Quotations: President Gerald R. Ford
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His pardoning of Richard Nixon:
“There are no historic or legal precedents to which I can turn in this matter, none that precisely fit the circumstances of a private citizen who has resigned the presidency of the United States. … Many months and perhaps more years will have to pass before Richard Nixon could hope to obtain a fair trial by jury … But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me … but the immediate future of this great country. … Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, president of the United States … have granted and do grant a full, free and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he … has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 20, 1969, through Aug. 9, 1974.”
Repeating his truth in government philosophy, 1974:
“I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.”
On his pardon of Richard Nixon for Watergate:
“It can go on and on, or someone must write ‘The End’ to it. I have concluded that only I can do that. And if I can, I must.”
1974:
“Our inflation, our public enemy number one, will, unless whipped, destroy our country, our homes, our liberties, our property and finally our national pride as surely as will a well-armed wartime enemy.”
“When I talk about energy, I am talking about jobs. Our American economy runs on energy. No energy — no jobs.”
On becoming vice president, December 1973:
“I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.”
On Ronald Reagan:
“He was one of the few political leaders I have ever met whose public speeches revealed more than his private conversations.”
Following the two assassination attempts on him:
“The American people want a dialogue between them and their president … And if we can’t have that opportunity of talking with one another, seeing one another, shaking hands with one another, something has gone wrong in our society.”
Other Quotes:
“The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?”
“All of us who served in one war or another know very well that all wars are the glory and the agony of the young.”
“I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.”
“All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.”
“It’s the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It’s a quality to be proud of. But it’s a quality that many people seem to have neglected.”
“We … declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers.”
“Things are more like today than they have ever been before.”
“I watch a lot of baseball on the radio.”
“Teddy Roosevelt … once said, ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ Jimmy Carter wants to speak loudly and carry a fly swatter.”
“When I became president, I did not want to have a powerful chief of staff. Wilson had his Colonel House, Eisenhower his Sherman Adams, Nixon his Halderman, and I was aware of the trouble those top assistants had caused my predecessors.”
“If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have.”
“The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms; guard and cherish it; keep honor and order in your own house; and the republic will endure.”
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