2006年VOA标准英语-Former US President Ford Remembered as Politica

By Jim Malone
Washington
29 December 2006

Americans are bidding farewell to former President Gerald Ford¹ over the next few days in funeral services in Washington and in his native Michigan. The 38th president died Tuesday at the age of 93. Mr. Ford only served 29 months in the White House, after the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. But, as VOA national affairs correspondent Jim Malone reports, historians salute³ Mr. Ford's efforts to heal the political divisions in the country in the wake of the Watergate scandal that drove Mr. Nixon from power.

 
Gerald Ford is sworn in as president on 9 August 1974

Gerald Ford was not considered a great orator⁴, but his first words as president in August, 1974, set a tone of healing and reassurance⁵ for a nation anxious to move beyond Watergate and the political demise⁶ of Richard Nixon.

"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over," said President Ford. "Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule."

In the wake of his death, politicians from both political parties are recalling Gerald Ford's basic decency⁷ and the important change in tone he brought to the White House when he succeeded Richard Nixon.

President Bush was among those recalling Mr. Ford's contribution to national reconciliation⁸ in the wake of Mr. Nixon's resignation. "For a nation that needed healing, and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most," he said.

Mr. Ford was known as the accidental president. After a 25-year career in Congress, he was chosen to replace Spiro Agnew as vice² president in 1973, after Agnew resigned in disgrace over corruption⁹ charges.

 
President Ford announces his decision to pardon former President Richard Nixon, 8 September 1974
Republicans and Democrats¹¹ alike wanted Mr. Nixon to choose Gerald Ford as vice president, because they knew President Nixon might not be able to remain in office because of his role in covering up White House involvement in the 1972 break-in at Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington.

Looking back, historians and political scholars say the manner in which Gerald Ford assumed the presidency¹² was one of his greatest achievements. "Ford looks better and better in history. He really was a president who brought us together at a very difficult time," noted¹³ Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"He succeeded Richard Nixon. The presidency was at a low point. The country was at a low point," continued Sabato. "And, just through his sheer decency, and the fact that he was so well liked by [both parties], he actually did bring the country together, even though people disagreed about his pardon of President Nixon, and disagreeing about the end of the Vietnam War and all kinds of other things."

Years later, Mr. Ford reflected on the challenges he faced in the wake of President Nixon's resignation. "I inherited a wounded nation, where many of our fellow Americans were disillusioned¹⁴ with government, unhappy with people in public office and torn apart by the Vietnam War," he said.

Historian John Robert Greene has written three books about Gerald Ford. He told VOA's Talk to America program that Mr. Ford's modest, unassuming style was a refreshing¹⁵ change from what some historians have described as the imperial presidency of Richard Nixon.

"Gerald Ford was the least affecting, the least image-controlled president," said Greene, "the most genuine president, I think, of the 20th century. What you saw was what you got."

Mr. Ford's most controversial decision may have cost him the 1976 presidential election.

One month after taking office in 1974, he pardoned Richard Nixon of any crimes associated with the Watergate scandal, preventing any criminal prosecution¹⁶ of the former president as a private citizen.

"The nation could not have stood the battering¹⁷ that a court trial would have produced for months, if not years," said Stephen Hess, a political scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "Had he not pardoned Nixon, given how close the election ultimately turned out to be, he was likely to have defeated Jimmy Carter."

Public reaction to the Nixon pardon was overwhelmingly negative. In fact, President Ford took the unusual step of defending the pardon before a congressional committee in 1975. "He is the only president in the history of this country who has resigned in shame and disgrace," said President Ford of his predecessor¹⁸. "I think that, in and of itself, can be understood, can be explained, to, uh, students or to others."

Mr. Ford narrowly lost the 1976 election to Democrat¹⁰ Jimmy Carter.

Stephen Hess says Gerald Ford will be remembered for putting principle above politics. "His legacy¹⁹ was important in allowing the nation to get over a very rough period of time, and move forward with some dispatch and some real civility," said Hess. "He was a decent man, an honorable man when the nation really did need a person like that."

Mr. Ford often said the Nixon pardon was a necessary step in unifying²⁰ the country, but Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward says Mr. Ford told him in a 2005 interview that his close friendship with Richard Nixon also played a role in his decision to protect the disgraced former president from criminal prosecution and a lengthy²¹ trial.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

4 orator   

n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• The orator gestured vigorously while speaking.这位演讲者讲话时用力地做手势。

5 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

6 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

7 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

8 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

10 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

15 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

16 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

17 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

19 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

20 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

21 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。