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Shining City Audio, a

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John Meachman c thirteen original

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studio.

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October seventeenth nineteen seventy

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four, president Ford testifies before

0:18

Congress on the pardon of Richard

0:20

Nixon. I'm

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John Meacham, and this is reflections of

0:24

history.

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There was no deal, period. The

1:14

president said, hoping to

1:16

put suspicions to rest. On

1:19

this day in nineteen seventy four, Gerald

1:21

r four, now the 38th president,

1:24

went to Capitol Hill, long his

1:26

political home, to testify before

1:28

a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

1:31

about his pardon of his predecessor, Richard

1:33

Nixon. The pardon has had

1:36

a complicated life in the historical conversation.

1:39

Initially unpopular, the move to

1:41

put watergate behind the country grew

1:43

and stature in the ensuing decades, culminating

1:46

in a kind of positive renaissance in

1:48

the late nineteen nineties and the first decade

1:50

of the twenty first century. Yet

1:53

now amid numerous investigations into

1:55

the misdeeds and possible crimes of

1:57

the forty fifth president. Scholars

1:59

have questioned

1:59

whether president Ford's decision

2:02

in fact helped create a separate standard

2:04

of justice. for those who hold

2:06

and have held the highest office

2:08

in the land. In

2:11

real time, in August and September nineteen

2:13

seventy four, Ford found Nixon

2:16

to be a consuming subject. The

2:18

pardon was intended to force the country

2:21

forward. As Ford told the

2:23

subcommittee, I wanted to do all

2:25

I could to shift our attentions from the pursuit

2:27

of a fallen president. to the pursuit

2:30

of the urgent needs of a rising

2:32

nation. He also testified that

2:34

an unfolding criminal proceeding against

2:36

Nixon would divert us from

2:38

meeting our challenges if we as a people

2:41

were to remain sharply divided over

2:43

whether to indite bring to trial

2:45

and punish a former president who

2:48

already is condemned to suffer long

2:50

and deeply. in the shame and disgrace

2:53

brought upon the office he held.

2:55

Surely, we are not a revengeful people.

2:58

We have often demonstrated readiness to

3:01

feel compelled action and to act

3:03

out of mercy. As a people,

3:05

we have a long record of forgiving even

3:07

those who have been our country's most destructive

3:10

foes. Yet, to forgive

3:12

is not to forget the lessons of evil

3:15

in whatever ways evil has operated

3:17

against us. and certainly

3:19

the pardon granted the former president will

3:21

not cause us to forget the evils

3:23

of Watergate type offenses or

3:25

to forget the lessons we have learned that

3:27

a government which deceive his supporters

3:30

and treats his opponents as enemies,

3:32

must never, never be

3:34

tolerated. Ford went on.

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I became greatly concerned that if mister

3:39

Nixon's prosecution and trial were prolonged,

3:42

the passions generated over long period

3:44

of time. would

3:45

seriously disrupt the healing of

3:47

our country from the wounds of the past.

3:50

I could see that the new administration could

3:52

not be effective if it had to operate

3:54

in the atmosphere of having a former

3:56

president under prosecution and

3:59

criminal trial. Each step

4:01

along the way, I was deeply concerned

4:03

would become a public spectacle and

4:05

the topic of wide public debate

4:08

and controversy.

4:10

All fair points. but

4:12

then came some revealing questions.

4:15

Congressman

4:15

Don Edwards of California asked

4:18

mister president Put yourself in the position

4:20

of a high school teacher, shall we say, in

4:22

Watts, or the burritos of San Jose

4:24

or Harlem. And if you were

4:26

such a teacher, How would you explain

4:28

to the young people the American concept

4:30

of equal justice under law?

4:33

As

4:33

The New York Times reported, Ford responded

4:36

that Nixon was the only president

4:38

in the history of this country who has resigned

4:40

under shame and disgrace, and that

4:42

in and of itself can be understood, can

4:45

be explained to students. or to

4:47

others. Ford always

4:49

insisted that the acceptance of the pardon

4:51

was an implicit admission of guilt

4:53

on Nixon's part. The

4:55

question now is whether the decision

4:57

to pardon fed a sense that presidents

5:00

could be above the law or

5:02

at least receive special treatment.

5:05

Ford did what he did out of conviction

5:07

and with a devotion to what he believed

5:09

to be the national interest.

5:11

but we are now living in a world where former

5:14

presidents or a

5:16

former president appears

5:17

to allude accountability for

5:20

his actions.

5:22

And so the debate goes on.

5:25

Thank you for listening to reflections of history,

5:28

a creation of shining city audio,

5:30

a c thirteen originals and John Meacham

5:33

Studio.

5:41

Reflections of history is executive produced

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by me, John Meacham and Chris Corcoran,

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chief content officer and founding partner

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of Cadence thirteen. Production

5:51

and editing led by Lloyd Lockridge, Margot

5:53

Gray, and Chris Bassil. Production

5:56

assistance by Andy Jaskowitz, and

5:58

Adam Mesias.

5:59

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