December 27, 2006
Gerald Ford and Eastern Europe Posted by Joshua Zeitz at 11:30 PM EST In watching PBS’s coverage on NewsHour of Gerald Ford’s death, it occurred to me that history has been unfair to the late President on at least one count. In 1976 Ford attracted considerable criticism for claiming in his debate with Jimmy Carter, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.” To millions of stunned television viewers, Ford’s assertion seemed unforgivably daft. Was the President really so stupid as to believe, more than 30 years after the Yalta Conference, that Eastern Europe was still up for grabs? Few sources quote the rest of Ford’s statement, in which he specifically pointed to Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland as examples of Eastern European countries not under Moscow’s paw. Was Ford wrong? Not necessarily. In the mid-1970s all three states were certainly part of the Communist bloc, insomuch as there was a united Communist bloc. But Romania’s leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, maintained a stubborn independence of Moscow. Under Ceausescu, Romania was the only Warsaw Pact nation to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six Day War and to criticize the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Similarly, under the leadership of Marshal Tito, Yugoslavia effectively maintained a neutral stance during the Cold War, continuing to enjoy reasonably friendly diplomatic relations with the United States and its NATO allies. I know less about Poland in the 1970s and would defer to my colleague Fred Smoler, whose training in European history is far superior to mine. But I imagine Ford had something specific in mind when he singled out Warsaw for its independence of the Kremlin. To be sure, Ford didn’t convey his idea clearly, and ultimately politicians should be skilled communicators. On the other hand, journalists shouldn’t confuse themselves with stenographers. They should act as informed professionals who mediate between elected officials and the general public. Ford’s argument was valid, and in an ideal world, it would have inspired a nuanced debate about the realities of Cold War–era geopolitics. It’s a small point, all these years later. But as John Steele Gordon pointed out in today’s feature article, Ford was a supremely decent man and a devoted public servant. It’s worth remembering that he was also a good deal smarter than many people assumed, then and now.
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