As bad as it was, It was the right thing to do. This country would've literally torn itself apart if Nixon stood trial and Ford wouldn't have been able to govern the country at all (and he was barely able to even with the pardon) had he not done so and this was his main reasoning for pardoning Nixon in the first place. Keep in mind we had inflation and at the same time had what was at the time the worst economic recession since the great depression from 1973-1975, all of which would most likely be worse had the country been pre occupied with Watergate and a trial.
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