Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: A lesson from Watergate

Tuesday, June 18, 2002 | 9:20 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

"PROFILES IN COURAGE FOR OUR TIME" should be introduced by a Kennedy. We remember it was Jack Kennedy who wrote "Profiles In Courage" almost 50 years ago. It's most appropriate that his daughter, Caroline, has edited and introduced people who are heroic in modern times.

Caroline's book not only recognizes courageous individuals but also has them introduced by some of today's best writers. Writers the quality of Albert Hunt, Michael Beschloss, Bob Woodward and Anna Quindlen are among the several writers contributing to the book. This doesn't mean that I, as a reader, agree with the level of adoration given some of the courageous subjects.

One that did get my attention, because it verified what I have believed for many years, was written by Bob Woodward. You can remember Woodward and his colleague Carl Bernstein who became famous as writers for the Washington Post. It was their work which pushed President Richard M. Nixon out of the White House. The Watergate scandal jolted our government to its very roots and Nixon was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford. Ford's pardon of the former president had political observers over the country believing a "deal" had been made. There remains little doubt that these observations created a smell that helped Jimmy Carter defeat Ford in the 1976 presidential general election.

During two terms as Nevada's governor it was my experience to work with Nixon, Ford and Carter. Although at first it was easy to believe a deal had been made for Nixon's pardon, the more I came to know Ford the more difficult such ideas were to accept. Ford was an open man who a governor could trust. He was but a phone call away and put into practice the federalism preached by Nixon when running for office. I came to like and trust the new president and found a good man who was not the bumbler some members of the press tried to portray.

But how did Woodward see the Ford pardons of Nixon? He is a man who helped drive Nixon from the White House, so it was only natural for him, along with Bernstein, to smell another deal. Certainly there were already more than enough Nixon deals exposed to last our nation for several decades.

Ford went on to defend the pardon before the nation and before a congressional hearing. He told us that the action was taken to bring our long national nightmare to an end. The new president wanted the healing process to begin. He believed Nixon's family and the nation had suffered enough.

Woodward writes, "I was deeply dismayed. The implied promise of the Ford presidency was a cleanup. The pardon seemed secret and dirty." The writer then goes on to relate the problems he had for accepting the pardon as anything but another bad deal from the White House. Woodward hunts for answers and writes an interesting account of his findings.

When all is said and done, Woodward finds the Ford I came to know during his time in the White House. He concludes, "Ford's ambition for the country was larger than his own ambition. Restored confidence was more important than his reelection. That's courage."

Not every writer has the skills of Woodward, but the book is loaded with good writing and about people with courage. The editor brings readers up to date including heroes of September 11, 2001. She also reminds us that terror as a weapon is not new when quoting her father's presidential address to the United Nations on Sept. 25, 1961:

"Terror is not a new weapon. Throughout history it has been used by those who could not prevail, either by persuasion or example. But inevitably they fail, either because men are not afraid to die for a life worth living, or because the terrorists themselves came to realize that free men cannot be frightened by threats, and that aggression would meet its own response. And it is in the light of that history that every nation today should know, be he friend or foe, that the United States has both the will and the weapons to join free men in standing up to their responsibilities."