Nixon's legacy

Living through those tumultous times in Washington, it was hard to think of Gerald Ford as anything but Nixon's unelected choice. So those years he was president are just a blur between the image of Nixon leaving the White House, getting on the helicopter with his hands raised in the 'V', to Jimmy Carter's smile. By the time he left the presidency I had left Washington too, to the wilds of Mexico, Guatemala, and western North Carolina.

But he left the presidency with decency and respect, so is worth remembering today. Some sources:

The Gerald Ford Library and Museum (they are in separate locations in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids but share a Web site) has lots of great photo collections, speeches, documents, and biographical information. This photo is from the early life collection, Ford as a young Naval officer. (Interested in other presidential libraries? This page from the National Archives has links to several.) One thing not available at the Ford library is a searchable archive of his Public Papers. The GPO doesn't have them online, either, yet.
But The American Presidency Project has Ford papers among its collection. Papers are browsed by type of document and year, so here are Ford's bill Signing Statements and Executive orders of 1975.

Ford's Wikipedia entry. Note the great references links and bibliography.

For more, Juan Cole has a long essay on the '70s and Foreign Policy during the Ford administration.