The pardon and Iraq

A caller on C-Span Washington Journal’s “Democrat” line, on the passing of Gerald Ford, mentioned that he was “against [Richard Nixon’s] pardon at the time but now understood the wisdom in it,” adding later, “But this President Bush will go down as the worst president ever.”
Within those few seconds, the caller highlighted the accuracy of hindsight, the confusion of the present, and the opaqueness of the future. When President Ford issued a complete pardon to former president Richard Nixon in 1974, only a third of the U.S. population agreed. Yet, Ford understood that President’s Andrew Johnson’s impeachment a century earlier, occurring immediately after the Civil War, weakened the presidency and helped produced a deep schism in a country still reeling from war. In Ford’s case, the country had deep divisions not only from Watergate but from Vietnam. An act of pardon began the process of re-uniting our country, and in time, people appreciated Ford’s act of courage and understood its importance. However, that singular act in large part cost the president his opportunity for re-election.

Though one can look back and see perfectly, policy has to be built on current knowledge, the country’s mood, experience and history, a reasonable guess about the future, and the judgment to know how much of these need to go into the equation. Unfortunately, none of these are known with certainty, even the lessons of history. After all, new situations might remind us of a past one, but the nuances of the present challenge make for inexact analogies. Cultures are different; times and expectations change; values are moveable. Therefore, one can only use the previous outcomes and events as instructive rather than definitive. Since there is such inexactitude, plans and even goals are constantly refined.

Still, President Ford proved that good judgment can enable one to see the best path forward among the myriad of possibilities. Public opinion at the time may be wrong or may be right. In President Ford’s case, it was wrong. In President Bush’s case, we shall see. – SJG