Out with the old In with the new NE. ATER TODAY GERALD R. FORD will cease to be President of these United States. The cold wintry day in Washington, D.C. will mark the end of the political career of a quiet, unassuming man who spent 25 years in near anonymity before his unprecedented rise to the hotseat of a post-Nixon pre- sidency. He is the only man from Michigan to ever as- cend to the presidency, and only the second man in modern times to lose it as an incumbent.'But as the Carter administration becomes a reality, let us reflect a bit on the unique career of Gerald R. Ford. Back in ancient times, a president named Richard Nixon and a vice-president named Spiro Agnew had themselves a group of scandals that have become col- lectively known as "Watergate". A separate scandal and criminal investigation about some shady construction contracts he was involved in as Governor of Maryland forced Agnew to resign. In his search for a replacement Nixon knew that he must find a man above reproach. A person so scrupulously honest, so morally righteous that not even the most vociferous Watergate critics could object. And so it was that Ford became vice- president of the United States. Watergate eventually became too much; and Nixon resigned as President. Amid a time of tumult, confusion, and discouragement, Ford succeeded 'Sir Richard' and strove to return the nation to normalcy. At first, the country breathed a sigh of relief. It now had a Presi- dent who was a down-to-earth-guy-from-next-door, free from any major scandal. He was an amiable fellow who made his own breakfast, took a daily swim, and fell down on ski slopes. He was free from the ambition, secrecy, and court intrigues that so permeated the Nix on administration. The rosy picture evaporated with the flames of criticism over his pardon of Nixon. The guy from next door became a klutz. A recession, endless vetoes, the ap- pointment of Nelson Rockefeller to Vice-President, and the CIA scandal caused more controversy. He won some brief moral victories with his handling of the Mayazuez affair, his trips to several foreign nations including China, and his escapes from two assassins, but more and more, much of the nation painted him as a stupid, clumsy ignoramus whondepended on Rockefeller and Kissinger for running the government while he dusted his can with snow at Vail. By mid-summer of last year, confidence irn Ford had sunk to an appalling low. The Democrats were ready to inaugurate Carter directly after his nomina- tion, and Ronald ("Bedtime for Bonzo") Reagan ral- lied enough dissatisfied Republicans behind his banner to come within a few votes of wresting the nomination from Ford. But Ford still managed to pull his party up from these depths and to make the presidential elec- tion a horserace. After his loss, he remained on as be- fore, still making the same unpopular decisions and proposals. It is true-that the Ford administration yielded many disappointments. Yet, while the Democrats may say that they could have saved us from Watergate, Ford certainly saved us after it. He became President of a United States disgusted with itself and ridiculed abroad. In two years he managed to lead us back to a point where we could once again respect ourselves and enjoy prestige abroad. He brought integrity, honesty, and dignity back to the Presidency after Nixon had de- termined that they were not politically expedient. He managed to stop the downturn in the economy even though the supply of jobs could barely keep up with the number of people looking for them. Inflation Mlowed down to a manageable rate. He eliminated much of the secrecy previously clouding the operation of the government and dared to debate Carter in the open during the campaign. There is still a great deal of room for improvement, but these are admirable accomplishments in light of $he difficult circumstances under which he labored. Nixon left himan economy on the verge of collapse and runaway Inflation; the double whammy of near de- pression with near hyper-nflation shocked the econo- my into a numbed stupor from which it is only now re- covering. Secrecy was so pervasive that it was Imipos- sible for some high officials to find out what their sub- ordinates were up to. Much of the Nixon clique regard- ed him with suspicion and as an outsider. Yet he managed to bring us back onto an even keel. There is still a long road and much hard work ahead of us until we reach our goals of full employ- ment, livable cities, balance between energy supply and demand, and a brake to the arms race dilemma; Ford realizes that, and Carter is beginning to. Despite the mistakes he may or may not have made, he did what he sincerely thought was best for the country and wvhat he felt reflected strong and decent leadership. Charisma he lacked, but we needed more than a charasmatic leader. We needed a man with his character, a trust- worthy human being, after the traumas of the reign of Nixon. Even after his election loss, he retained his sense of duty, working closely with the Carter transi- tion team so that the transfer today will be a smooth one, and Introducing controversial legislation which he felt the new team would need to have Initiated anyway,. thereby drawing fire from the new President until he settles in. Finally, Gerald Ford very probably saved the two- party system which at least keeps the party in power reasonably honest. Many of us have our gripes with the Republicans, but the same often applies to the Demo- crats as well. By keeping the Republican Party from going ideologically overboard with Reagan, he has kept alive a viable alternative to the Democrat Party, which, contrary to the chantings of its Palsgrafs, Is not the best of all possible parties. He has averted a one-party hegemony, the stuff totalitarianism is made of-. Mr. Ford has perhaps not been an outstanding President and has often tended toward mediocrity. His blanket pardon of Richard Nixon will go down In his- tory as one of our greatest political atrocities, and for that we cani never forgive him. Yet, throwing aside ideology, he has brought back to government an essen- tial ingredient: good character. Too, he managed to keep the country afloat. Aniother person may well have done better, and seeing him go may cause few regrets, but Ford certainly has done a creditable and respect- able job, one deserving of thanks. AT 11:30 THIS MORNING JIMMY CARTER will be- come the 39th president of the United States. He came out of the South with sparse national recognition and ,a mere four years as governor of Georgia under his belt, and confounded the political pundits with triumph after triumph in the early pri- maries. Mixing the charisma of Jack Kennedy and the biblical proverbs of William Jennings Bryan, he took his case and his smile to the people - and the re- sponse was overwhelming. Fed up with the Washing- ton political bureaucracy and the graft of the Nixon years, the public sought a leader without the tra- ditional ties to either the House or the Senate. And Carter was the right man at the right time. His astounding ascent to the presidency gave cre- dence to the old adage that any little boy can be- come president. He grew up on a peanut farm, which he later built into a $1 million enterprise. He gradu- ated from the Naval Academy and after serving as a navy nuclear research engineer he returned home to Plains, where he soon launched his political ca- reer with a victory in a school board election. After that came the state legislature and finally, in 1970, he beat out Lester Maddox for the governorship - hardly the traditional beginings of a future presi- dent. But the American people weren't in the market for a traditional president, and Jimmy Carter sensed this mood. They admired his honesty and candor, and were wooed by his sermonesque speeches and prom- ises to bring a businessman's efficiency to the red tape jungle known as government. Now Mr. Outside is on the inside - part of the Washington establishment he fought against - and he has the chance to make believers of us all. He has assumed the leadership of this country in one of its most trying hours. Unemployment is still hovering near a frightening 8 per cent, our ma- jor cities are approaching bankruptcy while they de- cay in a morrass of crime, the nation's poor are cry- ing out for a comprehensive health care program while the defense budget remains staggeringly high and a recession looms over our heads. Carter had promises to cover all of these issues during the campaign. He told us he would reduce unemployment to 3.5 per cent, he earmarked more aid for major cities, he called for a $5 to $7 billion cut in the defense budget, and he said he favors national health care. But now it is time to shelve the rhetoric and act. As the first elected president since the Nixon debacle, it is essential that Carter keep the public trust by keeping his promises to us. He must con- tinue Gerald Ford's trend of honesty and openness in government, but couple it with the strong, com- passionate leadership that Ford lacked. Already liberals and blacks have become disen- chanted with him. The honeymoon may be over be- fore it starts if he continues along his present, re- gressive path. He promised to "add new faces to government," and he promised that women and mi- norities would be well-represented, but so far we've seen too many holdovers from other administrations. True, HUD secretary Patricia Harris and, Commerce secretary Juanita Kreps conveniently provide two women and one black, but this is more than off- set by the nomination of Georgian Griffin Bell for Attorney General, which sets civil rights back 10 years. Joseph Califano as HEW secretary is a traves- ty, and the retention of Nixonite James Schlesinger is a questionable choice. He has backed down too, on his promises of a defense budget cut, and a significantly lower unem- ployment rate. Now he won't even guarantee that defense spending won't increase in the face of the revelations that we may be the Avis to the U.S.S.R.'s Hertz. And his 3.5 per cent unemployment goal has risen to 6.5! But he has also made some advances. The decision to make Vice-president Walter Mon- dale the chief staff person of the White House is a breath of fresh air to all of us who remember the Haldeman/Ehrlichman cabal. Mondale is a proven liberal who will keep a watchful eye on White House activity atd do away with the sinister cloud of se- crecy that still looms over the executive mansion, courtesy of Richard Nixon and company. Andrew Young should prove to be an excellent addition to the United Nations in this time of in- ternational turmoil on all fronts. We only wish Car- ter had been as perceptive in his cabinet choices. And finally, Carter's amnesty plan will end once and for all the Vietnam War. What lies 'ahead is as difficult to predict as is our new president himself, and we will hazard no guesses. But with the country at so crucial a cross- roads and so desperately in need of a bold, new, trustworthy leader, Jimmy Carter has the opportu- nity to be one of our greatest presidents, and as he leads us into the next four years we wish him well, and hope that he can live up to all of our expec- tations. Today's editorials were written by Ken Parsigian and Ion Pansius. The artwork was done by Keith Richburg and Mark Wagner. TODAY'S STAFF: News: Susan Ades, Tim Schick, Jim Tobin, Sue Warner Editorial Page: Michael Beckman, Jon Pansius, K e n Parsigian, Keith Richburg Arts Page: Lois Josimovich Photo Technician: Brad Benjamin I _ Ae £id aDn Iail Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Thursday, January 20, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 In k e{ts urnoes s fine andcl 'corlc~n axrOc - ~a rrE n ttt 1 in these, his derltr byno ms APPLIGATION C EINPLOYMWNT: NAMiE (please 1f r 2 -Ti.~3.7jzZ r - - - - -- -' i- , r ,, , ,. , /1 / ,-- /' ~ . , . r l %, it t c ,- /f , ' ,/ , 1 i I !t { F COd IAJ a too, Y /i F / f !J~ 5 A A G , r i j/ l/ r / // / ' rte''. f / b I., ** t ~ 4 K * I 4 A / I !.I ,. I I .rill zl' i .5-.