Gerald Ford quotes

Gerald Ford was the 38th President of the United States and previously served as Vice President. His presidency was marked by efforts to heal the nation after the Watergate scandal. He is remembered for pardoning Richard Nixon and striving for national unity. Here are 120 of his quotes:

The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.

Gerald Ford

The pat on the back, the arm around the shoulder, the praise for what was done right and the sympathetic nod for what wasn't are as much a part of golf as life itself.

Gerald Ford

History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion.

Gerald Ford

Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.

Gerald Ford

I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone.

Gerald Ford

It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of. But it's a quality that many people seem to have neglected.

Gerald Ford

I cannot imagine any other country in the world where the opposition would seek, and the chief executive would allow, the dissemination of his most private and personal conversations with his staff, which, to be honest, do not exactly confer sainthood on anyone concerned.

Gerald Ford

There are no adequate substitutes for father, mother, and children bound together in a loving commitment to nurture and protect. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, can take the place of the family in the scheme of things.

Gerald Ford

For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.

Gerald Ford

In a political sense, there is one problem that currently underlies all of the others. That problem is making Government sufficiently responsive to the people. If we don't make government responsive to the people, we don't make it believable. And we must make government believable if we are to have a functioning democracy.

Gerald Ford

In all my public and private acts as your president, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.

Gerald Ford

Tell the truth, work hard, and come to dinner on time.

Gerald Ford

The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends.

Gerald Ford

I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal his brevity and his plain speaking.

Gerald Ford

The veto is a President's Constitutional right, given to him by the drafters of the Constitution because they wanted it as a check against irresponsible Congressional action. The veto forces Congress to take another look at legislation that has been passed. I think this is a responsible tool for a president of the United States, and I have sought to use it responsibly.

Gerald Ford

I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself.

Gerald Ford

As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and very, very well.

Gerald Ford

The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?

Gerald Ford

I am the first to admit that I am no great orator or no person that got where I have gotten by any William Jennings Bryan technique.

Gerald Ford

I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.

Gerald Ford

We came from many roots, and we have many branches.

Gerald Ford

America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to light the way. And we will survive and become the stronger - not only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.

Gerald Ford