Former President Ford gives an Interview Two Days Before Inauguration Day:
On January 18th, 1993, Former President Gerald Ford was interviewed by Barbara Walters on ABC News:
Walters: "Good Evening Mr. President."
Ford: "Good evening Barbara, thank you for having me on your show."
Walters: "Mr. President, President Hart gave his farewell address to the nation 4 days ago, and in his address he, as I think you did in your farewell address 8 years ago, talked about the success of his administration and made clear that there was still work to be done. What was, in your opinion, President Hart's greatest success?"
Ford: "Well Barbara, at the end of my Presidency, we achieved the Nuclear Arms Reduction treaty, which would reduce the number of Nuclear Weapons that we and the Soviet Union had over the course of 10 years. However, my Presidency ended before the agreement could be ratified by the United States Senate. President Hart, when he took over, made it one of his top priorities to see to it that the United States Senate ratified that agreement, and it was ratified, if I remember correctly less than 6 months after he took office. I will always be grateful to him for doing that, as I feel that agreement truly did make the world safer and was really a turning point in the Cold War. I think to, that the IRM Treaty of 1987 was a great success of his as well."
Walters: "The President also said in the address that he gave on Friday that there was still work to be done. He said that he hoped that we could achieve the goal of every American having health insurance and that we needed to work towards a more peaceful Middle East, he said not being able to achieve that was the biggest regret of his Presidency. Do you agree with President Hart, and also what else needs to be done in the coming years?"
Ford: "The President is right, there is still work that needs to be done. I do think we need to work towards peace in the Middle East, especially between Israel and Palestine, and while it would be nice if we could ensure that every American has health insurance, I question how achievable that is. We must certainly work to make health insurance as accessible as possible, but we must do so responsibly. I also think that we need to get our people back to work again, it can be done. Unemployment is high right now and people are hurting. This, I think should be and will be President Elect Bush's top priority domestically."
Walters: "Speaking of President Elect Bush, Mr. Bush served in various positions under your administrations and under President Nixon's, all of which, except for his chairmanship of the Republican party, were related to foreign policy. How do you think George Bush will do as President?"
Ford: "Well, any time I ever gave a job to George Bush, he did it well. Be it Envoy to China, Director of the CIA, or Secretary of State, and because of that, I feel he can achieve a lot with regards to foreign policy, he played a key role in the Nuclear Arms Reduction treaty and in our successful intervention in Grenada as Secretary of State. Let's remember to that George Bush was also a successful business man, a Congressman, and a Vice President, and from what I know, he played a role in crafting the health care reform bill that was passed. There is quite a bit he can achieve with regards to domestic policy and working with the legislature. I would say, of all those who have become President in my lifetime, he's certainly one of the most qualified men to take the office of the Presidency, and for that reason, I think he will be a great President."
Walters: "You met with George Bush recently. What was the meeting about, what advice did you give the President Elect?"
Ford: "I invited the President Elect out here to California, mainly to congratulate him on his victory in person, to wish him all the best, and to tell him that we would be rooting for him here on Inauguration Day, as Betty and I will be unable to attend the Inauguration. The only advice I really had for him was to do his best and to not let the pollsters and pundits bring him down."
Walters: "Well Mr. President, that's all the time we have, thank you sir."
Ford: "Thank You Barbara."
On January 19th, Gallup released a poll that asked Americans "Who, of the living President, was the best?" President Ford received the most votes, taking 35%, Former President Jimmy Carter took second with 29%, and President Hart, who was leaving office the next day, took third place with 23%. 9% of those polled said Richard Nixon was the best of the living Presidents and 4% of respondents were undecided.
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