Ruin Or Revival?

After several years of mounting suspense, the wrenching Watergate crisis had finally been put to rest, avoiding a potentially chaotic and dangerous political situation with possible global ramifications. And the departure of Nixon and the xenophobic elements in his administration created space for improvement in international financial cooperation. But economic threats remained: stubborn and worsening stagflation and a lack of guidance of the international monetary system. And Gerald Ford faced the delicate legacy of Watergate: What to do with his predecessor? Moving swiftly, the “accidental president” pardoned Richard Nixon barely a month after taking the helm as America’s supreme leader. The full and complete pardon elicited furious reactions. Bernstein and Woodward, the young journalists who had played a crucial role in Nixon’s downfall, saw the pardon as a “betrayal,” a “secret and dirty” act.479 Ford’s press secretary, Jerry terHorst, promptly resigned in disgust. Speculation about a deal between Nixon and Ford was rife, but the new president steadfastly insisted that there had been none. For months indignation about the pardon was vented, and it may have cost Gerald Ford the presidential election against Jimmy Carter in 1976. What the pardon did achieve was to remove the possible embarrassment that a Nixon trial and conviction would have caused—Judge Sirica revealed that he would have sent Nixon to prison—possibly encouraging America’s Cold War adversaries to exploit Washington’s perceived weakness.