Who2 Editorial Blog

Notes and Commentary from the Editors

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Ford Pardons Nixon, 1974

Today is the 35th anniversary of the full and absolute pardon of President Richard M. Nixon by his vice president and successor Gerald Ford.

Ford's pardon came just one month after Nixon resigned from the presidency rather than face impeachment proceedings for his part in the Watergate scandal. The National Archives, in honor of this historic date, have posted this terrific document, which we've tried to enhance to make it easier to read.

And here is the text of Ford's speech to the nation, in which he raises the specter of "ugly passions" being aroused from a messy court battle over Nixon's alleged crimes in office. The same page offers Nixon's response to the pardon (in which he says the worst part for him is having to bear the burden of other people thinking he acted selfishly and illegally).

Labels: Gerald Ford, Richard M. Nixon

Posted by Mr. Hehn at 12:02 PM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Sara Jane Moore Speaks

Released from prison at the end of 2007 after serving 32 years, would-be presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore was interviewed by Matt Lauer on TV this week.

Moore was sent to jail for taking a shot at President Gerald Ford in 1975.

She says she's tired of being thought of as "a kook, a monster... an alien."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Labels: Gerald Ford, Sara Jane Moore

Posted by Mr. Hehn at 8:37 AM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Saturday, February 07, 2009

So Long, James Whitmore

"I find the process of making movies absolutely boring. It's so fragmented. You wait and wait and wait and then, look, as Jack Lemmon says, 'It's magic time.' In the theater, once the curtain goes up, the actor is in charge."

The actor James Whitmore has died at age 87 of lung cancer. He was diagnosed just before Thanksgiving.

Whitmore spent a lot of time onstage, where did one-man shows about Mark Twain, Harry Truman, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and just about every other irascible middle-aged male in American history.

That AP obit has a lot of fascinating nuggets (president-to-be Jerry Ford was Whitmore's football line coach at Yale) and ends this way:

He married Nancy Mygatt in 1947, and the couple had three sons, James, Steven and Daniel. They later divorced, and in 1971 he married an actress, Audra Lindley. They often appeared in plays together, even after their 1979 divorce. He remarried his first wife in the 1980s, but another divorce ensued. Nearing 80 in 2001, Whitmore married actress-writer Noreen Nash.

(Thanks to Mike Duffy for the tip.)

Labels: Gerald Ford, James Whitmore

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 6:06 AM Share on Facebook 0 comments

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Cavalcade of Shirtless Presidents!

Perhaps you've seen the remarkable photo of president-elect Barack Ab-ama, shirtless in Hawaii.

The Huffington Post has now created a lovely slideshow of
Other Shirtless Presidents.