Burgher remains my favourite oath administrator. Nobody swears in Presidents better than him. First he addresses the person by his former rank .Mr President Mr Vice President, Governor, Governor and again Mr President. Then the question Are you prepared to take the Constitutional oath followed by the procedure place your left hand etc. Then he uses the most commonly used name. He never sworn in any President with their full names. (middle names) And even used thus far the only time, a nickname. He was very crisp and clear and pausing at the right moment. A master class on how to administer the oath. He might be the only CJ to actually introduce a President for the first time (not sure). And he also swore in 3 Vice Presidents. But for 2 of them he called them by their full names (middle names). He might also be the CJ who administered the oath for President the most times - 6. Although there's chance that current CJ Roberts will overtake him, he's on 4 now.
From Ford's address to Ohio State University in 1974: "So much has happened in the few months since you were so very kind to ask me to participate on this occasion. I was then America's first instant Vice President - and now, America's first instant President. The United States Marine Band is so confused they don't know whether to play "Hail to the Chief" or "You've Come a Long Way, Baby." "
The constitution's procedures dealing with the line of succession were ignored making Ford vice president knowing that it was a procedural move to prepare him to assume the presidency. And he violated his oath pardoning Nixon and not allowing the justice department to continue their investigation to protect the state from the abuse of power by Nixon. It's a shame. Had Ford been a better person he would have rejected the offer or allowed justice to be served on Nixon.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1967, allowed for Ford to assume the vacant Vice Presidency. "Under Section 2, whenever there is a vacancy in the office of Vice President, the President nominates a successor who becomes Vice President if confirmed by a majority vote of both Houses of the Congress." Ford was nominated by President Nixon, and confirmed by the House and Congress to succeed Agnew to the Vice Presidency. So, the "procedural move" you speak of which elevated Ford to the office of Vice President was what was prescribed by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Ford did not violate his oath in pardoning Nixon. You can argue the merits of the pardon from a moral standpoint, or from a standpoint of disliking President Nixon, but from a legal standpoint, and from a Constitutional standpoint, the pardon was valid.
Ford was a tool of the Deep State. He helped fabricate the conclusion of the Warren Report. He was J Edgar Hoover’s man on the Warren Commission. Nixon was involved in the plot to kill Kennedy, as was Johnson and George H W Bush. All three were in Dallas that fateful day when Kennedy was murdered. Coincidence? I think not!
Ford looked very tired at the podium and so did Nixon. I too felt a bit sorry for Nixon here, even with Watergate looming, he put on the best face he could. Its too bad that Nixon didn't just tell the truth, admit the break in, ask for forgiveness and move on. Americans are very forgiving, but they don't like being lied to. Nixon did so much for foreign policy, but let his personal demons beat him up.
Yes but Ford was himself a very good President, true public servant, had great honesty and integrity, and just an exceptional man. He was the last true Republican.
As Minority Leader, all Ford ever wanted was to be Speaker, alas a position he was never able to achieve owing to the Democrats strong hold in the House. Yet he would end up holding the 2 highest offices of the land.
@@walterbell7193 And a good emperor too. A pity, he didn't end up as Reagan's VP pick in 1980. He could have been another Grover Cleveland in 1990. But I think HW Bush was a good choice too.
@@brianclough Well, he was 'too liberal' comapred to Nixon and Goldwater - so southern strategy folks didn't back him The Nixon pardon is always a tough side to take - saving the country from pain vis-a-vis letting a president commit an offense and go unpunished.
@@randomness2675 Being to "to liberal" is what Reagan needed in a VP. Its why he chose Bush. The story behind the VP selection is that up until the night of the convention, Reagan wanted Ford as VP. But that night (I think it was actually a few days before) Ford went on the news and talked about a co-presidency, which Reagan did not want. This led to Reagan quickly abandoning the Ford plan and trying to quickly find a new moderate, with Reagan choosing the man who came in second essentially at the convention.
@@mcapple7651 correct. Bush 41 lost 1992 for being 'too moderate' for his conservative base and too conservative for the liberal base. Voters have polarized more and more - which is why a Mitt Romney can never be president. He is conservative but not close to being right wing.
Actually, the Nixon tapes revealed he thought Ford was a dunderhead. Subsequent writings revealed Nixon thought of himself as a great mind and scholar, and everybody else was beneath his capabilities.
@@theprofilmstudios Oh certainly, Agnew could have been another Warren Harding! With all the corruption charges circulating around him it would have been devastating for the country to have another President caught up in a huge corruption scandal.
yep, but way back in the 1800's the Veep would make a speech after he was sworn in. See Andrew Johnson drunk speech. I have to research when that stopped. Also the Prez, would make his Inauguration speech first then take the oath. I think that changed with FDR in 1933.
Small tidbit. For a long time, the Vice President was inaugurated in the Senate Chamber, as he was the President of the chamber. I'm not sure when it changed but up until Andrew Johnson anyway that was the custom.
He was the only President not voted into office. He was one of the Greatest Presidents this country has ever had. He pulled this country together.....dusted everyone off....and put AMERICA BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN. GREAT MAN...GREAT WIFE. 🇺🇸❤🕊
He was a good and decent man who did a great job. Ted Kennedy awarded him the profiles in courage award for pardoning Nixon. Not a popular move, but Ford had a backbone and did the right thing to heal the nation and moved it forward.
Yeah. A great guy who most quickly signed off on the Warren Commission report that gave America the "lone nut" theory for the assassination of JFK. This motherfucker helped to pimp on average America a phony bill of goods. Either a corrupt bastard or a foolish innocent dropped on his head at birth.
Indeed. Mr. Nixon was, at that moment, a dead man walking. Yet, he was brave enough to face the very same people who were determined to end his presidency. President Nixon was a very troubled man, yet I admire his guts and foreign policy.
Nixon figured if he nominated some blockheaded rube like Jerry Ford to be VP then the Congress would be hesitant to impeach and convict Nixon out of office. Nixon overplayed his hand and lost. Sad!
How lucky this nation was to have a man like Gerald Ford to take over as Vice President and later President. His greatest accomplishment was that he brought dignity and respect back to the Presidency.
yet he ended up losing to Jimmy Carter in 1976. Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon sure didn't help nor did it help when during the televised debates with Carter he said that Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria etc) wasn't under Soviet domination
@GoodOlRoll I think you're thinking of Paul Volcker, because inflation throughout all of the 70s was monstrous (like at least 5%) until his appointment
Actually, up to the 1920's, a new vice president delivered an inaugural address to the Senate after he was sworn in. Following his speech, the ceremonies were to moved to the front of the Capitol for the president's swearing in.
Not too great...he help cover-up the JFK assassination... Hell he admitted in 1997 he move the back wound to the neck to make sure the 'single bullet theory' worked. But yes a very nice man but not great...He lost to Jimmy Carter.
A decent man. And the "moving the wound" theory is more controversial than Donald Trump. The Kennedy assassination is the most over-analyzed event in our history. He was killed by a lone idiot and the single bullet theory makes complete sense when people admit the Zapruder video doesn't lie: Connelly turned his body. Sheesh. Anyway, I digress. I think Gerald Ford did a pretty damn good job, a lot better than many Presidents who actually got elected. It is incredible he became VP and President without ever getting elected. It's like the movie White House Down, but he did it legitimately.
Remember that Joe Biden voted in nominating Ford as Vice President. And was in this event as a Senator. This was almost 50 years ago! Nobody would of known that Joe Biden would of been in his 3rd year as President!
Ford was a kind & decent man, as a kid, I liked him & briefly supported him for President. As much as I like Trump, I wish we had more leaders like Jerry Ford.
What's ironic is that Nixon was one of the best presidents ever. He founded the Environmental Protection Agency, continued and expanded social programs, invested in education and infrastructure, and had no interest in lowering taxes. A guy like him could never run as republican nominee in our time. And probably not even as a democrat.
He was one of the worst for the following reasons 1. Aided the Bengali genocide which led to the deaths of 300k-3 million people and displacement of around ten million people, by supplying the Pakistani government with weapons to do the genocide. They did this because Pakistan was a capitalist ally in the Cold War. If the highest estimate of 3 million is to be used, it was one of the deadliest genocides in human history. 2. Watergate. It gets overblown considering how corrupt politicians are nowadays, and how it didn’t even change the course of the 1972 election, but still bad nonetheless 3. Stagflation, price control, and his overall handling of the economy 4. Bombings over Cambodia 5. War on Drugs 6. Sabotaged peace talks with Vietnam, in order to win the 1968 election. LBJ realized his mistake and started to negotiate with North Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. This made it possible for the democrats to win the 1968 election. Nixon saw this, and because he wanted to win the election instead, sabotaged peace talks, promising the North Vietnamese that they would get a better deal if Nixon was elected. Nixon expanded the war until his impeachment, and it would not be until Ford that there would be no more American deaths in Vietnam. According to History News Network, 21,041 Americans died in Vietnam under Nixon, with the total amount of troops dying in Vietnam being 58,220. The total Vietnamese death toll could be anywhere from 500k to 1.5 million dead under Nixon.
Nixon made a great choice in Ford who found himself thrust into this office. After Nixon resigned, Ford was right to start healing the wounds of Watergate by pardoning Nixon
Watch the film Time&Chance about President Ford,Nixon was forced to accept Ford because both parties in Congress told Nixon that Ford was the only person they would approve because they knew Nixon was gonna be forced to resign or impeached.The man that was Nixon first choice was a former Democrat turned Republican John Connolly of Texas but the Republicans saw him as a opportunistic and the Democrats saw him as a trader to the Democrat Party.The truth is this Nixon did not want Ford as VP and actually made fun of Ford and people around Nixon said that he would say that congress would never impeach him because he thought congress saw Ford as a dumb ass.
was there , was 18 and working for John Brademas and the LA who had floor privileges gave me his ticket which was for house floor. just rewatched it . miss those days so much
I wish that the next time that Nixon & Ford got together, that it would have been to swear him in as Nixon's successor, after he had served out his entire term, rather than see Nixon off after he resigned.
I really thought that Nixon's arms were going to get chopped off by the helicopter's rotor blades when he raised his arms as he flashed the victory signs, before leaving the White House for the last time.
Anyone old enough to remember when vice president's still took over when the president of the "free" world lost their minds? As opposed to forming lynch mobs on the lawn? Anyone...🦗😭💀
The Vice-Presidential oath is a long one. Don't know why they just don't use the presidential oath; where it says, "the office of president of the United States", just change it to, "the office of vice-president of the United States."
This was the 1st time such a swearing in was done under the 25th Amendment. CJ Warren Burgher cut short his holiday to personally administer the oath, in a show of legal authority, even though the VP oath need not be administered by him. Look at the professional manner CJ Burgher administers his oaths and also the firm and calm manner Ford took his oath here and 9 months later. (except for a small blip in the end - well he did say he was Ford not a Lincoln after all).
Betty Ford looks very dominant and superior over everyone as she stands between her husband and Chief Justice Burger at the House Clerk's desk as the confirmation vote count is read by House Speaker Carl Albert.
It is amazing to me that this video is titled as being from the swearing-in of the 40th US Vice President, when actually it is the speech that Gerald R. Ford gave as he replaced Richard Millhouse Nixon as the 38th US President.
I may be mistaken but isn’t Ford the most recent President to have been a representative before taking office? I’m gonna exclude him being Vice President first because he didn’t run as VP.
Call Nixon whatever, but don't forget to call him a foreign policy - Maverick! Pakistan helped him open up China and the rest is history. The Globe enjoys an affordable standard of living.
David Harrison I think I was meaning that when I wrote that it he was VP as of that particular date, August 23, 2018. I will have to time travel and confer with myself to call confirm.
I think he is. I think in the US&A they keep their Vice Presidents . Only the president changes every 8 years. They have elected a funny looking guy for president now named trump.! He’s all orange n wrinkly and has fake hair on his head. People say there’s something wrong with him that’s why he the colour orange
@@davidharrison3711 I think I was meaning when I wrote that he was th e current VP as of that particular date, August 23, 2018. I will have to time travel and confer with myself to call confirm.
The easiest deal ever made. Question: "If we make you the new VP, once confirmed as such do you agree to immediately pardon Mr. Nixon of all crimes he may have committed as President, once he's out as President?" Answer: "Absolutely, yes. You betcha." Deal struck: "You're the new VP." Note: This is the deal Mr. Trump wishes he could have made.
Oh boy, do I have a hypertechnical procedural question to ask. There’s a slim chance I have the answer but man I really hate to be that little nerd neck lol.
His responsibility wasn't to support and be loyal to the president. Certainly not assuming the office under those conditions. Wow this is just horrible.
Ford getting the attention and cheers, hoorahs as VP. Nixon the president standing there stiffly almost unnoticed. A month after the “Saturday night massacre” they wanted his head. An odd scene.
@@jetstream6389 Reagan has nothing to do with Trump. He’s been gone since 1989 and in presidential politics that’s ancient history. Biden got 75 million votes and Trump got 70 million, historically very close election. Only about 275k votes separate them in 6 states that are still not official. Also, Repubs did great in 2020 down ballots:
@@jetstream6389 Repubs are sick of Bush 41 and Bush 43 style politicians. It happens...look at the success of Bernie in 2016 and the rejection of Clinton ...people get sick of the BS on both sides
Ronald Reagan was anti-government, union-busting, race-baiting, anti-gay, anti-intellectual who cut rich people's taxes in half. John Hinckley shouldve aimed better.
This is his swearing in as Vice President - not president. Him becoming the 40th Vice President. Less than a year later, he became the 38th President of the United States
