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Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life Kindle Edition

by James Cannon (Author), Scott Cannon (Contributor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 143 ratings
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“Not since Harry Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt twenty-nine years earlier had the American people known so little about a man who had stepped forward from obscurity to take the oath of office as President of the United States.”

—from Chapter 4


This is a comprehensive narrative account of the life of Gerald Ford written by one of his closest advisers, James Cannon. Written with unique insight and benefiting from personal interviews with President Ford in his last years, Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life is James Cannon’s final look at the simple and honest man from the Midwest.

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  1. Print length
    492 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    University of Michigan Press
  5. Publication date
    April 16, 2013
  6. File size
    4124 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When Ford took the office of president following the resignation of Nixon, he was not a well-known political figure outside of the House of Representatives, where his highest ambition had been to be speaker. Cannon, a journalist and former domestic policy advisor to Ford, offers an examination of Ford’s life in politics and how he came to be the nation’s unelected president during the tumultuous Watergate era. He recounts Ford’s early life, law-school years, military service, political career, and marriage as all along he garnered a reputation as a solid, honest person. Cannon chronicles the tense political atmosphere as the Watergate scandal unraveled, Nixon struggled with the decision to resign, and Ford wrestled with the decision to pardon the disgraced president. All the drama of Watergate is here, along with the major players, and Ford is at the center as a sometimes enigmatic figure, acknowledging that he never squarely asked Nixon about his guilt and remained ambivalent about that decision. Cannon portrays a man who, despite the shadow of the Nixon pardon clouding his presidency, maintained an honorable reputation in the often unsavory business of politics. --Vanessa Bush

Review

"The life of this honest and plain-spoken man...will delight historians and general readers alike."
—Dr. Henry Kissinger
― Henry Kissinger Published On: 2013-03-26

"Cannon portrays a man who, despite the shadow of the Nixon pardon clouding his presidency, maintained an honorable reputation in the often unsavory business of politics."
—Booklist

-- Vanessa Bush ― Booklist Published On: 2013-06-01

"[T]his insider account persuasively demonstrates that [Ford] was a far better president than campaigner and that, at a particularly low moment in our history, we were perhaps luckier than we knew to have him."
—Kirkus

― Kirkus Published On: 2013-05-02

"This is a first-rate political history and a compassionate biography."
—Publishers Weekly

― Publishers Weekly Published On: 2013-04-26

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ZYLD8FO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Michigan Press (April 16, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 16, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4124 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 492 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 143 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
143 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

John A. Jago, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
Well written book by James Cannon on the life of Gerald Ford.

I loved reading his many books on life of Reagan both as Governor of California as well as President of the United States. He was fair and balanced.
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priscilla
5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Valuable Glimpse of President Ford's Administration
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2014
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An amazing account of the Ford Administration and insight into the politics at that time by one of the people closest to President Ford. Cannon, a noted journalist and long time top aide and advisor to Ford furnishes us with a well written and informative account of those years; a treasure for those interested in the history of a difficult transition for a principled, capable and under appreciated President.
One person found this helpful
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Kevin Keney
4.0 out of 5 stars In hindsight the pardon was a mistake.
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2014
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I enjoyed this book very much. However I don't understand how a man could become president of the United States even though he was selected by the Congress because of Nixon ' s impeachment. I don't buy the I did the right thing excuse for pardoning Nixon. There is a more important principal then avoiding a long drawn out trial and letting Nixon off with out admitting any guilt. That principal is that not even the president of the United States can break the law. Look what is happening now with Obama if that doesn't prove that pardoning Nixon was a mistake what does? The Congress is afraid to do there job because of the politics of the issue. I found the book very informative. Thank you Kevin Kenney
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2020
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Great biological read. I got a deeper insight in Fords life all through congress, the vice-presidentency, and his presidency. Many of my questions were answered from the witness who served in his administration.
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Phred
3.0 out of 5 stars A hard-working smart guy who believed in stuff
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
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Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life Hardcover by James Cannon is my third republican presidential biography in a row. They all pretty much describe hard working, smart guys who believed in something or another. Excepting specific things like birthday and schools attended they blur in sameness.

The is a near total lack of depth. The good guy, President fill in the blank was proposing a world saving great program, never analyzed or described in depth. It did or did not pass, and again with no analysis of what was passed and why it may have been better or worse. It is good because my guy proposed it, what else do you need to know? In President Fold case I think we got a shallow description of how the WIN (Wip Inflation Now) was supposed to work, nothing about if it did , did not, or what the lessons learned might have been. An earlier policy was highlighted as designed to promote individual action, but absence of analysis makes it hard to remember.

Given what American politics has devolved into, I will take the time to completely transcribe the one paragraph every presidential candidate should be able to recite from memory:
During Ford’s confirmation hearings, to become Nixion’s Vice President, (By appointment to replace resigned in disgrace Spiro Agnew), he was asked” What personal characteristics are important to presidential leadership?”

His reply” I think the President has to be a person of great truth and the American people have to believe that he is trueful.” Ford said. “I believe he has to be a man of thought, and not impetuous…I believe a president has to exemplify by his personal life, the standards -morally and ethically and otherwise- by which most American life their lives.”

There seems to be a belief that all a writer has to say is that the media was bad. Nothing about the job of making the case for your guy, of addressing and responding to the media, nor to giving a thought to why the other guy’s message was getting through. Cannon admits that Ford was not the most convincing of speakers. Americans can and have responded to plain speaking candidates. Trueman and Eisenhower were not given to rhetorical flights. Maybe his own team failed to make that a selling point. Or maybe the substance of his speaking was a message that could not resonate.

Based only on the contents of Gerald R. Ford: An honorable life. a reader should be able to agree that his was an honorable life. What exactly he favored, why and who was in his team and what was their agenda, analysis or discussions of alternatives offered, is missing. This book has a life of about 1 generation. After that it has nothing to teach anyone who was not there.
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BigTone
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent political biography
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2013
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This book gave me an amazing new understanding of President Ford. When all of this was going on I was a 23 year old liberal who was outraged at Nixon's pardon. Mr. Cannon has given me a chance to know what a mistake it was that President Ford never was voted into office but President Carter was. Oh but to be able to go back and change my vote!
While I did detect a few mistakes in the editing of this book they were not all that significant and not very distracting. Overall this was a great book. Sadly Mr. Cannon was unable to include a bibliography and an index due to his passing. Perhaps future editions will be able to include them.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars it is an excellent read. My only regret is that resources were ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
Having begun a quest to read a book on every president a couple of years ago I randomly selected this one. Of all the books on the presidents I would place this book in the top 5; it is an excellent read. My only regret is that resources were not listed, the author died before this task was completed.
2 people found this helpful
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D. J. Myers
4.0 out of 5 stars A good, albeit biased biography of Gerald Ford
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2015
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A good, albeit biased biography of Gerald Ford. Good, because James Cannon had a lot of access to Ford during his presidency, and therefore saw the many sides of this complex man. Biased, because he is an apologist for many of Ford's failed conservative programs, and his handling of the economy during the crucial time of the early to middle '70's. All in all, a good read in my opinion. Anytime you learn something new about a POTUS is time well spent.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

neil sankey
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2014
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