State of the Union Quotes
Ford went on to itemize some of the major problems then facing the nation. This is one of the very few times that an American President was so candid and did not try to minimize the extent of the difficulties. This might have been the result of Ford’s character which tended to be very straightforward and without guile. At the same time, the problems were not the result of his policies but those of Richard M. Nixon who had been forced to resign under disgrace and had few followers who would be insulted.
This is a wonderful historical picture of FDR on his campaign train. Note that the President liked to listen to ideas of many people. Unlike most Presidents he did not have any particular political programs that he advocated in his campaigning. He had no immediate answers to the Great Depression that he had inherited from the Hoover administration. But unlike Hoover, and most Presidents, he was willing to try ideas for which there was no advance evidence of success. If that did not help, he would try something else. He sought ideas from anyone and everyone. His enemies called him a weak leader who had no ideology—no principles but just trying unproven solutions to solve the nation’s critical problems. But it worked and he was elected 4 times—the only President who had served even 3 terms.
