Nixon Never Thanked Ford For Pardon
WASHINGTON (AP) – It could’ve been the most important thing anyone ever did for Richard Nixon, but did Nixon ever thank Gerald Ford for pardoning him?
The answer, apparently, is no.
Newsman Bob Schieffer told AP Radio News in 2003 that he asked Ford if he felt Nixon should’ve thanked him, and Ford replied, “it would’ve helped.”
Schieffer pressed Ford and asked how he felt about Nixon not thanking him, and Ford chuckled and said, “well, that’s Nixon for you.”
Schieffer says Ford believed that the pardon was “the major factor” in his later losing the presidential race to Jimmy Carter.
It was the only election Ford ever lost.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
