @@susantummon3463 Ford? A dirtbag really. He was a key member of the Warren Commission and then he buried all the crimes that Nixon had committed so Reagan said "Wow! I can get away with Iran/Contra when I'm President."

    • @susantummon3463
      @susantummon3463 3 роки тому

      @@arcanondrum6543 I meant as a person, my question was not directed at you.

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому

      @@susantummon3463 Yes, I realized that but the truth matters enough to jump in and say "Hey, despite the whitewashing, Ford was a real dirtbag and we're better if we deal with history honestly but lost if we don't".

  • @lionelmason339
    @lionelmason339 3 роки тому +1113

    I disagree with Ford on almost every political issue. But in terms of being a good person, he's in the top 3 best human beings to ever hold the office.

    • @gailmiller6333
      @gailmiller6333 3 роки тому +62

      Lionel Mason
      Agree, a very decent human being.

    • @taylorlibby7642
      @taylorlibby7642 3 роки тому +170

      Agreed. I was just about to make a very similar post. I really miss the days when you could have a legitimate political disagreement with someone but still respect and admire them for the person they are.

    • @taylorlibby7642
      @taylorlibby7642 3 роки тому +44

      @Edward Lee Miller Do you know any Roman history? Ford always strikes me as a sort of American Cincinnatus because of that attitude of duty.

    • @mgweible8162
      @mgweible8162 3 роки тому +39

      I'm firmly convinced you cannot be a good president and a good person

    • @lionelmason339
      @lionelmason339 3 роки тому +12

      It's probably true. Every great president has been a piece of absolute garbage and every presidential failure was carried out by good people.

  • @SuzysRedStripes
    @SuzysRedStripes 3 роки тому +91

    I remember when he died. I had a president obsession, and when I saw that the flag was half-staff at school, I asked my dad if one of them had died. My parents are still upset to this day over the fact that the teacher didn't tell us. I still don't have the heart to explain to them that it's probably not standard kindergarten protocol to talk about a dead president. (If they can avoid it, at least.)

  • @knutthompson7879
    @knutthompson7879 3 роки тому +74

    He was by all estimations a good guy. And loyal almost to a fault. Also, he was probably the most athletic president.

  • @anarchyantz1564
    @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +277

    Can you do one on Joe Medicine Crow. He was a Native American writer, historian and war chief of the Crow Nation and the last Plains Indian war chief, which he managed to achieve while serving in WWII completing all four tasks required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him (counting coup), taking an enemy's weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy's horse and this is only part of this True Native American Badass.
    No bone spurs here.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +16

      @@brett4264 Oh no, there is WAY more than just this snippet. You need to hear how he actually did all those bits, plus his life before and after the war. He was still an active guy all the way up to his passing in 2016 and it is about time we hear from a REAL native American, not corrupt leaders or moronic politicians.

    • @theawesomeman9821
      @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому +2

      sounds cool

    • @michaelhowell2326
      @michaelhowell2326 3 роки тому +4

      I was in the Army with a Native American named Joe Crow.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +2

      @@michaelhowell2326 Thanks for your service, hopefully your country is now looking after you.

    • @--enyo--
      @--enyo-- 3 роки тому +2

      I’d really like to hear more First Nations Biographics.

  • @raysixteen21
    @raysixteen21 2 роки тому +36

    I am related to him. My grandmother’s mother took care of him, housed his football team whenever they were traveling for games, and was familiar with his paternal family. No one was ever really close to him, but we do have a couple of documents and letters from him when he was in office. He’s a pretty cool cat

  • @jeremyronald
    @jeremyronald 3 роки тому +22

    As a native Michigander, I have been to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum a good number of times. If you ever get the chance to go to it, I highly recommend going.

  • @allanlank
    @allanlank 3 роки тому +31

    Bonus Fact: While playing for the University of Michigan, Gerald Ford threatened to quit if the university acquiesced to Georgia Tech and not play Willis Ward, a black player on the Michigan team. Mr. Ward did not play in that game but convinced Mr. Ford that defeating Georgia Tech on the field would be better than quitting. Michigan won the game 9-2.

  • @michaelpetronzio6557
    @michaelpetronzio6557 3 роки тому +196

    Thank you so much people always forget about him . But he was an important person

    • @dangreene9846
      @dangreene9846 3 роки тому +15

      The only president i have ever seen in person, Korea early 1975. He keep the country together after watergate. Didn't agree with him when he pardoned Nixon , but in hindsight he made the right decision.

    • @michaelpetronzio6557
      @michaelpetronzio6557 3 роки тому +10

      @@dangreene9846 exactly . I beloved that to that it was a bad idea to pardon Nixon but he tried so hard

  • @ethanramos4441
    @ethanramos4441 3 роки тому +242

    “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have”
    Gerald Ford

    • @swrennie
      @swrennie 3 роки тому +24

      "I hereby pardon Richard Milhous Nixon..."
      -Also Gerald Ford.

    • @audreymuzingo933
      @audreymuzingo933 2 роки тому

      You mean like reproductive choice? The right to privacy and bodily autonomy? Who knew Republicans were so keen on having big government!

    • @goblincomic4522
      @goblincomic4522 Рік тому +3

      Venezuela in nutshell . print money for people then inflation it to the point it lose all value

    • @patrickthomas8890
      @patrickthomas8890 11 місяців тому +4

      @@swrennieIt was the best move. Why waste govt time and money on prosecuting Nixon at the point? His career and reputation were absolutely destroyed. Inflation, oil/gas crisis, and Middle East were far more pressing issues then. Plus Nixon actually had the integrity to step aside for the good of the country instead of trying to “win” at all costs

    • @BishopWalters12
      @BishopWalters12 5 місяців тому

      @mipmipmipmipmip Poor cupcake.

  • @eventhat8103
    @eventhat8103 Рік тому +8

    I had the opportunity to shake hands with President Ford not once but twice. First was during the 1976 Election Campaign. I found out he was going to have a rally at the Rochester, NY airport and begged my parents to take me (A two hour drive round trip). It was pouring rain, but an estimated 10,000 supporters were there cheering as Air Force One landed. We were right up at the front of the receiving line, and for a 12 year old kid, I was thrilled beyond belief when he passed by and grabbed my hand.
    24 years later, I attended a dinner in his honor at my undergraduate alma mater. I sat at the next table. As soon as the dinner was over, I thrust my Kodak disposable camera into the hands of the University President and said "Take my picture with President Ford." I introduced myself, telling him I was a fellow left-hander and Eagle Scout, and reminded him of the Rochester event. He recalled it fondly, and now on my wall, I have a cherished photo of the both us looking at each other and shaking hands.
    In addition, I have a signed photo and a signed letter he sent me in response to a letter I had written to him years earlier, thanking him for getting me interested in a public policy career.
    He was the right man at the right time.

  • @zetasong
    @zetasong 3 роки тому +15

    I wrote a letter to President Ford in 1975 at the age of 9...got a response from the White House answering my queries...I'm sure now he didn't answer it personally, yet it had his form signature on it...I thought that was cool...

  • @sesshoumiroku
    @sesshoumiroku 3 роки тому +66

    My home town finally made the Biographics channel!!! Thank you Simon for all the amazing work you and your staff have done over the years! You are all certified legends!

  • @josephdriesenga2730
    @josephdriesenga2730 3 роки тому +108

    As someone from Grand Rapids, Ford loomed large in my young life. He was perhaps second in popularity in the city only to Jesus.

    • @sbevexlr848
      @sbevexlr848 3 роки тому +10

      Damn imagine being more popular in your local area than most iconic American personalities and be 2nd next to Jesus in line lol

    • @jamvan1000
      @jamvan1000 3 роки тому +4

      From GR. Can confirm..

    • @LibraDiCaprio
      @LibraDiCaprio 3 роки тому +2

      i can also confirm

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому

      Sounds like a backwards inbred swamp then.

    • @Hollylivengood
      @Hollylivengood 3 роки тому +2

      @@anarchyantz1564 Dude, we finally had a president who had worked for a living, was so honest none of our corrupt government liked it, and tried to keep the peace, and we didn't want him. Jeezus.

  • @berniekatzroy
    @berniekatzroy 3 роки тому +57

    I always enjoyed how he was portrayed on the Simpsons.

    • @matnichol
      @matnichol 3 роки тому +23

      “My name’s Gerald. I like football & beer.”

    • @Fireglo
      @Fireglo 3 роки тому +3

      His appearance was too short.

  • @Yoder023
    @Yoder023 2 роки тому +5

    His parents fuggin hated him:
    "Lynch King" is his middle name at birth???
    I'd change my name too!

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 3 роки тому +170

    Ford did have an aircraft carrier named after him, so I suppose he wasn't that bad.

    • @jeremystewert4303
      @jeremystewert4303 3 роки тому +25

      He had a whole class of carriers named after him. Jimmy Carter gets a shrimp boat.

    • @Dahdoi
      @Dahdoi 3 роки тому +8

      That's not how any of this works!

    • @mebsrea
      @mebsrea 3 роки тому +4

      I’m hoping the Navy eventually commissions a garbage scow as the USS Donald J. Trump.

    • @riogrande163
      @riogrande163 3 роки тому +3

      @@mebsrea Careful, your TDS is showing.

    • @mebsrea
      @mebsrea 2 роки тому

      @@riogrande163 Nah, I just don't like treason.

  • @Jus.Keep.Swimming
    @Jus.Keep.Swimming 3 роки тому +138

    Very interesting. My great-uncle was President Ford's physician. His stories about that time are fascinating.

    • @kohljackal
      @kohljackal 3 роки тому +7

      I know someone in the family of the man who ran Nixon's ranch in California while and after he was President. That family's stories are fascinating, as well. Going to the Nixon Library with someone who had personal stories was quite an experience.

    • @davecom3
      @davecom3 3 роки тому

      Cool! Any interesting info on the man?

    • @l.f.r.6523
      @l.f.r.6523 3 роки тому +1

      I'm the great-uncle and confirm that.

    • @ChrisJones-ij3xp
      @ChrisJones-ij3xp 3 роки тому +1

      DO tell us some of these stories. We who are on this thread here, promise not to tell...🤐

    • @trevorn9381
      @trevorn9381 3 роки тому +1

      Did he ever tell Ford to quit smoking? Ford was a HEAVY pipe smoker.

  • @ibrahimabubakar5
    @ibrahimabubakar5 3 роки тому +39

    Greatness was thrust at him, at the end of the day what matters is he was a GOOD Man

  • @lyndonb.johnson4224
    @lyndonb.johnson4224 3 роки тому +9

    Gerald Ford, he was an honest president who said what was on everybody’s mind, this is best summarized by his quote: “I’m Gerald Ford, and you’re not.” Truly a honest president.

    • @bernardtimmer6723
      @bernardtimmer6723 2 роки тому +1

      Not really, his loyalty to Nixon forced him to exonerate him, that defines him for me...

  • @franciscobuenrostro3891
    @franciscobuenrostro3891 3 роки тому +71

    Keep those president videos coming. I can’t wait to see biographies on George H W Bush, Jimmy Carter, Calvin Coolidge, etc

    • @SuperMegahart
      @SuperMegahart 3 роки тому +6

      Coolidge in my opinion is not only one of the most underrated Presidents but one of the most humble men to hold the office. Reading his autobiography now.

    • @franciscobuenrostro3891
      @franciscobuenrostro3891 3 роки тому +5

      @@SuperMegahart I totally agree. He is the most underrated president in history. Also perhaps the The last president to really stick to the constitutional limits of his position

    • @SuperMegahart
      @SuperMegahart 3 роки тому +6

      @@franciscobuenrostro3891 Yup, agreed. We need more men like Silent Cal. Even regardless of political position, just having more politicians who aren't self-serving egotists would be a nice change. Just look at Coolidge's headstone, it's the very definition of modest. No indicator that it would belong to a President aside from the seal of the Presidency, which is how he requested it, because he thought himself no better than anyone else.

    • @electroskates2434
      @electroskates2434 2 роки тому +2

      Calvin Coolidge is my favourite

    • @TheDynamicJAB
      @TheDynamicJAB Рік тому

      Coolidge helped keep immigrants out.

  • @daveschmarder-1950
    @daveschmarder-1950 3 роки тому +39

    In the mid 80's former VP Ford gave a talk at the local college and I was able to attend. I came away thinking that he was an extremely intelligent man when it came to politics and the world. I didn't expect this. I always thought that pardoning Nixon was the best way to just move on with solving more important problems.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +8

      Yeah, sets a precedence that you can get away with anything when you have power and money, like rigging elections, committing crimes an "ordinary" person would be put in jail for life for. But what do you expect for the swamp.

    • @0311Mushroom
      @0311Mushroom 3 роки тому +12

      It was a good idea.
      Look at the nonsense of trying to impeach our last President after he left office. I do not like the guy, but it's over, move on already. At the time there were Democrats that wanted to do the same thing to Nixon.
      Also, Nixon was not actually involved in Watergate. The tapes show he also was shocked when he learned about it. His mistake came later in trying to cover it up.

    • @b-genspinster7895
      @b-genspinster7895 3 роки тому +3

      @@0311Mushroom it’s easy to do things like wasting time impeaching a former president, twice or doing simple things like wanting to dismantling peoples rights in the name of safety or opening the border without considering the consequences. But, our new president and his slate lack the interest, will or intelligence to deal with actual problems like the social security debacle which looms large, diminishing natural resources, a burgeoning population and let us not forget about North Korea and Iran who would like to see us fall regardless of who runs this place.

    • @Seinsmelled
      @Seinsmelled 6 місяців тому

      ford couldnt chew gum and fart at the same time how can you think hes smart

  • @holton345
    @holton345 2 роки тому +6

    As a ten-year-old boy, I received a WIN button in the mail from President Ford, and, because I was a ten-year-old boy, I was convinced that he had stuffed it in the envelope and written the letter to me himself. But today, at the age of fifty-seven, I harbor suspicions that this may not have been the case. ;-)

  • @SiVlog1989
    @SiVlog1989 3 роки тому +7

    Another factor that endeared Gerald Ford initially was something he said early in his first speech as President.
    "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President. I have not campaigned for this enormous responsibility, but I will not sherk it. I have not gained the office through some secret deal, those who selected me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends, I am indebted to no man, but to one woman, my dear wife."

  • @Alejandro_87
    @Alejandro_87 3 роки тому +33

    Nachos, beer and football. Simple man.

  • @Bariom_dome
    @Bariom_dome 3 роки тому +84

    I can't help but feel sad for Ford because I can see myself in him. Thrust into a job I wish could do good, but everything fails and I just keep falling.

    • @Redskies453
      @Redskies453 3 роки тому +6

      Lol did they put you in charge of the drive thru?

  • @wennick4859
    @wennick4859 3 роки тому +10

    I didn’t know his last name wasn’t originally Ford and I’m from Grand Rapids and have gone through his museum like 20 times 😂😂

  • @MalloryNewcomb
    @MalloryNewcomb 2 роки тому +10

    Gerald Ford being president is like if Forrest Gump ended up in the White House.

  • @JohnSmith-rw2yn
    @JohnSmith-rw2yn 3 роки тому +274

    Underrated, real students of history realise he was a good president.

    • @georgewashington5746
      @georgewashington5746 3 роки тому +5

      We only know what we are taught

    • @SKa-tt9nm
      @SKa-tt9nm 3 роки тому +30

      @@georgewashington5746 wait until you hear about these things called libraries. Not every book has to be a textbook.

    • @georgewashington5746
      @georgewashington5746 3 роки тому +22

      @@SKa-tt9nm my point exactly most people won’t want to learn outside of what they are taught . People that are informed are the minority.

    • @TheSoonToBePurgedJackMeHoff55
      @TheSoonToBePurgedJackMeHoff55 3 роки тому +7

      Nice gatekeeping. "Only TRUE Xs will know that Y is da bestest evers!"

    • @StigmataTickles
      @StigmataTickles 3 роки тому +2

      Maybe, aside from pardoning Nixon.

  • @JohnDaker_singer
    @JohnDaker_singer 3 роки тому +53

    My father had the privilege to become acquainted with Gerald Ford. Ford was on the board of directors in a company that my father was the CFO for back in the 1980s. This of course, was post presidency. My father was very proud of the fact that he had dealings with President Ford. Ford had what most politicians lack today- Honor. Honor is a dying trait, yet it was instilled in me by my family and those around me in my youth. When I deal with people or company’s today, I feel like I’m not on the same playing field. Nearly every interaction ends with me being screwed. I’ll be dead in 20 years, and I’m ok with that. I just feel for my children.

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому

      Nowadays we need all the honor that money can buy.

  • @nwebster84
    @nwebster84 Рік тому +15

    Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon is an example of how the view of history can change in many directions. It was first viewed poorly, then praised as healing a nation divided. As we now see, it didn't work. It created the precedent that the President is above the law, which had disastrous consequences in the last administration.

  • @qiuyushi2752
    @qiuyushi2752 3 роки тому +15

    Title: “Gerald Ford: America’s Only Unelected President”
    Johnson, Tyler, and Fillmore: hold my beer

    • @ralphp224
      @ralphp224 3 роки тому +3

      By unelected, I think he means the only person to become president without being elected as either that or the Vice President. The three of them were Vice Presidents upon becoming president.

    • @SuzysRedStripes
      @SuzysRedStripes 3 роки тому

      That was a little bit different from a scenario.

    • @arrow1414
      @arrow1414 3 роки тому

      @@ralphp224
      Elected vice presidents to be clear

  • @Bubbaist
    @Bubbaist 3 роки тому +69

    My grandmother was a dyed in the wool Democrat. She was also born on January 20. She loved sharing her birthday with the inauguration of Democratic presidents, but hated it when a Republican was inaugurated on her birthday. She died at the end of 2006, and she had her funeral on the same day as Ford’s funeral. We all wondered what she would have thought of that!

    • @gimbobjenkins405
      @gimbobjenkins405 3 роки тому +2

      Falling down with excitement I would guess.

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому

      She would have gotten drunk and popped pills. It may have been the first time for your grandmother but Ford's Wife did that all the time and who can blame her? Sat on the Warren Commission, hid the Nixon evidence...

    • @rageius
      @rageius 8 місяців тому +1

      That's my birthday!

  • @michaelhowell2326
    @michaelhowell2326 3 роки тому +22

    When my dad was in the Army in Germany during the '70s. One time Ford came to speak to the troops so they had a multiple Brigade formation for it. After he did his speech he said "you are dismissed" and everyone fled. There wasn't much anything they could do to stop it.

  • @0311Mushroom
    @0311Mushroom 3 роки тому +6

    Lose the Vietnam War?
    It was already over, it ended in 1973 with the Paris Peace Accords. North Vietnam attacked again in 1975 after the US left.

    • @Mark-yy2py
      @Mark-yy2py 2 роки тому +1

      In 1974-1975, Ford asked Congress for military materiel to help the South Vietnamese military fight the VC and NVA. The democratic controlled Congress refused. Hence, the takeover by communists and the destruction of Cambodia- the killing fields.

  • @louthegiantcookie
    @louthegiantcookie 3 роки тому +62

    He always seemed like a nice, decent man. Nixon was ambitious and occasionally brilliant, but his demons drove him to paranoia and brutality. In retrospect, Ford would have been the better leader all along.

  • @DCGamingNetwork
    @DCGamingNetwork 3 роки тому +23

    Now we need a biographic on Jimmy Carter.

    • @nicolew6904
      @nicolew6904 3 роки тому

      Yes!

    • @hggfhh4449
      @hggfhh4449 Рік тому

      Well, Jimmy is in Hocpice, unfortunately. There will probably be many documentaries coming soon.

  • @real-lemoncraw-dad980
    @real-lemoncraw-dad980 3 роки тому +9

    I’m an avid viewer of biographies and seeing those early photos of that area of Grand Rapids and comparing it to how it is now is quite insane. The blue bridge is a popular hangout area, kind of surreal seeing a much older photograph of it on a UA-cam channel I love.

  • @ARCtheCartoonMaster
    @ARCtheCartoonMaster Рік тому +2

    For a second, I misread that as “America’s Only *Ugly* President”, and I was like, “Um… so Nixon and Clinton are a joke to you?”

  • @twentytwo1862
    @twentytwo1862 3 роки тому +80

    "I'm Gerald Ford and your not"

  • @ephin3242
    @ephin3242 3 роки тому +5

    The conclusions at the end are deeply missed every time I watch an older video, when it just stops after they die. These are really nice.

  • @bryanwindsor551
    @bryanwindsor551 3 роки тому +5

    John Quincy adams be like: what about me!

  • @josephlannert969
    @josephlannert969 Рік тому +9

    I've always felt President Ford and many others like him deserve more recognition than what history often bestows upon them, and more often than not your channel helps reinforce that

    • @Seinsmelled
      @Seinsmelled 6 місяців тому

      gerald ford is a wet fart in terms of presidents

  • @ImplodedAtom
    @ImplodedAtom 3 роки тому +23

    Ah, the days when actions had consequences in Washington.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +1

      Hardly, he pardoned a criminal, which seems about right for the rest of the swamp to come.

    • @gimbobjenkins405
      @gimbobjenkins405 3 роки тому +4

      @@marcopolo1134 Yeah your side only accepts gifts and charitable donations right?

    • @neilpemberton5523
      @neilpemberton5523 3 роки тому

      @@marcopolo1134 I'm not here to defend the Democratic Party. I just have to point out that it was the conservative bench of SCOTUS which institutionalised corruption in politics with the appalling Citizens United ruling. The Republican Party had no problem with this. So stop being a partisan fool. There's no innocent Party here.

    • @neilpemberton5523
      @neilpemberton5523 3 роки тому

      @@anarchyantz1564 Yes. One of the worst precedents ever. Ex-presidents if guilty should be jailed like everyone else.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +2

      @@neilpemberton5523 Ex or Actual. France has just jailed some of their ex presidents.

  • @justinweber4977
    @justinweber4977 3 роки тому +15

    Sounds like Ford was the real life version of Star Wars' Finis Valorum.

    • @KEVMAN7987
      @KEVMAN7987 3 роки тому +1

      But he wasn't also a Kryptonian supervillain.

  • @vitarius2465
    @vitarius2465 3 роки тому +8

    Still waiting for a William Wilberforce episode. A man who brought an end to the English slave trade and who is responsible for child labor laws/child protection would be a good example in today’s modern chaos

  • @itachi-kun7736
    @itachi-kun7736 3 роки тому +7

    fact: he was also the then longest living U.S. President from 2006-17 until G.H. Bush breaks on Nov. 2017

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому +3

      He also served the shortest term as president of anyone who did not die in office (895 days); and was the last surviving member of the Warren Commission.

  • @lifeform106
    @lifeform106 3 роки тому +29

    I learned more history from this channel in a few weeks than my 18 years of k-12 school hahahah XD. So much better than cramming for tests and actually learning about their lives.

    • @stevenwebb3634
      @stevenwebb3634 3 роки тому +1

      18 years? Did you repeat a few times?

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 3 роки тому +2

      @@marcopolo1134 No, no, its called "being a good capitalist" or "how I like the suck the rich elites ball sacks".

    • @oddball6731
      @oddball6731 3 роки тому +1

      @@anarchyantz1564 I see that you are good at following instructions.

  • @TheJaviferrol
    @TheJaviferrol 3 роки тому +17

    I remember him from that episode of the Simpsons with George H.W Bush

    • @paulorocky
      @paulorocky 3 роки тому +1

      Do you like football?
      Do you like nachos?

    • @n3v3rg01ngback
      @n3v3rg01ngback 3 роки тому +1

      @@paulorocky Then we should see the game and have some nachos. And maybe some beer.

  • @adameckard4591
    @adameckard4591 2 роки тому +3

    I would not call President Ford as accidental. There was the 25th ammendment and its system, and it worked. President Ford didn't go back to Vietnam, and ditching Nixon was the correct thing to do. The economy was hurting and that had been going on long before Ford. It was not Ford's fault that the world's economy was changing and USA's part was shrinking.

  • @TheOlesarge
    @TheOlesarge 2 роки тому +7

    I remember this time vividly. Gerald Ford was a decent man, and just the man we needed at that moment in time.

  • @m.hughmungus121
    @m.hughmungus121 3 роки тому +32

    "America's only unelected president"
    Zhou Bi Din: *"c'mon, man !"*

    • @TheKamilkrawczak
      @TheKamilkrawczak 3 роки тому +1

      That's from Putin €ock holster

    • @tigercap100
      @tigercap100 3 роки тому +6

      America's FIRST unelected president. Biden is the other. Trump won the legal vote...in a landslide! The fraud was obvious and rampant.

    • @pakde8002
      @pakde8002 3 роки тому

      Okay Roland Widaque

    • @pakde8002
      @pakde8002 3 роки тому +1

      @@tigercap100 don't let the Q slide land you in the Qook house

  • @empiresoftheeast203
    @empiresoftheeast203 3 роки тому +7

    Man, the ending of Simon's videos always hit me in the feels

  • @tubularbill
    @tubularbill Рік тому +3

    Ford was also our only President who was called “King” as that was his real last name. Ford was from his adopted Father.

  • @littleweasel100
    @littleweasel100 3 роки тому +3

    All I could think through this video is “yeah he sounds like he’s from Grand Rapids” 😂

  • @AcornElectron
    @AcornElectron 3 роки тому +3

    Perfect timing Simon! Keep up the good work fella and stay safe. Geographics after this

  • @jx6135
    @jx6135 3 роки тому +3

    That Black and White picture of Grand Rapids looks pretty close to present day, minus the tall buildings it now has

  • @justalurkr
    @justalurkr 3 роки тому +4

    A drill instructor could get a fast ticket to the front by brawling with another drill instructor, according to my dad. He found out the hard way in 1944.

  • @petejohnson2945
    @petejohnson2945 2 роки тому +2

    I grew up in Grand Rapids and my Grandparents knew Gerry Ford. My Grandfather and he both loved football and would often go watch High School teams practice in the morning before going to their jobs. I can say that Gerry Ford was loved by the people of Grand Rapids. As a congressman he took good care of his constituents.

  • @MLaurenceWatson
    @MLaurenceWatson 3 роки тому +24

    I felt like this video spent almost no time on Ford’s invention of the car. Big omission.

    • @LynnCochran71
      @LynnCochran71 3 роки тому

      What?

    • @VicSage1836
      @VicSage1836 3 роки тому +1

      @@LynnCochran71 there is too much stupid in that comment to process. But you know, Henry/Gerald...car/assembly line. Completely interchangeable.

  • @moogleprotip
    @moogleprotip 3 роки тому +5

    Young Gerald looks like a young Dolph Lundgren. in the football picture I thought he was about to deck Rocky.

    • @jaykay104
      @jaykay104 3 роки тому

      I thought you were talking about the other young dolph

  • @dp6447
    @dp6447 3 роки тому +3

    That ending was awesome Simon! Super powerful ✊🏻

  • @swoo5062
    @swoo5062 3 роки тому +2

    20:05 This aged horrendously…

  • @12799MaDeuce
    @12799MaDeuce 3 роки тому +26

    House Minority Leader, "Minority Speaker of the House" isn't a thing

    • @shebbs1
      @shebbs1 3 роки тому +1

      Blame his researchers and scriptwriters and editors, who are American.

    • @bradhobbs6196
      @bradhobbs6196 3 роки тому

      Give America's Next Top Model a freakin break, okay?

  • @PauloTheGeek
    @PauloTheGeek 3 роки тому +6

    History has been good to Ford. He didn't want to presidency, he just made the best of a bad situation and the decision to pardon Nixon was a brave one. In the end it the right thing because the country was able to move on, even if Gerry had to carry the can.

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому

      He must have wanted it when he insisted on being nominated in 1976....

    • @siononalundula1699
      @siononalundula1699 3 роки тому +1

      @@williamwingo4740 of course once he got the job he wanted to keep it, like most people probably would. But he had never sought the job before that.

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому

      @@siononalundula1699
      It can also be argued (although I don't buy it) that he didn't want it, but that he sincerely believed he was the best choice for the republican nomination. Like the Kennedys, he ran for president selflessly, for the good of the country.

  • @noelmcewen6516
    @noelmcewen6516 3 роки тому +4

    "Homer, do you like beer? Do you like football? Why don't we drink beer and watch football!"
    Greatest Simpson's episode ever!

  • @denisdaly1708
    @denisdaly1708 3 роки тому +7

    He was great in the movie Breverly Hills Cop with Eddie Murphy

  • @pennywood5653
    @pennywood5653 3 роки тому +4

    "The guy that farted at a funeral" Classic.

  • @SimmaChode
    @SimmaChode 3 роки тому +4

    The first time I watched a Business Blaze video I was taken back by the tonal change. But after binging Business Blaze videos and coming back to Biographics and Today I Found Out, I'm once again taken back by the tonal change. Haha

    • @mgweible8162
      @mgweible8162 3 роки тому +1

      Weve all agreed each channel is one of Simon's other personalities taking over. But they're becoming self aware

  • @patrickthoma5320
    @patrickthoma5320 3 роки тому +5

    Have you done the Marquis de Sade?!?! I'd love to see that one.

  • @helios24601
    @helios24601 3 роки тому +4

    You know it's interesting that people say Ford's chance at re-election was completely doomed like he never had a chance to win when in 1976 Carter barely squeaked a win with 297 Electoral Votes.
    So I don't think Ford's chances must have been THAT weak.

  • @marrtianchronicles5702
    @marrtianchronicles5702 3 роки тому +6

    My friend was an in home nurse for Betty Ford. She had many conversations with the former President and said that he was a very smart man, well educated on global affairs and politics. It's a shame that he was portrayed as a buffoon and idiot. I am happy that history is now being more kind to him.

    • @bigbuddah2399
      @bigbuddah2399 3 роки тому +1

      He was portrayed that way because that is how they portray Republicans. The media has been left-wing for a long time.

    • @williamwingo4740
      @williamwingo4740 3 роки тому

      @@bigbuddah2399 The press never forgave him for the pardon, and never missed a chance to tear him down. If he fell down his airplane steps, or somebody had a reaction to the swine flu vaccine, it was guaranteed to be the lead news item that evening.

    • @thecawdsquad875
      @thecawdsquad875 2 роки тому

      @@bigbuddah2399 True. Since Nixon the media has HATED the GOP. Of course they covered up Kennedy's personal behavior, went easy on Clinton, worshipped Obama, and are treating Biden with kid gloves.

  • @rodkeys3312
    @rodkeys3312 3 роки тому +11

    Simon, for the first time I have to vigorously disagree with much of what you said.
    Gerald Ford was above all else a man of honesty and integrity. Only those who think craft and deceit are smart think Ford was a fool. Western Michigan, which included Ford’s district, was an area of extreme social conservatism influenced by Reform Movement Hollanders who located there in the 19th century. Ford’s honest, hard-work outlook was as you might have expect from an area so rooted.
    From one who was there at the time; Ford’s work to heal America’s divisions was the right thing and was largely effective. Thinking people across the political spectrum knew we either needed to let loose and win in Vietnam or go home. This idiotic idea, that a limited so-called war would frighten the communists to the point they’d go home, was doomed to fail from the day Robert McNamara cooked it up. Yet this course, the worst of all choices, was what we did. The division in America over this was stupidity incredible. By the time Ford came along, many, myself among them, felt the liberal draft dodgers needed to spend a decade or two in a federal penitentiary. The other side felt that those of us who served must all be baby killers. Ford’s steps to reconcile all this were hard to digest by both sides. But they were the right thing to do at the time.
    Watergate? Even Nixon’s worst critics do not think Nixon was behind the break-in. Rather, his efforts to cover for those on his staff who were, was plain stupid. Nixon was a very bad president, but this is not, or should not be, a Banana Republic. We do not prosecute past Presidents for political reasons. Ford’s pardon, distasteful as it was, was needed to put an end to all the rancor and nonsense.
    Ford, a rare honest man in politics, was the correct man at the time.
    - RK

  • @kevinhealey6540
    @kevinhealey6540 3 роки тому +4

    A real nice guy actually.
    I wrote him a letter and he wrote me back.
    He kept inflation in toe when he was in the White House.
    After he left he inflation got way out of hand.

  • @blueberrypirate3601
    @blueberrypirate3601 3 роки тому +2

    Hey Homer, dyou like American Football?
    Do I ever!
    Both fall over Doh! The Simpsons Two Bad Neighbours.

  • @remiburrell7330
    @remiburrell7330 3 роки тому +5

    A great person to do a biographic of would be Colonel Hackworth. He was one of the most decorated US army veterans ever. He fought in Korea and Vietnam. He survived many wounds one being a bullet to the head. He wrote a very descriptive book about the events called About Face. He’d be perfect for a video on this channel

  • @user-fq4hj8yv2z
    @user-fq4hj8yv2z 3 роки тому +6

    Thank you, it's good to know that there was such person in that shitty period of time. It's inspiring and nice...

    • @SonofTiamat
      @SonofTiamat 3 роки тому +1

      If MSNBC had been around back then they would have made people believe he was literally Hitler

  • @kathgibbs2881
    @kathgibbs2881 3 роки тому +1

    Video suggestions:
    Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator
    Henry VIII: The Tudor Tyrant
    Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen

  • @jameshoran8
    @jameshoran8 Рік тому

    Bob Hope once joked about Ford's golf game. "The Palm Springs area has 55 golf courses and President Ford never knows which one he is playing until he tees off."

  • @eretria-amorosa
    @eretria-amorosa 3 роки тому +9

    Imagine replacing your FORD with a CARTer.

  • @blockmaster4417
    @blockmaster4417 3 роки тому +16

    Was hoping for an a shout out of him being an Eagle Scout. Still an enjoyable video!

    • @michaelrochester48
      @michaelrochester48 3 роки тому +1

      I did not even mention the fact that Gerald Ford was on the Warren commission which investigated the assassination of Kennedy

    • @0311Mushroom
      @0311Mushroom 3 роки тому

      So much of his life was missed.

  • @xihorizonsx5220
    @xihorizonsx5220 3 роки тому +2

    I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages

  • @antoniocamacho4412
    @antoniocamacho4412 3 роки тому +3

    "I'm Gerald Ford, and you're not"

  • @trtj200
    @trtj200 3 роки тому +7

    I remember Ford well and agree pardoning Nixon killed him politically, but was the thing to do, because it effectively shut Nixon out of the public eye after the pardon Nixon could do nothing to get back into public life. Doing it that soon I believe caught Nixon unaware, he couldn't not accept it nor could he fight the conviction like I'm sure he had planned on doing. Trickie Dickie was a very adept name for him!
    trickie Dickie

    • @arcanondrum6543
      @arcanondrum6543 3 роки тому +2

      Ford's Pardon paved the way for Iran/Contra. Had Nixon been punished or at least the evidence been more publicized, running criminal enterprises from the White House would have been more difficult.

  • @leadwater6350
    @leadwater6350 3 роки тому +30

    The “farted at a funeral” line made me choke on my weed smoke

    • @danielf1506
      @danielf1506 3 роки тому +10

      trying real hard to sound cool nobody cares you toke

    • @leadwater6350
      @leadwater6350 3 роки тому +3

      @@danielf1506 haha I was speaking facts of what happened when he said that line. Apparently you cared enough to wanna talk about it.

    • @jdunnatl
      @jdunnatl 3 роки тому +3

      @@leadwater6350 Fight! Fight! Fight! 😂

    • @akumaking1
      @akumaking1 3 роки тому

      “Fart at a funeral” sounds like a Monty Python or Leslie Nelson gag

    • @SuddenStrike_HQ
      @SuddenStrike_HQ 3 роки тому +2

      Get used to choking, if you are smoking

  • @theduder9548
    @theduder9548 3 роки тому +1

    Started watching but with the ads in the video and the UA-cam ads I just stopped and looked him up on wikipedia

  • @redjirachi1
    @redjirachi1 3 роки тому +1

    In another universe Biographics just released Spiro Agnew: America's Most Embarrassing President