Dec 27, 2006 7:41 pm US/Eastern
City On Ford: News Headline Didn't Define Him
by Magee Hickey
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Ford never said the words "Drop Dead" during New York's fiscal crisis, and many New Yorkers remembered him fondly Wednesday.
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U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon on Sept. 9, 1974.
AP
To many New Yorkers, Gerald Ford seemed to have a love-hate relationship with this city. While he professed to have great affection for the Big Apple, some New Yorkers remember a headline that seemed to dispute that claim.
The year was 1975. Abe Beame was mayor, and New York City was in the grips of a fiscal crisis -- with more than $200 million in debt -- and asking for federal help as the city's way out.
The president's response was captured in the famous Daily News headline of October 30, 1975: "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD."
President Ford never actually said the words, and the feds actually did float loans for the city three weeks later, but the headline was powerful enough for New York City readers that President Ford was not elected to a full term.
"There are decent people. There are people who never rise to decency, and Gerry Ford was the most decent," said former Mayor Ed Koch.
Koch was a congressman at the time Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, and as a Democrat, he opposed the move.
In retrospect Koch feels that Ford did the right thing to heal the country. Other Democrats from that time, like former Mayor David Dinkins, agreed.
"He said he never made a deal. It took courage to do that -- ended a long nightmare for this country. We had Watergate and Vietnam -- he healed this country," Dinkins said.
In his later years, Ford insisted that his tough love approach to the city, forcing New York to be more fiscally responsible, is what saved the Big Apple from bankruptcy and financial ruin.
On the streets of the city, more New Yorkers remembered the pardon and the kindness of the 38th president than the "Drop Dead" headline.
"[Ford was] a very decent man who came along at just the right time," said Elizabeth Besobrasow.
Marty Gold had a stronger opinion. "He never should have pardoned Richard Nixon who was a criminal," he said.
Chris Corcoran said, "He was a steady mid-westerner who restored integrity and stability to the White House during a difficult time in our lives."
Suzanne Berger said, "He was human. Even though he slipped and fell, he took over America. He will be missed."
Details on funeral arrangements are still being worked out. His family will hold a private service for him in Palm Desert, California, followed by a public viewing there.
His body is tentatively schedule to lie in state over the weekend in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Afterward, there will be an official funeral at the National Cathedral.
His body will then be flown to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he will be buried outside the Gerald R. Ford Museum.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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