A Ford Not a Lincoln

by Richard Reeves

American Politics & Studies, Political Studies, US Politics, American Presidency

Genres: Biography, Politics, History

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Richard Furman Reeves was an American writer, syndicated columnist, and lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Osborneinri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Reeves really does a surprising hatchet job on Ford. I thought Ford was an idiot for pardoning Nixon, but Reeves kicks his head on about everything else too, and all but calls him stupid. Interesting political insights from Reeves about Washington politics all the way though.

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh well, nobody's perfect. This not only applies to Ford, but to Reeves as well, normally a perceptive political observer. In this book, he echoed the public perception of Jerry Ford as an amiable bumbler, and failed to spot why this congressional lifer was not a bad follow-up to the trauma of Watergate. This is becoming common wisdom now, 40 years after the fact; just a shame Reeves - in common with the rest of us - didn't see it then.

[Mick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really surprising. I have loved all of Reeves' other books, but this is an unrepentant hatchet job. Deserved or not, Ford fares very poorly in this. Clearly one of Reeves' first books, and clearly his worst. And because it was written so early in the Ford administration, it lacks context and historical perspective.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor guy - once he pardoned Nixon, he didn't have a chance.