Blogging the Wonder Years–Weighing In On Watergate, Chapter VI
With the recent day of mourning in honor of President Gerald Ford, it seemed fitting to revive my dormant series, Blogging the Wonder Years.
What’s the connection? Well, as you may recall, in my personal journal that I kept for Ms. Fine’s 7th grade class at Burnt Chimney Elementary School in Wirtz, Virginia, I not only dealt with my “touchy-feely” emotional side, adolescent angst and roiling hormones, but I also responded to the issues and events of the day. Previous excerpts included reflections and rants on my personal emotional and psychological growth during my first 6 years of elementary school, guys with long hair, so-called friends who called me “shorty,” cussing and the 70’s music scene (highly recommended since that was my highest comment post ever).
On September 12th, 1974, I weighed in on the new president of the United States, draft dodgers and Watergate:
I’d like to say something about our new president. I believe he is a good man and is capable of running this country.
But there are some of his ideas I don’t agree with. For example, I’ve heard stories that Mr. Ford might allow amnesty to the draft dodgers. I think this is downright plain unfair. His proposal is unfair to the families who lost loved ones during the war. I think the medals won by our dead war heroes would be meaningless if this amnesty was passed. It brings a shame upon this country for grown men to refuse to serve their country. And the very idea of welcoming them back! Ahhh, it makes me SICK!!
I do agree with his pardoning former president Nixon. I think the poor man has gone through enough humiliation. I believe Watergate has really crippled this country. Wow, do some Americans have a rotten attitude! I heard that Americans were 6 to 1 against pardoning Mr. Nixon. Well, I’m proud to be part of that 1! I’m sick of Watergate and I think we should forget it and focus our thoughts on other problems.
The disease of ignorance have been passed on unknowingly to many kids I’ve talked to. It really makes me sad when I hear kids saying their parents’ opinion and not their own.
Out of the mouths of babes. What a dazzling display of precocious political punditry! It’s a wonder that little diatribe didn’t make the editorial page of the Franklin County News-Post. But it’s evident that my political views leaned a little right in those days and that I wasn’t afraid to blaze my own path through the liberal morass that was Burnt Chimney Elementary School. It’s no coincidence that the twentysomething Ms. Fine, with her granny glasses, miniskirt and bachelor’s degree from that swanky all-girls liberal arts college in the Northeast, left a “no comment” on that particular entry.
So how do I feel about those same issues today? As the father of three sons who will all register for the draft within the next 5 years, I suspect my feelings on military service and conscription might be a little more nuanced these days than they were in 1974. But I think it’s also fair to say that I would still respect a conscientious objector or a person who is willing to go to jail for their beliefs more than someone who simply cuts and runs.
As for Ford’s pardon of Nixon, I still feel he did the right thing. Whether you love or hate “Tricky Dick,” I think it would be a hard sell to make the case that carrying out that nasty little business any further would have served the best interest of the country. The pardon probably contributed greatly to Ford’s loss to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election, and the fact that he was willing to act on his convictions regardless of the political consequences speaks to his stout character and integrity.
As for the “the disease of ignorance,” my daily forays into the blogosphere are enough to convince me that this country still suffers from a pretty bad case of the sniffles (don’t worry, I’m not talking about your blog).
In April 1981, President Ford visited Harding University under tighter-than-normal security in the wake of the Reagan assassination attempt the month before. I recall seeing a lot of guys wearing earphones and suits on rooftops during that time and getting a pretty good ocular once-over when I entered the Benson Auditorium. Once inside, I saw (and heard) first-hand that Gerald R. Ford was indeed a good man with a pretty decent sense of humor. And so was his son Steve, who was an actor and wannabe soap star at the time, who took some Q&A after his dad spoke and then hung out in the student center after the event was over.
But as we’ll see in the next installment, the honeymoon with President Ford didn’t last long. What a difference four months can make.