Partisanship set aside for Ford funeral, mostly

Washington, D.C. appropriately mourned President Ford, as we all did this week. It was a fitting send off for a man who helped heal a nation following the Nixon administration, an era marked by corruption, abuse of power, and much worse. Nixon's pardon aside (and I feel that received entirely too much play in the press this week), President Ford really accomplished what many believed unthinkable on August 9, 1974, when Ford took the oath of office at noon -- to restore Americans' collective belief in our Democracy, political system, and most importantly, the presidency. Well done, Mr. President. Rest in peace.

President Ford makes his final journey through Washington.

I thought President Ford's memorial service and funeral were both touching, appropriate and accurate tributes of the man that was Gerald R. Ford. With each of our presidents, there is always plenty of evidence of how they view themselves and how they want to be remembered, from their presidential libraries to their memoirs. But, there's no greater indication than their funerals and memorial services. As such, President Ford didn't disappoint this week; his planned memorials were great reflections of his character and personality -- unassuming and dignified, without a whiff of pomposity or self-importance; two unfortunate traits that tend to mark such events. No horse with the empty boots, no Air Force flyover (that was saved for the Michigan service). And the American public streamed in throughout the night to view his casket, alongside the many dignitaries, world leaders and former presidents.

Just when I thought this was about as nonpartisan political event as one can see, I read after the funeral service that President Bush was the only person who required that the Rotunda in the Capitol be cleared so he could go in and view the casket, where videotape shows he stood for about seven seconds. All presidents have egos, but really? What an uncouth rube.

This is one of my favorite pics from this week -- visitors passing by the presidents casket as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda on the Lincoln catafalque, which has held every president who has lied in state in the capitol since President Lincoln. I love the use of a drag shutter here (when a photographer uses a slow shutter speed). It's a cool technique that can add a lot to a situation, as long as it's not overdone.

The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. is an impressive site to behold; it's too bad that most of the time that Americans see it is during occasions like these.

My favorite part is how they robbed Bush of his 1,000,000,000th photo opportunity - when it was time for pictures, the Ford children were nowhere to be found. Good for them.
President Bush's remarks (above) were pretty measured. I wonder if this was because it was revealed seemingly hours after Ford's death that the former president was vehemently opposed to Bush's disastrous foray into Iraq. We'll probably never know.

My favorite moment from the memorial service was former President George H.W. Bush's remarks, when he talked about Ford's ability to laugh at himself. Bush talked about the Saturday Night Live skits that made fun of his falling down, and Ford's ability to laugh at himself and the importance of having that trait in public life. And Bush Sr. also showed the ability to laugh at himself, doing an imitation of Dana Carvey doing an imitation of him (above). As his Bush Sr. said that, he got a big laugh, and the cameras went to the sitting president, and he had that smirk on his face that I've come to despise these past 7-8 years.

Anyway, it was a moving, memorable service, if for no other reason that even Americans who live 80-90 years only get to see these funerals seven or eight times in their lives.