The nation has said goodbye to President Ford. His brief term in office was not this well appreciated at the time. With the fiasco in Iraq we can look back on "the good old days" of stagflation and retreat from Vietnam with respect for his honesty and decency that guided us through those tough times.
Ford and later President Carter struggled with an economy hit hard by OPEC and with a poorly thought out war and its aftermath. Their push for energy conservation led to lower demand for oil, lower oil prices, lower inflation and renewed economic growth.
Ford contributed a lot as a former President. He led a commission that called for voting rights in the wake of the election debacle in Florida six years ago. His stature has risen as we watch a less capable man struggle with the responsibilities of leadership.
I remember Ford's visit to downtown St. Pete. Williams Park was packed with people exited to see their President. Actually most were not as excited as I was. Only a handful of us arrived early in the morning in the hopes of getting a seat with a good view. There were plenty of seats in the empty park. Nobody was here. We were told that all of the seats were roped off for "VIPs" who were being bused in from Orlando and other Republican areas. We locals formed a line behind the last row of empty seats. Soon lots of local folks started filling the park behind the reserved seats and a convoy of buses arrived. Ford was given a rousing welcome.
I only remember one line from his speech, Ford quoting another President. I think that the line was from Eisenhower. He said that America was not "good because we are great, we are great because we are good".
Two protesters who started chanting "Free Bob Canney", “Free Bob Canney” upstaged Ford. They called attention to the plight of UF Professor Bob Canney, in prison for protesting the war in Vietnam. Rock and roll singer Ronnie Lowe and another activist had launched their protest and had everyone’s attention. Lowe had a booming baritone voice that could not be ignored. Soon a group of very angry elderly spectators started assaulting the two. The protestors were kicked and hit with canes. Everyone seemed to be talking about the protest and the reaction to it. The next day the story was about how funny it was for senior citizens to attack someone. The media had fun with the stereotype of St. Pete as a retirement center. Only later did people question why police stood by and let these two be beaten and how whacking someone with a cane is still a violent crime even when the attacker breaks every stereotype.
About five years earlier a large rally had been planned for Straub Park. City council rushed through an ordinance against profanity. Their intention was to provide a pretext for suppression of free speech in Straub Park. Speech to be uttered in our park that was named to honor a journalist who used his right of speech to push our community forward in so many ways. Canney said a banned word and as he was being arrested he was also charged with resisting.
Canney was later released from prison on the condition that he leave Florida and never return. Banished from the state. Persecuted for his patriotism. He tried to save our county from a hopeless war and for that he lost his job, his freedom and his home. He opened a bookstore and lived out his life in Maine.
Its too bad that this protest ended the way that it did. A direct appeal to the President is a long shot at best but its success is not without precedent. A few years earlier a protestor greeted Richard Nixon with a sign against the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Nixon turned to Florida Governor Claude Kirk and said, I see that they don’t like you canal. Kirk responded by saying that it’s not my canal Mr. President, it’s your canal. Soon Nixon reviewed the project and ended the 40 year boondoggle.
Ford went on to win his primary but without real support from Ronald Reagan he went on to lose to Jimmy Carter. Reagan and Carter also spoke from the same stage that year. St. Pete was on the map
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