I just finished watching the State Funeral in the Rotunda of President Ford. As I was watching the news commentary about what a decent man, “real” man he was I looked at his family – Betty, his four children and his grandchildren standing there and I thought, that is what is all about…a legacy of good children, a wife that adored you for 58 years and collegues that remember you for your ethics and steadfastness.
I was in high school during Watergate. The summer of the hearings my sister and I spent that summer watching my little brother and sister (3 and 1) full time so my mother could work 2 jobs so we could move back East to her family from L.A. at the end of the summer. The only things on TV in the era of 5 channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, Channel 5 and PBS) were the hearings and Sesame Street. To this day I can sing alphabet songs, rubber ducky and at the same time recite the cast of characters from the hearings. My favorite was John Dean. It was way better than any of the “soaps” and awakened my interest in politics.
I remember standing in that hot August living room watching the Nixon resignation speech and realizing that as Ford took over the presidency what a historical moment it was. He had to pardon Nixon in order for the country to heal and move on. And yes it cost him. A year later, from a different living room across the country I watched as he made the decision for the U.S. to leave Saigon. But then when all was said and done and his time in office was up, he too, moved on and continued to be the loving father, husband and elder statesman that he always was and deserved to be.
As I watched Betty standing in the Rotunda and saw her strength through her fraility, I remembered her as the young, strong First Lady she was. Her life in the media microscope while at the same time teaching all of us a lesson in humility and strength in family.
May God bless their family and everything they have taught all of us.
