Existing comment:
Gerald and Betty Ford (with David and Julie Eisenhower)
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., 14 Jul 1913 - 26 Dec 2006
Elizabeth "Betty" Ford, 8 Apr 1918 - 8 Jul 2011
Dwight David Eisenhower II, born 1948
Julie Nixon Eisenhower, born 5 Jul 1948
This photograph, by George Tames, was taken for the New York Times on August 9, 1974, the day President Richard Nixon’s resignation went into effect. President Gerald Ford waves goodbye as the helicopter carrying Nixon departs from the White House lawn. On his right, we see Betty Ford, along with Nixon’s daughter Julie Eisenhower and her husband.
One month following his swearing-in as president, Ford issued a controversial pardon of Nixon, explaining that it was the only way for the nation to begin healing. “I feel that Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough and will continue to suffer,” he said. “Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.”
George Tames, 1974 |