OAImages Blog

Vice President Cheney gave a wonderful eulogy for President Ford earlier this evening.

While very few believe that Ford was one of our great presidents, he was what the country needed at that time.   He was an unassuming and honest man who could help heal the divided and embittered nation.   He was also an Eagle Scout.

In the words of the Vice President:

“…Jerry Ford was always a striver — never working an angle, just working. He was a believer in the saying that in life you make your own luck. That’s how the Boy Scout became an Eagle Scout; and the football center, a college all-star; and the sailor in war, a lieutenant commander…”

 At the 1997 dedication of a statue in his honor at the headquarters of the Gerald R. Ford Council, President Ford said:

“…All I can say is that the Scout oath, the Scout law, and the Scout motto have contributed very significantly to everything I’ve done during my lifetime…”

The lessons President Ford learned as a Scout in Michigan during the 1920’s remained with him his entire life. I only wish we had more Eagle Scouts in political office today.

(The photo at the top of this post was taken in 1991 at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Libarary.   Regardless of political views, the pressence of five presidents together is a remarkable site.)