Was Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon the right thing to do?

[originalpckelly]

Poll question: Was Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon the right thing to do?

[Vincardog]

1. The pardon shortcut the process. An investigation and trial would have saved us from Cheney

and Rummy and this whole criminal mis-administration.

[originalpckelly]

2. How?

They weren't involved were they?

[Vincardog]

8. Where do you think they made their bones?

[originalpckelly]

10. Yes, but there is no evidence whatsoever that Ford was involved in Watergate...

how would an investigation into Watergate, and the subsequent trial, have prevented Ford from being President?

I don't recall hearing any evidence that Rumsfeld was involved in Watergate either. And I also don't recall any evidence that showed Cheney was involved in Watergate.

How would not pardoning Nixon have prevented Cheney and Rumsfeld from attaining their current posts?

[Vincardog]

11. The investigations would not have been just on the watergate break in.

No one said Ford was in on anything.

The rest of the Republicants were.

They would have been exposed in any real investigation.

[havocmom]

14. Cheney and Rumsfeld worked for Nixon

They, and EVERYONE else in that malAdministration who helped with the stonewall, would have gone done major and never been heard from beyond the occasional talk show sympathy gig and book tour.

Ford gave stature to the Magic Bullet Theory in JFK's assignation and he let a lot of people off the hook in the Nixon years too. All in all, a lot of very bad people stayed free to ravage America because of Ford.

Affable chap that he was, he was not good for America!

[Solon]

3. Even without the benefit of looking into the past, it would have been right at the time.

You either are for the rule of law, or you aren't, there is no middle ground in this matter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. No, absolutely not.

I was really pissed off about it at the time; I wanted very much to see Nixon in the dock. I wanted to see court papers captioned "United States of America, Plaintiff, vs. Richard M. Nixon, Defendant." The real problem with that pardon was the example it set for future presidents -- that you can crap all over the Constitution and commit all kinds of crimes, but don't worry; your successor will pardon you -- so you can just lay low for awhile, then recreate yourself as a senior statesman and make a bunch of money on the lecture circuit until you feel like retiring.

Maybe Ford really thought he was doing the right thing; maybe he assumed no future president would pull the same kind of shit Nixon did -- I don't know. But Nixon deserved to be subjected to a criminal trial. Maybe he would have been acquitted, but I doubt it.

[antiimperialist]

5. Criminals must go to jail

as simple as that.

[journalist3072]

6. The pardon interferred with the administration of justice

I absolutely believe the pardon was the wrong thing to do, b/c it prevented the administration of justice.

What would have been the harm in letting Richard Nixon, by then a former President, be brought up on charges and stand trial? A trial would have allowed the facts to come out.

I think it was selling the American people short to basically say 'let's pardon Nixon and move on past Watergate.'

We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

[billbuckhead]

7. Set the stage for IranContra and today's Bush-Halliburton shenanigans

Huge miscarriage of justice

[demnan]

9. At the time it probably seemed right but

now when you see what they try to get away with, you just wonder, Would they have gone this far had Nixon been prosecuted?

[Solo_in_MD]

12. Concur

[havocmom]

13. "... with liberty and justice for all." I haven't been able to say the Pledge of Allegiance

since Ford pardoned Nixon and made it most evident that there was justice for some, and a few got to avoid it all together.

[fujiyama]

15. Gotta agree with the majority here

I have no especially ill feelings towards Ford and his family has my condolences, but I believe he set a bad precedent with his action.

No man or woman in the US should be above the law - even the president. Ford interfered with the correct judicial process. Nixon should been indicted and tried for his crimes as any other citizen.

I have not seen any involvement of Ford being involved with Watergate, and in his mind, I think Ford really thought he was doing the right thing. After all, his approval rating plummeted immediately after the pardon - and it was likely what cost him the '76 election.