Gerald R. Ford

I was at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids. There is also a Gerald R. Ford Library with all his presidential papers in a whole different city. You go there if you are doing research or something. The Grand Rapids one is the place to go - it has displays, statues, and it has Gerry, if you know what I mean.

A couple of blogs ago I was talking about weird Presidential middle names. I forgot about Ford. Check it out - Rudolph. What are these parents thinking? "Gerald Rudolph, you come here right now." Had to be a little humiliating.

First of all, the museum was great. It had a recreation of the Oval Office (like they all do) and the Roosevelt Room. A lot of cool displays. Not too big and not too small.

And beside the museum being great, Gerald Ford was also great. I believe he was orphaned at a pretty young age. He was literally and figuratively, a boy scout. He was maybe the best athlete we've ever had as President. Obama and Teddy R. would be pretty high up as well, but I think Gerald is the winner. He played football for Michigan and could have played in the NFL, but chose to go to law school instead. He also is the longest living President ever.

He got kind of ripped off as President. He got made fun of for tripping a few times, which is unfair as he was ten times the athlete as those that made fun of him. His pardon of Nixon was viewed as being something dishonest, although all that knew him said he was always honest. Without the pardon he almost certainly would have beat Carter in the next election.

He was a really great guy and at least a pretty good President. Way to go Gerald.

P.S. Check out these socks in the gift store. Adorable, right? I wanted to buy them all, and ended up buying none. I'll track you down eventually.