Ford and Conservatism...

The death of Gerald Ford brings back many memories. While I have no doubt that President Ford was an upstanding individual of impeccable moral character, forgive me for saying so, but his presidency was, well, ineffectual.

Faced with the "energy crisis" and the "Arab Oil Embargo" President Ford's response was to lower the national speed limit to 55 mph. Faced with the prospect and reality of runaway inflation, President Ford's response was the creation of the WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button.

While Ford's incompetencies certainly couldn't hold a candle to the incompetencies of his successor, Ford, for all his good intentions, simply wasn't a great President.

Again, Gerald Ford was a nice guy. He had integrity. But he was a "country club" republican; hardly even a shadow of Ronald Reagan, who would go on as the standard bearer of the Conservative movement.

Yes, Ford was a good man. But any attempt to label his presidency as anything resembling greatness would be disingenuous, and at best a wild stretch of the imagination.

While I mourn his loss, his legacy is certainly less than stellar.