Was Ford right to pardon Nixon?

[ButterflyBlood]

a little debate about it in the "last election between two honorable opponents" poll. I wasn't alive at the time and I'll abstain, but there is a good point for him doing it, it would've ripped the nation apart even more which wasn't needed.

[troublemaker]

1. Yes

Otherwise Ford would have been elected in 1976

[onehandle]

7. Wrong.

Ford's administration was a joke. A prosecution of Nixon would have hurt the GOP even more. The GOP knew they would lose in '76 and possibly beyond, so they needed damage control and time to find some new dirty tricks. So they pardoned Nixon. The heat for this would be hot, but short term. At this point the first Bush started his plans to take over the darkest wing of the GOP and continue Nixon's original plans.

W.I.N.?

ha ha ha ha ha

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. Ford and the rest of the GOP needed to silence Nixon, and the best...

...way to have done it was by pardoning him.

Nixon knew a lot of the background history of the U. S. from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. That background history included his role in the loss of Gary Powers' U-2, the assassination of Central American leaders, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Task Force, the assassination of JFK, the assassinations of RFK and MLK, Jr., the attempted assassination of George Wallace, and other topics too numerous to list.

If put on trial, Nixon would have dumped everything to avoid prison.

[aquart]

2. No.

Proved that the only thing that mattered was important connections. Right or wrong? Forget it.

One of the biggest mistakes this nation ever made.

[Josh]

3. Yes.

(And I'm not an American, so I'm looking with a perhaps not-understanding-enough outsider's view. I have, however, studied Richard Nixon.)

The nation was ripping itself apart, and I think to drag an ex-president through court cases would have hurt the country even further. Ford did the right thing, as unpopular as it was.

[Cleita]

4. Exactly , and I'm an American.

For a Repuke, I actually liked Ford for his honesty. He probably should have been a Democrat, but a lot of white people can't accept being part of THEM.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Ford was a LOT slimier than most people realized...

...his role on the Warren Commission was absolutely crucial toward steering the conclusion toward the "lone-nut gunman" theory. He was a direct pipeline to J. Edgar Hoover from the closed-door meetings of the Commission.

Ford also appointed Poppy Bush to the position of Director of the CIA, and that speaks volumes, IMHO. Pardoning Nixon was just another layer toward keeping the lid on decades of secrets.

[Cleita]

13. Pigs do all hang around the same wallow.

I think he tried to rise above it by attempting to preserve the power of the office of the Presidency,IMHO. Maybe I'm thinking he had a spate of patriotism and there was none. But so far in my knowledge of him, he wasn't into the corporate whoredom the rest of them are. I mean the Repukes didn't do a big effort to steal an election for him did they, or even help him get re-elected?

[mobuto]

8. I disagree

The damage to this nation was done solely by Richard M. Nixon. That he was not prosecuted for his crimes prevented the country from healing, and the polarization that has arisen since is a direct result.

[Cleita]

12. Ford actually preserved the power of the Presidency by

pardoning Nixon. Although you have a point, in hindsight, do we want the Prez to have the powers that W is taking so lightly?

[Stargleamer]

5. No way. I lived through it

and it seems ridiculous to say it was ripping or could have ripped the country apart. How? What specific disaster would befell the country if he had been prosecuted and done some time? The few loyal Republicans he had left would have ripped their hair out? When Nixon left his poll ratings were rock bottom. This nation could survive any small measure of justice, I would think.

[aldebaran]

6. It was done to protect the "Office"

Can't have future President's worried about prosecution can we?

Of course, if they could have locked up Clinton, they would have.

Also- It was part of the deal when ford was made VP after they got rid of Agnew, which was required before Nixon could resign.

[ConsAreLiars]

11. No

No. If the full extent of Nixon's crimes and those who backed them had become known it would have exposed and broken the very forces that now have again seized control of the US State apparatus.

No. If Ford had not pardoned Nixon most Americans would have understood the true nature of the cabal who now rule us; and instead of a base of 30% and an uninformed majority, they would have had a pro-fascist base of 10% and not much more. The terror and bloodshed that we see today would never have happened. The just legacy of MLK, RFK, JFK and friends would have prevailed.

No.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

14. My .02

Richard Milhous Nixon never should have been pardoned. He was a pustule that took advantage of every political opportunity in his lifetime and what is his legacy; George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush.

They are all part of the same "Axis of Evil" to put it in more contemporary terms. One begot the other, bottom line.

The GOP has been and always will be in my mind: The Enemy.