How do you feel about Ford's decision to pardon Nixon?

[Usili]

I always view the decision for Ford's pardoning of Nixon as something that can not be easily answerable. While many comments before this have summarized my thoughts on it, I have always thought about it in terms of the differences if he had been pardoned and if he had not.

If he had not been pardoned, I could imagine that if he had gone to trial (presuming he had not died from his phlebitis as he very nearly did in October, 1974), the nation would have been obsessed about it. President Ford would have been constantly overshadowed and likely been unable to push through any kind of efforts in legislative action with the country likely paralyzed from watching it. Nixon would have likely released significant amounts of the information he had held on his political enemies, while information on what Nixon did would have also been released. Considering the kind of economic and political climate in the 1970s, I do not imagine this would have been pleasant, and could have lasted for a long period. There's also the question of what would have happened if he died in the middle of the trial, and what that might have been done.

I can understand however from the people who say that Nixon's pardoning basically made it so Presidents were 'above the law', and their sharp criticism for it. It's one of such a nature that I feel is nearly impossible in how to picture what in another world where Nixon hadn't been pardoned would've looked like. Maybe it would've been worse in the long run by the much sharper anger, distrust, and possible hatred of the United States government because of the trial. Maybe it wouldn't have been worse, but is one that I still feel is near impossible to answer. It's a decision that I'm not sure I can honestly answer, but if I was pressed to give an answer on it, I'd probably support Ford's decision to pardon Nixon, because while there might have been the issue of making it so that Presidents were 'above the law', I have the much more terrifying thought of the much sharper view of distrust of government that would likely be present in that world.