AP News, January 1st, 2007
A steady stream of up to 2,500 people an hour walked slowly past the casket of Gerald R. Ford, paying their final respects to a man whose presidency helped the nation recover from the Watergate scandal.
For Warren Bank, 53, of Portland, Maine, the scene Sunday at the Capitol Rotunda was "an experience you'll never forget ... the sudden urge of patriotism."
Some mourners were greeted by two of the late president's sons, first Jack and then Steven.
"Thank you for coming on behalf of the family," Jack told people as they filed in.
Ryan Boyle, 21, of Eldersburg, Md., stopped briefly as he passed Ford's casket and bowed his head, praying that Ford's guidance "inspires the leaders of today and for future generations."
"I thought when he pardoned Nixon he stood up and did what the country needed, not what would further his political career," said John Banks, 51, of Calhoun, Ga.
"I don't think we have presidents that do that any more," Banks added.
Jane Keliher, 61, from Wichita, Kan., said Ford "healed the nation and gave up his future as a politician to do it."
Following the pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes from Watergate, Ford lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter. Former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, Ford's running mate in that campaign, returned unannounced to pay his respects again Sunday, after being among the invited guests as an honorary pallbearer at Saturday evening's ceremonies in the Rotunda.
Political analysts believe the pardon played a major _ if not the major _ role in Ford's defeat.
Ford was out of the White House after just 2 1/2 years in office and he is the only unelected president. Nixon had appointed Ford vice president to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned in a bribery scandal stemming from his days as Maryland governor.
The Rotunda was closed to the public at just after 6 p.m. Sunday, but a military guard, changed every hour, stood silent vigil throughout the night.
Ford was to lie in state for public viewing through Monday. President Bush and his wife, Laura, planned to view the casket Monday afternoon upon their return to Washington after spending the holiday at their Texas ranch.
On Tuesday morning, Ford's remains will rest outside the Senate chamber before a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral where Bush will deliver a eulogy.
While Saturday's arrival ceremony in the Capitol was for dignitaries, Sunday's viewing was for people such as Gerald Mitchell, 49, of College Station, Texas, who walked around the casket with his hat over his heart.
Dan Shirey of Herndon, Va., said he was moved, as a teenager, by Ford's declaration that "our long national nightmare is over" as Ford replaced Nixon in 1974.
Jack and Mary Oslund, both 67 and from Springfield, Va., recalled Ford as a president who had the job thrust upon him in the last chapter of Nixon's Watergate scandal.
"I think what he brought back to the White House was integrity, trust," Jack Oslund said.
"Honesty," added Mary Oslund.
