Did Jerry Ford do the right thing in pardoning Dick Nixon?

[WI_DEM]

Poll question: Did Jerry Ford do the right thing in pardoning Dick Nixon?

[creeksneakers2]

1. In every other criminal case

the right wing says punishment brings closure to the victims.

I don't see how letting Nixon go healed anything.

[MrModerate]

2. I'd say "Hell No." The "healing the nation" bullshit . . .

Could have done my lawn some good this summer. He let Nixon off the hook and short-circuited history's right to know just how big a criminal Nixon was. He also did it out of pure partisanship, to prevent the Republican party from being wrecked. If he had let justice play out, the 'Licans would be history now, and some other party without a criminal past would occupy the center-right.

[loveable liberal]

3. Prison fixes nothing for the non-violent.

At least this way, Nixon will never be able to repay his debt to society and will always be an example of republicanism. It would have been way too much money for very little satisfaction.

[TahitiNut]

4. I think he honestly believed it was the right thing. I disagree - both then and now.

I think there's a 'class' myopia among professional politicians. Ford said he though Nixon 'suffered' enough. I thought then and think now it was less about Nixon's 'suffering' than about the precedent of letting law-breaking go unpunished at the highest levels.

I'm in favor of more impeachments ... they should be common. Supreme Court Justices and Presidents and Vice Presidents ... impeach 'em when they get out of line. Prompt. Swift. Then move on. That's the true strength in the Constitution - not some paranoid fear of changes.

[Greybnk48]

5. Most of America back then was furious

as was I. I think it was wrong then, and I still do.

[Greyhound]

6. Absolutely not. All this "heal the nation" crap is just that.

He allowed the perpetrators of one of this nation's most egregious crimes go unexamined and unpunished. He enabled the lawlessness of privilege to be further ensconced to our national shame, which lead to the acceptance of raygun's outrages that followed.

Until a few days ago, I was neutral toward him out of ignorance, after another DUer clued me in, and I did a little digging, I find that he was as horrible as the rest of his "party", a shill for those who feel their privilege is their birthright and believe themselves to be our superiors.

It's times like these I wish that I could believe in some justice after life, it would be nice to think of him suffering in his Hell.

[lapfog_1]

7. Now that he is buried, we could let this drop...

but the facts are these:

By the time Nixon resigned, the country was NOT bitterly divided about it. Yes, there were some die-hard Nixon supporters (but likely under 20 percent), yes the prosecution would have been unprecedented, but then so was the coming impeachment and removal from office, yes we needed closure and to "move on" (that phrase wasn't around then but appropriate). However, the pardon didn't provide closure, it further polarized the country in that Ford supporters and republicans in general had to NOW defend the new president, and there was this feeling, then and now, that a deal had been struck for Nixon to resign instead of facing an impeachment in return for a full pardon.

My belief is that by NOT bringing Nixon to trial, it allowed the same group of people to do more criminal acts later (Iran Contra / illegal wiretaps / moving military funds from one command to another / etc, etc) precisely because "if the President does it, it's not illegal", the most anyone will suffer is possible resignation with blanket pardons all around.

[elfin]

8. Yes - but I think he should have insisted on

a statement of guilt or culpability from Tricky. It needed to be ended - just like Viet Nam over which he also presided. However, I was furious at the time about the pardon - but changed my mind about it many years ago. Those years were brutal. Today's situation approaches but does not match the very real sense of peril for our republic that I felt back then as a 30 something.

[Raine]

12. Ford did insist on an admission of guilt...

it was to be part of the pardon but I don't recall Nixon ever keeping that part of the agreement. Possibly Nixon did admit it but I have no memory of it.

[watrwefitinfor]

9. I was pissed then, along with the rest of the country.

And now I'm pissed again.

Wat

[AndyTiedye]

10. They Are Spreading that Meme Now, Because They Are Going to Pardon Themselves/Each Other Very Soon

When they do, we must send them to the Hague.

[NNN0LHI]

11. I am more pissed now that I was then

When Nixon said after the pardon that whatever a president does cant be illegal it put me over the edge on this.

Don

[B Calm]

13. Heal the nation crap is bull. RW assholes rewriting history!