Buchanan: "a good man in evil times"

These are some of my favorite pics of President Ford and his best friend, Liberty. Can there be any doubt that he was one of the good guys?

Patrick J. Buchanan has a good piece about President Ford in which he explains why Ford was loved and why he was hated.

President Ford was pretty well liked on both sides of the isle early on in his presidency. The left was finally rid of that "evil" Nixon as well as the hated Spiro Agnew, who had the unmitigated gall to openly eschew the media. That Ford made Nelson Rockefeller his veep was icing on the media's cake; they've always been partial to elitist Rockefeller republicans.

The love-fest ended abruptly when Ford pardoned (gasp!) Nixon. The rest is history.

Today and throughout the next week, President Ford is being fondly remembered for being a man of solid character and all around good guy. His worst critics will concentrate on his "unforgivable" pardon, but virtually everyone remembers him as a decent and honorable man.

I had forgotten that Ford had a Golden Retriever named Liberty. At the time I didn't know all that much about Goldens, but years later we acquired our own Golden Retriever. What a special breed! Anyone who loves Goldens has a special place in my heart and this pretty much cements in my mind that President Ford was, in fact, one of the good guys. Yeah, yeah...I know that's a shallow evaluation, but it's my tribute and I'm sticking with it!

The above pics of President Ford and Liberty in the Oval office are courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum.