A president’s death
The death last night of former President Gerald Ford led to an interesting discussion at our morning news meeting.
Of course, any president dying would be big news. But Gerald Ford isn’t any president; he’s “our” president.
So, how big should we play the news? While we tossed it around, presentation editor Stacy Sominski looked up our coverage of Ronald Reagan’s death. But is that a fair comparison?
Reagan was one of the leading figures of the 20th century; the father of the conservative revolution in America. On the other hand, he wasn’t from Michigan.
Ford was not only a Wolverine, he was an all-star on the football team. And while only a two-year president, he led the nation during one of its roughest periods, leading the pull-out of Vietnam and pardoning Richard Nixon.
Outside Michigan, Ronald Reagan’s death would be bigger news. In Monroe, Mich., just down the road from the Big House, Gerald Ford’s death is probably more meaningful to our readers.
December 28th, 2006 at 9:34 am
I think Ford had a lot of meaning to a lot of folks, given the circumstances of his being “the accidental President”, his controversial pardon of Nixon … and in particularly, the jabs he took by Eddie Murphy and the others in “Beverly Hills Cop”.
Beyond that, though, the Betty Ford clinic itself probably couldn’t be more popular. They’ve always been a great couple.