Obituary: Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.

From the Financial Times:

"Gerald Rudolph Ford, who died on Tuesday at the age of 93, may not have been the first American to have the presidency thrust upon him by act of man or god. But he was the first to become president without ever having actively sought the office in a long career in politics.

The twin circumstances of his accession were his 1973 appointment, under the 25th amendment to the constitution, to succeed Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had resigned in disgrace; his elevation to the Oval Office occurred a year later, on August 8, 1974, when Richard Nixon also resigned in the face of impeachment for Watergate offences.

History has tended to look quite kindly on the 895 day Ford presidency, as did his countrymen at the time by nearly returning him to office in 1976 against Jimmy Carter. It was felt, then and now, that he had restored a degree of dignity and decency to a besmirched White House, an achievement that helped offset the accurate public perception that he was far from the smartest president on record."