President Bush is no Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford has emerged with the New Year as a singular individual with firmly imbedded virtues of integrity, honesty, courage, kindness and intelligence. These qualities, together with the decisiveness displayed during his short presidency, make up his enduring legacy. Based on these qualities, it seems doubtful that any of his thinking or decisions were guided by any concern for his legacy. We find the current president presiding over a catastrophic decline in America's prestige and honor. After six years, articles are appearing about the president's and his followers' concern for his legacy. There is something unseemly if not disgusting about this. As a matter of concern, weigh his legacy (historic reputation) against the needs of a debt-ridden country of 300 million with a fractured health system in the midst of a terrifying self-induced war. And no matter how many indicators of economic growth such as the rising stock market are cited, the mass of the population is experiencing an insecure, declining standard of living and they know it. The good times are not trickling down as good old President Reagan predicted. As for the present president's personal legacy, who cares? Joseph Linsk, Atlantic City - Atlantic City Press, January 11, 2007