Hail to the Chief

Once again I was going to blog about ROCKY BALBOA and what a good movie it is, and how I'm glad Philly's being used in Hollywood;but alas, another death overshadows the pop culture topics of this blog, and I can't in good conscience not mention the passing of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford.

Quite simply he was the first US President I ever saw live and in living color as he addressed my High School way back in 1987, at the time being 16, I casually dismissed the viewing not realizing how priviliged it was to be in the presence of even one ex-President of the US. He wasn't an overbearing or really charismatic presence, but he did command a sense of calm, which coincidentally reflected the main purpose of his Post Watergate Administration. He did pop the auditorium as a student asked him what he thought of the current crop of Jingoistic action films, most notibly "Rambo"...He paused, and said directly that the only show he liked watching was the sitcom "Kate and Alley" which provoked warm laughter in the room. As for the rest of the powerhouse questioning that most of the eggheads at my school kept asking him in regards to Foreign affairs, the Nixon Pardon and other events during his administration i don't remember, but of course the TV one always stuck.

The only other I saw live was his successor, President Jimmy Carter whom I saw as I was working on the Tonight Show about ten years later. That show was pretty cool to be working at live and yeah,also being ten years older and a little wiser I have to admit feeling somewhat patriotic to be in Carter's presence.

I also think that was the same year The Simpsons aired an episode where at the end of it Gerald Ford moves in next door to Homer. The joke being that Ford was a klutz. Furthermore, President Ford's clumsiness did provide the fodder for all of Chevy Chase's pratfalls on his only season on Saturday Night Live, the irony being that Ford was a total jock in his youth. I bet that Ford had the CIA (he was on the Warren Commisson for the JFK assassination) tamper, and destroy Chevy Chase's film career in retaliation. Now that's funny.

Rest in peace, Mr.President.