In the White House, Gerald Ford is announcing his decision to grant a pardon to Richard Nixon. Washington DC, United States. September 8, 1974 [800×517]
In the White House, Gerald Ford is announcing his decision to grant a pardon to Richard Nixon. Washington DC, United States. September 8, 1974 [800×517]
On September 8, 1974, Gerald Ford [pardoned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon) Richard Nixon for every Federal crime that he might have committed during his term, including the Watergate. Ford justified himself by stating that the country needed to move on.
The pardon caused a great deal of controversy, with accusations of corrupt bargain between Ford and Nixon over his resignation; the New York Times called it “profoundly unwise, divisive, and unjust act” and Ford’a approval rate fell from 76% to 50%. The Republican party lost 43 seats in the House and three in the Senate during the 1974 midterms, held one month after, and Ford himself would lose against Carter in 1976. Ford himself always carried on him a copy of the *Burdick v. United States* ruling, which ruled that parcons carried on them a presumption of guilt and, according to Hunter Thompson, said that “I know I will go to Hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon.” Some even said that pardoning Nixon created a culture of impunity for future Presidents.
OTOH, in 2001, the JFK Library Foundation awarded to Ford the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, with Ted Kennedy saying that he was initially opposed to the pardon but later thought that history proved it to be the right decision.
bradhat19 on
Gerald ford died today.. and I’m gay. *oh come on!*
2 Comments
On September 8, 1974, Gerald Ford [pardoned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_Richard_Nixon) Richard Nixon for every Federal crime that he might have committed during his term, including the Watergate. Ford justified himself by stating that the country needed to move on.
The pardon caused a great deal of controversy, with accusations of corrupt bargain between Ford and Nixon over his resignation; the New York Times called it “profoundly unwise, divisive, and unjust act” and Ford’a approval rate fell from 76% to 50%. The Republican party lost 43 seats in the House and three in the Senate during the 1974 midterms, held one month after, and Ford himself would lose against Carter in 1976. Ford himself always carried on him a copy of the *Burdick v. United States* ruling, which ruled that parcons carried on them a presumption of guilt and, according to Hunter Thompson, said that “I know I will go to Hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon.” Some even said that pardoning Nixon created a culture of impunity for future Presidents.
OTOH, in 2001, the JFK Library Foundation awarded to Ford the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, with Ted Kennedy saying that he was initially opposed to the pardon but later thought that history proved it to be the right decision.
Gerald ford died today.. and I’m gay. *oh come on!*