How Did Ford Last Long In Office

Ford and His Presidential Flop Ford did not last long in office, having only been there for around two years after Nixon had resigned. He was known as one of the most useless presidents in the White House and had gotten to office without ever campaigning for either of the two top executive offices. The man wasn’t given much time to implement any solid bills in that short period of time, but he did do a few semi-notable actions that put him in history as more than the president who did nothing. The first action he took that gained the attention of much of the nation was pardoning Nixon for the Watergate incident. His own reasons for that were as simple as him wanting to heal the nation by forgiving and not holding a grudge against a man who held power only for four years, and yet most Americans never saw his true reasoning. The public saw it as a deal: office for a pardon. Ford would get the nation for Nixon to be pardoned of all transgressions. The effect this had on Ford’s chances at passing any laws was restricting as most of Congress didn’t want to work with him. His chances for the 1976 election were essentially kaput.
Now with Ford taking office in August 1974, the president was left with an inflation that had risen into the double digits.
It was the economy that needed the most fixing after the Vietnam War broke most of the domestic front, and from the oil crisis in the Middle East, and yet all that he did for it was try to promote a half-hearted program. WIN (Whip Inflation Now) never caught on as American clearly expressed their lack of desire for buttons being a solution to the inflation problem. Since Ford himself claimed that it was only a gimmick, the idea of volunteerism quickly flew out the window. Congress actually did more than him in trying to cut taxes’ unfortunately, that only caused the federal deficit to reach over $60 billion and put even greater pressure on the
inflation. In a case where Ford had tried to make a difference, all he did was cause a skirmish between innocent forces not at war. A report that an American merchant vessel, the Mayaguez, had been captured by the Cambodian government and forced to stay put. Ford thought it a good idea to prove that America was not weak by sending a few Marines to rescue the ship. When the forces got there though, it was found out that the people had already been freed and were on their way safely back home. What happened next was the Khmer Rouge soldiers attacking the Marines for trespassing on their island waters, and up to fifty American armed forces died in the conflict, Marines and Airforce included. This case was just a flop on Ford’s part from not getting reliable information. The most significant action Ford did take, even though it had no impact at all on the rest of the Soviet-American relations, was the Helsinki Accords. This was the president’s attempt to keep up the policy of détente. Not much came from it other than America acknowledging Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe. All America would get back from this would be the promise that the participating states would respect human rights without any discrimination. The agreement was never honored anyhow, and the Soviet relations with America drizzled downwards with no force trying to improve them. Ford came into office for only two years, and off the bat had most of America against him as he pardoned Nixon. Not much came from the man at that point other than a few weak attempts to bring peace with Russia and prove that America was still strong.