Defining Gerald Ford (Part II): Good President or Just a Good Republican?

"Gerald Ford was handed the presidency in exchange for a political favor."

"Gerald Ford set the table for himself, and sold out Richard Nixon to gain the Oval Office."

"Gerald Ford was a moderate Republican, and his appointment to the office of the President was an orchestrated move crafted to dupe Democrats into buying into Republican machinations."

"Gerald Ford was a tool of the Republicans so that conservatives could lay down roots and install themselves as unmovable fixtures within the political machine."
"Gerald Ford was a disgrace to the Republicans, and his inadequacies let down every conservative American."

As a child and then as a teenager, growing up in a politically divided household, I heard these theories and accusations time and again. And then some.

The first argument I remember suggests that Ford, the non-threat, the easily approvable candidate for the vice-presidency, was given the office because of his loyalist nature. That's a nice theory, but Ford demonstrated his unwillingness to vote with his party when he felt that the party was wrong. This was demonstrated well before even Nixon took office; his foreign policy clearly showed, repeatedly, that he was an internationalist, a man who would choose peaceful tactics rather than military effrontery every time. Ford sought to build international relationships constantly, as can be seen in his détente with the then-U.S.S.R. and the People's Republic of China, two nations that perpetuated their own Cold War for decades.

Too, Ford risked disfavor with fellow Republicans by engaging in accord talks that would establish global human rights watch activities. President Ford was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing Canada into the international socio-economic summit that we now know as the G8 (Canada was the eight nation to be included in this organization.). All, in all, Ford represented more of a threat to the Republican war machine and to those with special interests in mind. So much for theory one.