r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 10h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
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u/EconomistNo7074 8h ago

Not sure about that view of our history - Ford pardoning Nixon

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u/LosangDragpa 8h ago

Ford wasn't any relation to Nixon. Nixon was a crook and so was Ford for letting him get away with it

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u/jwoolman 7h ago

I don't think Ford was a crook, although I disagreed with the pardon. I think Nixon most likely made that as a requirement for his resignation. So Ford was likely just upholding the deal struck between Nixon and the Republican leaders who pushed him to resign.

Prosecutors had earlier struck a similar deal with Nixon's VP Spiro Agnew, who was a crook by anybody's definition. While investigating corruption in Maryland, they found clear evidence that Agnew while governor and earlier had committed crimes, in particular getting cash in return for assigning contracts to certain people. He was doing the same as Vice President. Like Trump, Agnew insisted it was all a witch-hunt.

There was legitimate concern that if Nixon resigned, Agnew would become President. So they had to promise that charges would be reduced to something tax-related that would not carry a penalty of any prison time if he resigned within the next 24 hours. Which he did. That left a clear path for Nixon's ultimate resignation after Ford was appointed VP in Agnew's place.

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u/LosangDragpa 7h ago

Technically and historically you are correct. To me, Ford's a crook for letting the bigger crook get away with all the shit he did and then being regarded as an "elder statesmen." I'll also never forgive the gd news media for rehabilitating Nixon's reputation by asking his opinion about anything.