Former President Gerald Ford was lauded Wednesday as a Midwesterner of dignity and integrity as arrangements were made for his body to return to Capitol Hill to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
Tributes from around the nation and the world poured forth after Ford’s death Tuesday night at age 93. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle described him as a dedicated public servant who unified the nation and moved it through a traumatic period in the aftermath of Watergate at his own political expense.
“President Ford was a unifier, a statesman and, more importantly, he was an everyman instead of a typical Washington politician,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “He was one of us.”
Republicans and Democrats recalled Ford as a man who represented a bygone era, one of collegiality and friendship, where politicians battled by day and shared martinis by night.
After the body is flown to Washington on Saturday, Ford’s motorcade will pause at the World War II Memorial en route to the Capitol. Ford’s body will lie in state in the Capitol, where he represented Grand Rapids, Mich., as a House member for 25 years and as House Republican leader. His body is expected to arrive Saturday evening in the Rotunda, to be met by Hastert and Senate President Pro Tem Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for a short ceremony.
The casket will be available for public viewing Saturday night, Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday morning, a large-scale funeral will be held at the National Cathedral. Then, next Wednesday, Ford will be interred at a hillside site near his presidential library and museum on the banks of the Grand River in Grand Rapids.
President Bush on Wednesday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for the next 30 days in Ford’s honor.
“President Ford was a great man who devoted the best years of his life to serving the United States of America. He was also a true gentleman who reflected the best in America’s character,” Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Democratic Rep. John Dingell, the dean of the Michigan delegation, praised his former colleague: “Gerald Ford and I came from different sides of the aisle, but we forged a wonderful friendship as we served Michigan together in the House of Representatives.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the incoming House speaker, praised Ford for taking the long view. “He recognized that however much we may disagree on political questions, we serve all of the people of the nation in a great institution: the House of Representatives,” she said.
Ford was a creature of the House, with his grandest ambition to serve as its speaker. Instead, President Richard Nixon tapped him to be vice president, replacing the disgraced Spiro Agnew in 1973. He later took over as president in 1974 after Nixon himself resigned over the fallout from a botched burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate building.
He will likely be remembered best for the words he spoke when he assumed the presidency, as well as for his controversial pardon of Nixon.
“My fellow Americans,” Ford said, “our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”
Though Ford’s words at the time soothed, his decision to pardon Nixon a month later inflamed critics and inspired chatter about a conspiracy by Nixon to elevate Ford in exchange for wiping the legal slate clean.
Second thoughts on pardon
At the time, Dingell and most other Democrats opposed the pardon. On Wednesday, Dingell said it was the right thing to do. “The way he conducted himself after that appalling experience we had with Watergate that just had the country in a screaming rage–if he did nothing else, bringing us back together will secure his place in history,” Dingell said in an interview.
Ford offers a case study in the way that time and perspective may alter history’s judgment of presidents. Decades after the pardon of Nixon, the bitter disagreement with his decision has largely faded.
“I think historians today agree, and it’s universal among politicians, that he made the absolutely correct decision with respect to President Nixon and the pardon in terms of trying to get it behind the country and getting the country to come together,” said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).
Nevertheless, that one act likely cost Ford the presidency. He narrowly lost his bid to be elected president in his own right to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976. The two men later became close friends.
“An outstanding statesman, he wisely chose the path of healing during a deeply divisive time in our nation’s history,” Carter said in a statement.
3 living ex-presidents left
Ford’s death leaves the number of former chief executives who are living at three. They are President George H.W. Bush, Carter and President Bill Clinton.
Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), issued a joint statement, saying their prayers were with the Ford family.
“Gerald Ford brought Americans together during a difficult chapter in our history with strength, integrity and humility,” the Clintons said.
Words of praise for Ford’s leadership came from all corners, including world leaders.
German President Horst Koehler offered his “deeply felt condolences” and described Ford as “a great American.” Czech President Vaclav Klaus called Ford “an outstanding politician” whose work “was instrumental for freedom in my country and for the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe.”
On Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange observed two minutes of silence before trading began Wednesday morning.
And in Illinois, political leaders said they joined all Americans in mourning the 38th president.
“He was a man of great integrity and decency, and he deserves our gratitude for guiding the nation through a very difficult period and restoring trust in the presidency,” said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called Ford “a man of principle, integrity, and honesty who helped heal the nation during some of our darkest times.”
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jzuckman@tribune.com
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Observances for late president
All times CST
FRIDAY
2:20 p.m.: Gerald Ford’s casket arrives at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, Calif. The Ford family will have a private prayer service.
3:15 p.m.: Close friends and guests will arrive at St. Margaret’s for private visitation.
6:20 p.m.: Public repose begins at St. Margaret’s. The church will remain open until 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. Saturday.
SATURDAY
11 a.m.: Departure ceremony at St. Margaret’s.
11:40 a.m.: Ford’s body leaves for Washington.
4:20 p.m.: Body arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, traveling to the U.S. Capitol. The motorcade will pause at the World War II Memorial.
5:20 p.m.: Casket will be carried up the east steps of the Capitol to the door of the House of Representatives.
6 p.m.: State funeral begins in the Capitol Rotunda.
7:20 p.m.: Body lies in state.
SUNDAY AND MONDAY
Ford’s body continues lying in state.
TUESDAY
7:30 a.m.: Casket is moved from the Rotunda to the Senate door for a period of repose.
8:15 a.m.: Departure ceremony on the east steps of the Senate.
9 a.m.: Casket arrives at Washington National Cathedral.
9:30 a.m.: Funeral begins.
11:15 a.m.: Casket will leave the cathedral for trip to Grand Rapids, Mich.
1:15 p.m.: Body will arrive in Michigan.
2:30 p.m.: Casket will arrive at the presidential museum in Grand Rapids. The body will lie in public repose through the night.
WEDNESDAY
1 p.m.: Funeral at Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids. The president will be interred at a hillside site north of the museum.
–Associated Press
