American interlocutor of Brezhnev

President Gerald Ford dies

In the United States, where ex-heads of state are never called former, the death of President Gerald Rudolph Ford was announced at the age of 94. The current occupant of the White House, George W. Bush, said that “the 38th President of the United States will always hold a special place in the memory of the nation” because, having taken office “at a time of national unrest and division,” he was able to “heal the country and restore public confidence in the presidency "

A Nebraska native, Yale Law School graduate, and combat naval officer in the Pacific War, Ford became active in the Republican Party in 1948 and represented Michigan in Congress from January 1949 to December 1973. Then, against the background of the growing Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as vice president instead of Spiro Agnew, who resigned. Already on August 9, 1974, Nixon himself, under threat of impeachment, surrendered his powers to Ford. He addressed the Americans with the words: “Our long national nightmare is over.”

A month later, Ford granted Nixon a “full pardon” for “all crimes against the United States” that he “committed or may have committed” while president. Many Americans believe that this sweeping gesture, as well as the fact that Ford became the only vice president and president not popularly elected in US history, were the main reasons why he lost the November 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

But before that, Ford diplomatically ended the nightmare war for the Americans in Vietnam. In its final phase, in March 1975, the president ordered the organization of an “air bridge” to the United States for almost 240 thousand South Vietnamese refugees. Democratic President Bill Clinton mentioned this merit in August 1999 when presenting Ford with the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom.

For Americans, Ford is also the record holder for the longest life among presidents: on July 14 he turned 93 years old, after which the veteran lived another 165 days, “surpassing” Ronald Reagan, whose life lasted 93 years and 120 days.

Our country remembers the meeting between President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in November 1974 in Vladivostok, says Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, “Ford continued the policy of détente and began a new stage of negotiations with the USSR on the reduction and limitation of strategic weapons.” “The smiling Gerald Ford in the fur seal hat given to him by Brezhnev, and not in Moscow, but in our Vladivostok, made a strong impression on the then enemies of the Soviet Union in the Far East, in particular China,” noted Vremya Novostei’s interlocutor .

Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN