Rate the Presidents, Installment #38: Gerald Ford

[JonathanSwift]

Gerald Ford, 1974-1977

Previous Results
Abraham Lincoln: 4.45 Stars
George Washington: 4.42 Stars
Chester A. Arthur: 3.8 Stars
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 3.7 Stars
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: 3.67 Stars
Thomas Jefferson: 3.65 Stars
Theodore Roosevelt: 3.59 Stars
James Monroe: 3.57 Stars
John Quincy Adams: 3.5 Stars
Grover Cleveland: 3.46 Stars
Grover Cleveland: 3.46 Stars
John F. Kennedy: 3.43 Stars
Harry S. Truman: 3.38 Stars
James Madison: 3.23 Stars
William Howard Taft: 3.15 Stars
Zachary Taylor: 3.15 Stars
James A. Garfield: 3.14 Stars
Calvin Coolidge: 3.12 Stars
Ulysses S. Grant: 3.06 Stars
Martin Van Buren: 3.04 Stars
James K. Polk: 2.85 Stars
John Adams: 2.58 Stars
Lyndon B. Johnson: 2.53 Stars
Warren Harding: 2.48 Stars
William McKinley: 2.47 Stars
Andrew Jackson: 2.43 Stars
William Henry Harrison: 2.38 Stars
Woodrow Wilson: 2.36 Stars
Millard Fillmore: 2.33 Stars
Benjamin Harrison: 2.33 Stars
Richard Nixon: 2.29 Stars
Rutherford B. Hayes: 2.15 Stars
Herbert Hoover: 2.11 Stars
John Tyler: 2.11 Stars
Andrew Johnson: 1.72 Stars
Franklin Pierce: 1.6 Stars
James Buchanan: 1.41 Stars

[SWE]

If not for his genocide-ing, I might be able to give him two stars, but unfortunately I can't. One star.

[ScottieF]

Meh. Two stars, almost three. Kudos for the Helsinski Accords, but otherwise a pretty ineffectual caretaker president during a time of great national discontent.

[Blair]

I really don't know enough about Ford's Presidency, domestic wise apart from the pardon of Nixon.

On Foreign Policy I think Ford made good moves, but he didn't make them out of conviction or desire, so that does that make a difference? Congress tied his hands on sending troops back into Vietnam, and Kissinger still had influence over foreign policy (IIRC he was still SOS). The Helsinki accords were are a well thought out idea, along with starting SALT II. If Brezhnev hadn't been a drug addled dope then maybe Ford could have achieved more

[Mr. Smith]

Three stars on his own merits for bringing back some dignity to THE office of the U.S. and doing relatively no harm at all due to a lack of vision.

Minus a star for his pardoning dissonance (Unconditional for Nixon but conditional for draft dodgers, really?)

Minus a star for excessive deregulation in the vain hope of "whipping inflation"

Plus a star for beginning SALT II, and plus another star for Betty Ford

Total: 3 stars

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Yes, I granted Ford an extra star for possibly most banal of reasons - a cool wife and not being Nixon.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Weirdly enough today is his 102nd birthday!

[The Dowager Mod]

The last Republican president to be a good man who meant well.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

He made a bold choice in giving Nixon a pardon-something I disagree with but also respect. Solid three stars.

[TDAS04]

3 stars.

[PJ]

Pretty incompetent; other than the Helsinki Accords, he didn't achieve much. Pardoning Nixon was terrible, and his economic policy was a failure. He was a proponent of the ERA, but he also wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade. He also has the honor of being the first president being made fun of by SNL skits, and Chevy Chase's Ford routine was pretty hilarious. 2 stars.

[Clark Kent]

Probably would've been great, but didn't really have time to do much. Not great, but not terrible, either. Three stars.

[Sumner 1868]

One star. Pardoning Nixon was bad enough, but even worse he tried to drag out the Vietnam War as long as possible. Not to mention carrying out Kissinger's brutal policy. He also launched the deregulation craze that ultimately lead to the 2008 crash.

[JonathanSwift]

Final Result: 2.73 Stars