Depends also on what Ford knew and how he knew it. . . .
I've read that Ford consciously stayed away from the details of the White House defense.

Ford had been defending Nixon in public statements. About a week before the resignation, Nixon's chief-of-staff Al Haig called Ford and basically said, you know that part where you've been saying the president didn't know, well, that may not entirely be true.

And I think that's the closest Ford came to knowing things ahead of time.
 
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I've read that Ford consciously stayed away from the details of the White House defense.

Ford had been defending Nixon in public statements. About a week before the resignation, Nixon's chief-of-staff Al Haig called Ford and basically said, you know that part where you've been saying the president didn't know, well, that may not entirely be true.

And I think that's the closest Ford came to knowing things ahead of time.

So...willful ignorance and toeing the party line. Could backfire; his best option was to keep his mouth shut and maybe just say, "It's not my place to pardon Nixon; let's move forward." Sort of the original MoveOn.
 
I think that the Chappaquiddick incident destroyed any chance that Ted Kennedy had of ever becoming president. The only way Ted Kennedy could get elected president is if he was running against someone really far out there like David Duke or Sarah Palin.
I think that’s going a bit too far, it has been really exaggerated. The “Camelot” image could make up for almost anything.
 
. . . “Camelot” image could make up for almost anything.
No, Chappaquiddick goes too much directly against the Camelot myth of being gallant, brave, quick on the uptake, resourceful, etc.

Unfairly, because Ted was probably concussed when the car struke the water. And even a Navy helicopter pilot trained in emergency water evacuation probably would have had difficulty.
 
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