STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

More All

• Best of etc: celebrating 2008
• Big names, crowds come to Off the Hook Comedy Club
• Words of Wisdom: The origin of originality

Share and Enjoy [?]

BOCA GRANDE — From a local stage, former President George H.W. Bush paid homage Wednesday to the late Gerald Ford, a man he said helped him build his career.

Speaking to a crowd of about 100 at the Gasparilla Inn, Bush took time away from a family vacation to say he owes much of his life in politics to Ford.

AP file photo / Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library

This White House file photograph, provided courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Library, shows President Gerald Ford, center, as he confers with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, left and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Oct. 8, 1974.

"Having lost an election in '64, he campaigned for me in '66 and I won," Bush said. "Then he gave me the great assignment of being equivalent of ambassador in China.

He is one of the most decent, honorable men I have ever met in my life."

Flanked by his wife, Barbara, and his son, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, George Bush called Ford a great friend and political ally.

When Ford ran unsuccessfully for another term against Jimmy Carter in 1976, he considered asking Bush to be his running mate, but opted for Kansas Sen. Bob Dole instead.

"I think he made a good call," Bush said of the choice. "I was flattered to be considered."

Though Ford came under criticism for giving President Richard Nixon a pardon for his involvement in Watergate, Bush credited Ford with healing the wounds of the United States following the scandal.

Future presidents and others can learn a lot from Ford, he said.

"What they will learn is what I learned in being close to him, and even those that weren't will learn what decency and honor are all about in the White House," Bush said. "And this is his legacy. He came in and healed and the rest is history."

The presidency never changed Ford, Bush said.

"He was typical Jerry Ford," he said. "It never went to his head that he was President and a truly remarkable man.

God bless the man, he was one of the very best."

Bush said he likely would go to Ford's funeral, though a date hasn't been set.

Many in the audience struggled to hear Bush's comments as a microphone failure made his speech audible only to those in the front row.

Still, the vacationers and residents of this upscale community where golf carts are used as a primary mode of transportation were happy to get a sighting.

"It's impressive that he came out and spoke instead of issuing a statement to the news," said Scott Swearingen, who was in town on vacation from Louisville, Ky. "It speaks to what he thought of Ford."

Liz Swearingen-Edens brought her two children to hear the former president.

"The qualities that (Bush) admired in president Ford are things that everyone can aspire to, not just presidents," she said.

Liz's daughter Cary, 8, said she was most impressed with the former president's vacation plans, including fishing with his grandson and maybe some golf.

"I liked hearing that he likes to do a lot of fishing," Cary said. "Normally you don't hear about what a president likes to do."