Gerald R. Ford, 1913-2006 - Rest In Peace

President Gerald R. Ford, 93, has passed away. The only unelected president in American history, Ford was a better man than the media portrayed him while he was in office. His biography is here. I'm proud that I voted for him when he ran for (re) election against Jimmy Carter.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," Mrs. Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

The statement did not say where Ford died or list a cause of death. Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments — including an angioplasty — in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford was an accidental president, Nixon's hand-picked successor, a man of much political experience who had never run on a national ticket. He was as open and straight-forward as Nixon was tightly controlled and conspiratorial.

He took office minutes after Nixon flew off into exile and declared "our long national nightmare is over." But he revived the debate a month later by granting Nixon a pardon for all crimes he committed as president. That single act, it was widely believed, cost Ford election to a term of his own in 1976, but it won praise in later years as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on.

Rest in peace, Jerry. You did what you could with a bad situation.

UPDATE: Huge reaction in the blogosphere. Others: Althouse, Outside The Beltway, Liberal Values, Wake up America, Matthew Yglesias, Democracy in America, Dean's World, The Democratic Daily, Bark Bark Woof Woof, PoliBlog, Gay Patriot, Michelle Malkin,  MyDD, The Political Pit Bull, Macsmind, The Talking Dog, Polimom, Gun Toting Liberal, Blogs of War, Pundit Guy,  bRight & Early, The Glittering Eye, Riehl World View, Scared Monkeys, The Jawa Report, Shot in the Dark, The Strata-Sphere, Donklephant, Redstate, Jules Crittenden, Wizbang, Hot Air, Don Surber, A Blog For All, Balloon Juice,

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  By Malnurtured Snay, Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 4:52 am

  My friend remarked, and I kind of agree, that Ford died not because of his age, but because he couldn’t go on in a world without James Brown.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Political Pit Bull — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:07 am

2. Flopping Aces — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:21 am

3. The American Mind / President Gerald Ford (1913-2006) — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:28 am

4. Gun Toting Liberal â„¢ » Blog Archive » President Gerald Ford, RIP - 1913-2006 — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:32 am

5. Blue Star Chronicles — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:53 am

6. Webloggin — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 12:56 am

7. Leaning Straight Up — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 1:18 am

8. Pajamas Media — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 6:03 am

9. bRight & Early — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 6:25 am

10. Outside The Beltway | OTB — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 7:46 am

11. Hyscience — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 9:43 am

12. A Blog For All — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 10:55 am

13. Sensible Mom — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 11:45 am

14. Don Surber — Wednesday, 27 December , 2006 @ 1:36 pm

15. The Right Nation — Thursday, 28 December , 2006 @ 10:20 am

16. Jon Swift — Friday, 29 December , 2006 @ 2:21 pm