Bush praises Ford as healer, 'true gentleman'

Washington - US President George W Bush praised the late president Gerald Ford on Wednesday as 'a true gentleman' who sought to heal the nation's 1970s divisions from the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam war. Ford, who died Tuesday in California at 93, was 'a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts,' Bush said in from his ranch in Texas, interrupting his year-end holiday. Ford took power in August 1974 when Richard Nixon, whom he had served as vice president, resigned over the Watergate snooping scandal. Bush contrasted Ford's role without explicitly mentioning the scandal or the Vietnam war, which ended in a humiliating US military defeat during Ford's presidency 'He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil,' Bush said. 'For a nation that needed healing and an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most.' Ford, a centre-right Republican like Nixon and Bush, was 'a true gentleman who reflected the best in America's character,' Bush said. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Bush praises Ford as healer, 'true gentleman'

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