Time and Chance: Gerald R. Ford's Appointment with History
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- This is a one hour documentary chronicling the life of Gerald R. Ford. Produced by WGVU-TV in Grand Rapids, MI. Directed by me "Rob Byrd" in 2004. Produced and written by Mike Grass. This production was nominated for an Emmy. This was an awesome production to be involved with. This is the best documentary production that WGVU has ever done and will ever do. It includes interviews with: Former President Gerald Ford, Former V.P. Dick Cheney, Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, Former President George Bush, Sr.,as well as many other distinguished interviewees.
It was truly memorable...truly. I am approaching 60 years old, and share a host of memories - as must we all of our generation - full of a deep-rooted sense of responsibility, purpose and integrity. Amazingly, I found myself choking up with emotion as the quotes of President Ford resonated in my mind.... filling me with pride and a concurrent deep sense of longing for the time, the genuineness and sense of that day and time in our history. His family, whom I will never know, are as fortunate for him as I am for my now-departed father. In the final analysis, it turns out that you, Mr. Burns, are the one to whom I owe the gratitude for this. Well done, sir.
Thank you President Ford. You carried the nation forward in a difficult time and did a splendid job.
My dad once told me that he thinks President Carter was the most moral man to ever occupy the White House. I believe President Ford was equally as moral President Carter.
Agreed. This is echoed by Tip O'Neil who served as House Speaker during their tenures in his book Man Of The House. He seems to suggest that Ford was the nicest man ever to hold the presidency (that he knew of) and Carter the most conscientious, although not very effective. I think O'Neil who represented over 250 congressmen should know what he was talking about.
so you never nap?
And each of them went out after one term.
@@williamwingo4740Which tells you a hell of a lot about who the American people are.
Agreed. President Ford was a very moral man. A people's leader.
An excellent summary of a truly great man and leader. A decent and honourable, if he was lucky to become President then America was equally lucky to have him as President at the time of its most urgent need. Thanks for the upload
We need Gerald R Ford as President once again. His East Room Inaugural Address resonates today. This is a huge complicated country, so we need to bind those wounds of the differences between us and unite. We need honesty, integrity, respect, forgiveness, acceptance, humility, friendship, brotherhood, and love between us and our differences, in order to be united and strong again. Those were Mr. Ford’s values, and the only ones we should aspire to. “Out of many, we are ONE.”
Thank you President Ford I am very grateful to you and your family for everything that you have been doing over the years and for Betty Ford and The Betty Ford Foundation for helping me with advocacy in mental illness and a hotline for people who might need to get help right away in order to get help coping with anxiety disorders.
The pardoning of Nixon was misunderstood at the time, but was the right thing to do. One, it drew a line under Watergate and enabled America to move on to all the other issues that had been put on the back burner whilst Watergate played out. Second and most importantly, by Nixon accepting the pardon from Ford he Nixon was admitting he had broken the law. Thus a court case which would have dragged on for years was avoided, but with the main party involved saying yes I broke the law. Something not thought of then or even much now.
A couragous act by Ford and one America should applaud him for.
The pardon is still misunderstood by a bunch of hypocrite tin foil hat conspiracy theory fanatic wing nut idiots today.
@@BBQFanNo1 I guess that includes me.
Very well said
President Ford was one of the most decent and honest men to ever occupy the White House. He's exactly what our country needed at exactly the right time.
And what the country needs right now. Let us hope that we can find such a man. And let us hope that we would elect him if he ran.
I totally agree with you!! Middle of the road honest and with courage and realism!!
I've always admired Pres Ford.
He has not received the kudos he deserves.
BUT, I've noticed there is not one thumbs down for this documentary.
People now realize what a great man he was. 💜
This was great to watch. Thanks for sharing. Ford was definitely an under appreciated president.
And he had a loot to be underappreciated about....
I am a liberal democrat but i have to say that More politicians need to be like him. He cared more about doing the right thing then doing what would make him popular. So it was good that Carl Albert gave nixon pretty much no choice about who to appoint vice president after spiro agnew resigned
Yes. Ford was the best.
Agreed. And there is something to be said for someone who became president even though he never faced a larger electorate than his relatively small district in Michigan. He became president without seeking the office of either president or vice-president. We were very fortunate to have him rise to such a high office so "accidentally".
Chris Thorton
Who was Gerald Fords barber in Grand Rapids? They were close friends for over 50 years? Jerry (something). He is/was an Italian guy.
zero
I don't know...maybe it gives his name in the documentary above?
Chris Thorton thanx.
To date President Ford is the president with the most amount of time spent on this Earth after having left office. God bless him and the Ford Family.
My grandmas cousins 2 times removed husband is Gerald ford I'm from UK and I never met him before he died
Well he died in 2006, Carter is still alive and now we have 2020.
One of the best and one of my personal favorite presidents of all time.
Great video about an honest man from Grand Rapids Michigan.
I first watched this a year ago. 1 year later it's even better analysed. Excellent work. A great man G R Ford.
He said it himself: "A Ford, not a Lincoln."
This former president merits more respect
Absolutely the best directed documentary I have watched in a long time.
Thanks Ken! Can't believe I didn't see this comment 6 years ago.
I had the honor of shaking President Ford's hand when he visited my hometown of New City, New York
I shook hands with Lyndon Johnson in San Antonio, Texas in 1968, but I try not to let it go to my head.
The Ford campaign was the first campaign I volunteered for. I was all of 15. I'm a Democrat now and it's a shame that the Republican party of Gerald R. Ford no longer exists.
You supported a child rapist like all DEMONcrats
@Justin W it's not like Jimmy Carter did not continue ford's policies Regan even Clinton made cuts so maybe if that hasn't worked for decades maybe the third way failed 😂
Ford was right to pardon Nixon. I bet it was an extremely tough call for him to wrestle with, but he had to do it in order to move the country beyond Watergate. On the outside it may have seemed as if he just wanted to protect a fellow elite (and Ford was certainly one of the least "elitist" presidents we've ever had), but in reality it was a decision that mostly cost him the 1976 election. He put his political career on the line for that pardon. Pretty damn selfless for a politician.
I agree.
And it means more because everyone both Republicans and Democrats was telling him so!
I concur. The country had to get past watergate. I think that the presidencies of Gerald ford and jimmy carter despite the fact that they what they did in office may not have been much. They restored trust to the presidency which was needed after the presidencies of LBJ and Richard nixon
Least elitist my ass. He was a 64th level Freemason, look it up. Which doesn't mean he wasn't a great man, but let's keep things in perspective!
@@cbl1984 what do you mean
Great documentary, thank you for sharing. I like Gerald Ford, he was wonderful and beautiful, God bless him.
Loved this ❤
I'm from brazil. and as i can see Gerald Ford was the best.
President Ford had a great cabinet.
Great work, great documentary.
Thank You!
I worked on President Ford's campaign in 1976. What a good and decent man, a true patriot. History has started to treat him with the regard he is due, and I think in time he'll be seen as one of the last great presidents. Historians and scholars have concluded that pardoning Nixon was the right thing to do, even though it hurt Ford's chances in the 1976 election. What he did was courageous. He put the country first. As time passes he looks better and better. An amazing "what if" is if Ford had defeated Carter, could the takeover of the Republican Party by the radical right been averted? We'll never know. But I do know I miss Ford more now than in 1977 when he left office.
+swing and sweat I don't think that is the conclusion of historians.
edwardschlosser1 Citations?
His record is the best citation, Sean Webb. He healed the nation after Watergate. Ford was the right man at the right time to bring our country back.
Yea but still why did he lie his ass off on the warren comission ????? Huh. Oswald was a innocent man
Thank you for sharing this
All praise to the dear leader, Supreme President Ford
great documentary
i wasnt born yet when he was president and even when he left, but from what i have learned and read about him and his presidency, he was one of the greatest, honest, and courageous presidents we've had. pardoning Nixon was a brave thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. If he didn't we wouldn't have gotten past Watergate, as a nation.
My dad has been dead since September 1979, he loved President Ford and was very upset when he lost to Jimmy Carter, my dad wondered how this country could turn against a decent man like Ford, I was 17yo in 1976 I couldn’t vote , but I went with daddy to the polls, when he lost, daddy was so mad, he never lived to see the end of Carter’s Presidency, but that election of 1976 took a lot out of my dad.
Thank you for that story and positive words. It's always nice to hear good things about our leaders past and present. I made this 13 years ago and met him a
few years before he passed. He was a great man then and I was so honored to be in his presence.
At the age of 14 in 1976, I shook President Ford's hand when he campaigned against Carter in Rochester, N.Y. The country made a huge mistake in electing Jimmy Carter. It took the country 4 long years to realize the mistake they made and threw Carter out and replaced him with Reagan. I'm convinced had Gerald Ford ran in 1980, he would have won his job back.
The reaction to the Nixon pardon, and particularly the hostile press, made Ford unelectable. It was comparable to the effect of Chappaquiddick on Ted Kennedy. Ford should have realized that; stepped aside; and endorsed the nominee of an open republican convention--which would probably have been Reagan, four years earlier. Reagan would have beaten Carter easily.
@@williamwingo4740 you do know it was a very close race. Some say another week of campaigning Ford may of close the deal the momentum was on Ford’s side.
@@morticindavis9410 But the Nixon pardon was on Carter's.
Also the Reaganites (myself then included) refused to switch their allegiance to Ford, just like the Bernie-or-Busters refused to switch to Hillary forty years later.
Cheaney talking about honesty.....
That's rich.
Someone else's honesty. No his own. Lol
I would have voted for him.
I wouldn't, couldn't, and didn't.
@@williamwingo4740 good for you…
I found him a colourless president back then. Now in 2022 I honour Mrs. Betty Ford 🫶🏼.
Great doc Rob, are there others similar? Besides American Experience, Hx Channel??
None that I no of. There are some short ones out there. But any that are an hour or longer.
President Ford was one of our best presidents we’ve had and he has been under appreciated. His pardoning of Nixon was one of the most selfless actions of a POTUS.
A major factual mistake in this documentary comes at 36:57 when it is said that Ford announced a limited amnesty program for Vietnam war draft dodgers. The proclamation that Ford signed only provided limited amnesty for members of the armed forces who had deserted during the Vietnam war. Jimmy Carter signed proclamation 4483 which granted amnesty for those who dodged the draft during the Vietnam war.
Oh those 8track tape days 1974-1977 Ford,Nixon ,Carter,Kissanger
A man of dignity and honor and quiet faith. He healed our country, and tat cost him the election
He was a little too liberal for my taste but my, he dealt with Watergate, Vietnam and the economy so masterfully.
He served in WW2. Respect.
Bring back this type of person a.s.a.p. please
I wish I could have meeted him he is a long distant relative to my grandma (I'm from UK) but unfortunately he died
I met him when making this documentary. He was a great man then too. I met him just before he passed.
Ford was the best.
interesting....this video projects Ford as a savior and a leader, which contradicts everything my American History textbook says about him lol
I don't see why if he valued honesty so much he didn't place Nixon in a jail cell..
One of the most decent men ever to hold office.
An temporary U.S. President missed those 8track days. life was the best then
Bush, Rumsfield, Cheney, Kissenger..omg the Rats were in the house way back then!!!
Sure were. Just like the Rats of today who been there for 30-40 years.
He appointed them as cia directors, secretaries of defense and WH chiefs of staff. And their careers took off from then.
Really decent man
42:13 20 years later after dealing with OJ in the news constantly we thank you President Ford
Nice.
Loosing that election made him great. He sure knew what was coming and still chose to do the right thing which was healing the country. What the fk happened to the republican party? It’s disgusting to even think about their front runner, likely to be the nominee.
The pardon sent a terrible message: That if you are powerful enough you will go unpunished. And he didn't pardon people who had commited far lesser crimes.
Good luck finding an impartial jury.
I agree, even if I seem to be in the minority here. The saying at the time was "San Clemente for Nixon; San Quentin for everybody else."
Ford was a pretty good President. He was despised for pardoning Nixon at the time but we know now it was the right move.
Right or wrong, it was the kiss of death to any hopes of getting elected president on his own. And he should have known that.
pretty irritating documentary, interviewees spend about 2/3 of the film praising ford, and 1/3 actually telling historical events
Irritating to you but how can you think that Ford was not a great president?
I agree with you Paul. It wasn't just praise. It's a documentary offering insights into the man and how he operated in the currents of history.
Anybody know the music played at 31:52
Champions by David Hoffner
@@KWCline91 I have to ask. As the director, how do you know the name of tue cut of music was used? It's production library music. Just curious.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Eisenhower was pretty damn good at Football also.
Jerry did the best he could with what he had.
But he didn't have much, and his best was none too good.
When did this aire?
It originally aired in 2003. It still airs on PBS all over the U.S. and other countries around the world.
Where is Checkers
Does anyone know who the Senate Majority Leader was during this time.
Mike Mansfield
Grand rapids, city of platitudes!
and Amway.
Gerald and Betty Ford were two of the few Republicans who (even to this date) have supported LGBT rights.
Gerald Ford- RINO
Isn’t that Chevy Chase?
DontchaKnow
I wish Ford won the ‘76 presidential election so that he would be able to serve a full term as our 38th president
I am sorry but I can't get over the fact that Ford allowed the guilty to walk free. The perception that the law does not apply for the powerful and wealthy was greatly increased by allowing Nixon off the hook. If Mr. Joe Schmo And President john Doe are both guilty of the same crime then send them both to jail for the same amount of time. Mr. Ford tarnished his reputation and legacy, let it remain tarnished.
To bad that President Ford didn't wait until he was elected, then pardon Nickson!!
It's NIXON
Or wait until Nixon had been convicted of something to be pardoned for.
methinks there are too many platitudes here
He was a good man and a good president. For instance he kept inflation in check. After he left the White House, the aftermath was a disaster.
He had everybody wearing WIN "Whip Inflation Now" buttons. That's what did the trick.
@@williamwingo4740 Well inflation was kept in tow, when he was president.
It got out of hand when the peanut farmer got in there.
rip Gerald Ford 1913-2006 the greatest President who ever lived in history of all the other before him.
He was great but I would say that there were other greater presidents FDR and Lincoln just to name 2.
Notice the sweaty upper lip; (32:43) that`s why he lost againts Kennedy in 1960
That and a few thousand bought votes in Illinois....
The last good Republican president.
I am ten minutes into this and it is like a Propaganda film. I am trying to learn more about Ford and his Presidency - but this is just way too one-sided. Maybe it evens out more - but I am guessing it doesn't.
+Nick Jasper I agree man. I was doing a report on him, so i watched this for information. It is very well-made and very informative, but it did feel a bit biased.
Ford could no longer be nominated by the Republican Party for any major office, nor do I believe either Gerald or Betty Ford chose to be Republicans today. Their beliefs and their values have diverged too far.
Ford was too smart to be a lefty.
SAINT JOHN 14:6
JESUS SAITH TO HIM: I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO MAN COMETH TO FATHER , BUT BY ME.
I still respected Nixon
The accidental President
Nixon wanted to appoint Melvin Laird but he knew congress would never confirm him.
He should’ve stepped aside and let Reagan run in ‘76.
Michael Boyer no we should’ve elected Ford if we didn’t shift so far right we’d still be winning the west rust belt and north east I like Reagan but I think Ford would’ve been better
Ford was one of the most naive presidents ever. letting the birds of pray fully into the deepest parts of Americas knickers. Sad how the true meaning of this period is drifting away in comfortable saucy hyper normalization. Neoliberalists ripped us of and went away laughing. Leaving us with the shit. Cloudminders are real.
He was naive, I'll grant you that. If he hadn't let it go to his head and insisted on running in 1976, Reagan would have beaten Carter four years earlier. He was out of his depth from his first day in office. He should have stepped aside and endorsed the nominee of an open republican convention.
This video sucks. It just keeps saying the same over and over about how honest and loyal, blah blah blah. But look at the criminals he surrounds himself with. At least this guy does his own press, unlike the current bozo in chief.
ford is an underrated j president
He had a lot to be underrated about.