I have a confession to make. I once voted for a Republican
Presidential candidate. That candidate was Gerald Ford.
Why? Several reasons. For one, it was my
first time voting, so I was not very good at it yet. Two,
even though I was upset about the pardon of Nixon, and unimpressed by
his handling of the economy, I thought he was sincere and honest.
Three, I thought he had been chosen deliberately to be a
noncontroversial "placeholder" president; not someone who was
interested in a power grab.
One of the areas where some liberals and some conservatives agree is
this: concentration of too much power is potentially a bad thing.
When Nixon resigned, the office of the President became less
of a center of power. That is how I wanted it, and I thought
Ford would keep it that way.
Fourth, I did not trust Jimmy Carter. He presented himself as
humble, almost to a fault, and I did not buy it. Of course,
time has shown that he was genuine, so he proved me
wrong.
Fifth, I must also confess, I was influenced by the fact that Ford was
from Michigan. Not a big influence, but I couldn't ignore it.
Now he returns, for interment in Grand Rapids.
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Hee. Sorry, just seeing the opening sentences reminds me of the That 70's Show episode where Ford came through campaigning for the 76 election. After hearing that he'd be giving a speech, Red was complaining endlessly about what a terrible President he was. Kitty tried to calm him down: "Red, you voted for Ford." Red was just incredulous. "Kitty, nobody voted for Ford!" I don't know why, it just killed me at the time ...
In hindsight, do you think the Pardon was a good thing? Or at least better than the alternative, now that you've seen the Democratic vindictiveness that came out in Iran-Contra or the Republican madness that was the Whitewater + Lewinsky scandal, and how both slowed government action down to a standstill?
At the time, the Pardon gave the impression that we had a class-system society, with some people being above the law. Furthermore, I don't think partisan politics was as vicious back then. (I know that would be difficult to prove, but it is the impression that I have.)
There is no easy answer, as there would have been problems either way.
Plus, if there had not been a pardon, and Nixon had been impeached AND convicted, perhaps it would have made subsequent scandals less likely. Again, impossible to prove.
So on the whole I think it was a bad thing, but I don't discount the counterarguments.