Ford called man of integrity, humility at state funeral

Led by President Bush, friends and colleagues on Tuesday described former President Gerald Ford as a man of integrity and humility who lifted the nation out of the morass of the Watergate scandal and the defeat in the Vietnam War.

"Amid the turmoil, Gerald Ford was a rock of stability ... He brought grace into a moment of great doubt," Bush said during Ford's funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. Bush, who escorted former First Lady Betty Ford into the massive Gothic church, praised the former president for his "tough and decent" decision to issue a blanket pardon to former President Richard Nixon despite the knowledge it would probably doom his chances of winning election to the White House.

Ford provided "calm and healing" during one of the "most divisive" times in the nation's history, Bush said.

Other eulogists described Ford's ascendancy to the presidency in the wake of Nixon's forced resignation as a providential stroke of good fortune for the country. "History has a way of matching the man to the moment," said former President George H.W. Bush.

He lauded Ford as a "man of his word," a "Norman Rockwell painting come to life," and a good sport. He recalled the late president's famous jest -- in response to the jokes about his clumsy golf game -- that he "knew he was playing better because he was hitting fewer spectators."

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger credited Ford with shoring up confidence in the White House. "In his understated way ... he did his duty as a leader, not as a performer playing to the gallery," he said. "The absence of glibness and his artless decency became a political asset."

Kissinger added Ford's steady hand was evident in his administration's successful moves to negotiate arms control deals with the Soviet Union, sponsor the first political agreement between Egypt and Israel, and bring majority rule to South Africa. Kissinger added that the Cold War could not have been won "if [Ford] had not emerged to restore equilibrium in America."

Former NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw, who covered the Ford administration as a reporter, praised Ford for his lack of artifice. "He knew who he was and he did not require consultants or gurus to change him," Brokaw said.

After lying in state for three days in the Capitol, Ford's body was transported to Washington National Cathedral by motorcade in a flag-draped casket. When the procession reached the church, a bell tolled 38 times for the 38th president. He died the day after Christmas in California at the age of 93.

The honorary pallbearers included Kissinger, Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. Among the dozens of other dignitaries attending the funeral were former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter; former First Lady Nancy Reagan; House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi; Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.; and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Ford's casket was being flown this afternoon to Grand Rapids, Mich., where a private funeral and internment service was scheduled Wednesday.