chicago103

Watch coverage of Gerald Ford's funeral and you will see that George H.W. Bush has much more of an old man strut than Jimmy Carter even though Bush is only 4 months older. When Bush 41 gave his eulogy he seemed like he needed to grab onto something to support himself, when he touched Ford's casket it could have been just as much for support as it was an emotional gesture. When Jimmy Carter gave his eulogy he had no trouble walking whatsoever and walks great for a man of 82, also Bush has more of an old man's voice than Carter if that means anything. A few days later I read that Bush had some kind of hip surgury at the Mayo Clinic, he also had some kind of heart scare back in 1999 if I recall correctly. Jimmy Carter just hasnt had any major health problems I can think of, sure he is getting along in years but in terms of genetics his mother lived into her late 80's I believe. I think Bush Sr. will be the next president to go but it probably wont be while his son is still president, he will be 84 when he leaves office. It would be interesting having a father/son pair both as ex-presidents. Of course if something tragic were to happen to GWB and he doesnt finish his term than his father may go rather quick since he has become a very emotional old man as of late.

9 days ago on January 22 Lady Bird survived to the 34th anniversary of her husband LBJ's death. She is one tough widow, 34 years is a long time. She is in better health than I originally thought given her appearance at a public event a couple months ago. I dont know about her making it to 2010 to surpass Bess Truman as the oldest first lady in history though, and there is still a good chance she will go in 2007, for people this age its hard to tell alot of the time.

My grandmother is 89 going on 90 (shares the exact same birthday as Zsa Zsa Gabor, 2/16/17, coincidentaly) and she is in about as good a shape as Betty Ford in spite of having a heart attack last summer. A number of people approaching 90 can still walk around a little bit you know and just becuase someone is still walking doesnt mean there time isnt approaching either, you can always just drop dead of a a sudden attack, aka stroke, heart attack, etc. Not all death bound elderly people are bedridden you know. Not to jinx my grandma or Betty Ford or anyone. Betty Ford may go this year or she may go the route of Lady Bird or Bess Truman but her age alone and recent death of her husband alone should be a reason. One's age at one spouse's death should always be taken into account, for instance Lady Bird was only 60 when her husband died, therefore it would have the same toll as it has on an 88 year old Betty Ford. Sure Bess Truman is a counter example, but the point is that a widow in her late 50's early 60's at her husband's death is less likely to die than a widow in her late 80's. On the positive side for Betty it is also shown that a elderly woman tends to have a higher rate of survivability a year after her husband's death than it is for an elderly man to survive a year after the death of his wife. This applies to Pat Nixon going 10 months before Richard Nixon at ages 80/81, the same thing happened to my maternal grandparents, except grandpa went only two months after grandma and she was 83 and he was 88. Contrast that with my other grandma who became a widow at 56 and has outlived her husband by 33 years and counting.

Dammit, it looks like its already too late to put him on the 2007 list, but David Rockefeller would have been a good pick as he will be 92 this year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller

I think it would be hard for me to talk about death in such a matter of fact and even obsessive way if I didnt believe in an afterlife. Thats the thing I feel that either they go on to a better place (as I believe most people do) or they recive their just punishment. I dont want my loved ones or really anyone to die but its going to happen to everyone and that coupled with my belief in an afterlife makes me have no qualms about predicting and discussing death.

Since Gerald Ford's death George H.W. Bush is now the oldest living US President, he will be 83 on June 12, 2007. What are your thoughts about him being on the 2007 list? As someone pointed out in another thread it has been a long time since a former US President has not been listed, going all the way back to the 1990's with Nixon, Reagan and Ford. Should we have a US President in 2007 just out of tradition? I think Bush Sr. is the most likely candidate but not by alot, you can make arguments for Carter or even Clinton or GWB (assassanation/Tecumsah). Or if not for 2007's sake what president do you think is next to die?

Betty Ford

I said it in the Gerald Ford thread and the 2007 possibilities thread; this woman is 88 years old (will be 89 in April), just lost her husband of 58 years and is looking rather frail at the funeral services for her husband that past two days. News reporters covering the services are saying that she cannot walk up stairs and has to be driven even very short distances. She had breast cancer in the past and suffered from alcholism, the latter is/may be catching up with her as well. Add the stress of her husband's death on top of her existing condition and it could just do her in. For comparisons sake she looks more frail than Nancy Reagan did at her husband's funeral.

Betty Ford should be on next year's list somewhere, she is 88 looking frail at her husband Gerald Ford's funeral and cant walk up stairs at all (the US Capital and the airplane) and just the stress from her husband's death.

I just googled "Gerald Ford" in the google news search engine and nothing came up, the last he was in the news for anything was when he beat Reagan's longevity record. So if you can share your source it would be appreciated otherwise this is a site where alot of people just say things like that. However what you said is believable given what we know about Gerald Ford's health and recent elusivness. Minus the part about him having a few weeks to live which would just be tabloid speculation (but still always possible) it wouldnt surprise me in the least if he is under hospice care. It would suck to pass away right before, during or right after Christmas, Harry Truman died on December 26, 1972 and actually the holidays are a common time for people to die, if he dies between December 27-31 he will beat Truman's record of dying latest in the calendar year. I also kind of have this obsessive compulsive thing with people dying earlier in the year than their birthday, thus if you read on a tombstone 1913-2006 it means the person was 93, if Ford dies in 2007 he would have to live until at least July 14 to say he was 94. Considering I wrote this less than three days before his death and this was the last post before someone announcing that he had died I must be some sort of prophet. Actually much more creepy than this is what I posted in the Lady Bird Johnson thread less than 24 hours before Ford's death: Speaking of former first ladies I strongly feel that Betty Ford should be on next year's list. She was looking rather frail at the funeral events for her husband the past two days and on the news coverage they were saying that she couldnt walk up the stairs of the aircraft carrying her husband's body and had to enter at the back and the same had to be done at the US capital because she couldnt walk the steps. Granted she doesnt appear to be in terrible shape but since her age is very advanced the stress from losing her husband of so long can take its toll. At the very least she should be near the bottom of the 2007 list. Maybe I can use my semi-prophetic comments as some kind of pull? .

Given what was said about her recent public apperance and picture of her I say she is in better shape than Gerald Ford, I used to think the opposite. Next year I think she should be ranked lower than Ford, heck I think that Ford is much more likely to croak before this new year's than Lady Bird.

I just googled "Gerald Ford" in the google news search engine and nothing came up, the last he was in the news for anything was when he beat Reagan's longevity record. So if you can share your source it would be appreciated otherwise this is a site where alot of people just say things like that. However what you said is believable given what we know about Gerald Ford's health and recent elusivness. Minus the part about him having a few weeks to live which would just be tabloid speculation (but still always possible) it wouldnt surprise me in the least if he is under hospice care. It would suck to pass away right before, during or right after Christmas, Harry Truman died on December 26, 1972 and actually the holidays are a common time for people to die, if he dies between December 27-31 he will beat Truman's record of dying latest in the calendar year. I also kind of have this obsessive compulsive thing with people dying earlier in the year than their birthday, thus if you read on a tombstone 1913-2006 it means the person was 93, if Ford dies in 2007 he would have to live until at least July 14 to say he was 94.

Ive been gone for awhile so I missed whatever this "poll" was about a week or so ago. Anyways it would be very foolish to not include Gerald Ford in any future year's poll. He is now the longest lived US president in history and the inevitable has to happen sooner or later. If anything I think he should be moved up in the ranks to number #14 for 2007, who knows there is even still a chance he will die before the end of this year. He has been hospitalized so much this year and all clues are that even Ford himself knows the end is near, from him considering selling his Colorado home, to him thanking God for every sunrise (implying every new day he is alive is like a miracle). I am just glad that he lived to break Reagan's record.

Gerald Ford to attend event in Michigan Ford Public Policy school to have special guest Updated: Oct 2, 2006 04:17 PM GRAND RAPIDS - Gerald Ford is returning to Michigan next week for the dedication of the public policy school named in his honor at his alma mater. The former president will be at the University of Michigan on October 13 for the ceremony for the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Ford, 93, and his wife, Betty, plus other family members will attend the event, which is closed to the public. Well apparently that pace maker and angioplasty did him some good and he is not on his death bed if he is healthy enough to travel to and attend an event. It will be interesting to look at pictures of him from the event when they are released. I imagine he wont be speaking though, I saw a clip of him from this spring from when Bush visited him and his speech is quite slow and slurred now. Still its pretty impressive that a 93 year old ex-president is still well enough to attend events. I say he will at least break Reagan's record for sure.

I just news googled Gerald Ford and today is the 25th anniversary of the opening of his presidential library in Grand Rapids, Michigan and no he will not be in attendence for the anniversary, I bet the next time he goes there will be for his funeral. Another anniversary, another opportunity to have a timely death, although this kind of pales in comparison to the day he became president and the day he pardoned Nixon as far as irony is concerned. In terms of what people have said about why havent we heard more news about Gerald Ford's health, well for one Ford doesnt have the same paparazzi factor as other ex-presidents and thus unless something really major happens it isnt going to be news. He is a 93 year old with major health problems, he could die today or he could live for years to come. Unless I hear something new or there are any new major developments I say things are looking fairly good for him to break Reagan's record in November.

I dont predict it will happen either, I was just saying it would be interesting akin to John Adams or Thomas Jefferson dying on July 4th. Oh and today (the 8th) is the anniversary of the pardon, when I said "tommorow" it was still Thursday the 7th here in Chicago, I know alot of people on this forum are from the UK and a number of hours ahead of us here in the states.

Tommorow is the 32nd anniversary of Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, it would be something if he died on that anniversary.

The fact that he is 93 years old and will be the longest lived President in US history should not be overlooked and IMO he should maintain about the same ranking next year as this year: #19 or therabouts. He is going to die sooner or later and not having the oldest president ever on would be a mistake, especially with a list containing 50 names. Furthermore, the year isnt even over yet, in fact there is still 1/3 of it left, something could still happen.

This is an intersting situation and hard to read (in part because his condition is still being kept relatively secret from us). On one hand its not a good thing if a 93 year old man has been hosptalized four times in the past year and the result is that he required a pacemaker and an angioplasty, that shows there must be some serious chronic problem that had to be addressed ASAP meaning he could be near death and this is just a desparate attempt to save him, on the other hand as a former president he is clearly getting some of the best health care in the world at the Mayo Clinic and that alone may keep him going for awhile wheras joe blow 93 year old man would probably just keel over at your average local hospital when your typical novice nurse steps out of the room. As of today Gerald Ford has been in the hospital for 13 days and under went two operations, he has never been hospitalized this long, not when he had his stroke back in 2000, not when he was hospitalized for pnemonia in January. He is probably undergoing some kind of rehab for chronic congestive heart failure. Even if he doesnt die any day now there is a possibility he might be in the hospital for a long time and at this point pretty much requires medical care 24/7. Now you cant just put an ex-president in a nursing home, but Ford has practically been living in a hosptial lately anyways. That photo-op he had when Bush visited him in April will probably remembered as the last public apperance by Ford and the amoung the last pictures taken of him, at least pictures the public can see. I would keep my eye on this one if I were you people, anything from his immediate death to release from the hospital could happen. I believe this is the longest single period a president has been hospitalized since Harry Truman's deathbed hospitalization in December 1972 which lasted 21 days. I have dug pretty deep on my presidential trivia here and just looking at the living presidents and the presidents that died recently (Nixon, Reagan) and none of them spent this much time in the hospital ever. As a presidential trivia buff with a morbid fascination with the circumstances of presidential deaths I must say that Ford's decline is very similar to that of Herbert Hoover's, Dwight Eisenhower's and Harry Truman's, they were all under constant medical care their last few weeks alive and just had chronic failure after chronic failure until something just gave out. It seems the same thing might have happened to Reagan as well with the pnemonia that actually did him in but details about his final weeks and days are somewhat sketchy and private. I think Ford is going that route right now.

A 93 year old man having a pacemaker installed? I guess thats what the testing and evaluation was for, to see if surgery was advisable for someone of his advanced age. I have a grandmother who is 89 and had a heart attack recently and the doctors said getting a pacemaker installed at that age is quite risky and so far she doesnt have one. I guess Ford got lucky and the surgery went just fine, however I wonder what the risks are with someone of his advanced age and a new device like that in his body, is there a chance of rejection by the body, complications from the surgery? It would have been pretty odd if something would have happened during surgery, imagine the headlines "Gerald Ford dies while attempting to have a pacemaker installed" especially after hearing nothing about his condition for days. It still begs the question why the secrecy? I imagine his condition had to be pretty serious to the point that he needed this pacemaker to survive, I imagine when he was in the hospital in July for shortness of breath that his doctors told him that he just nearly missed the big one and that he should have a pacemaker installed, hence why the appointment to the Mayo Clinic was made. This device may ensure that he breaks Reagan's record but it still doesnt bode well for his overall longevity, he must be suffering from congestive heart failure, there might even be a chance he might die from complications from this surgery. Stroke, pnemonia, congestive heart failure survivor, he is pretty lucky to have survived all of that for as long as he has.

Its Monday afternoon and there is still no press release about the condition of Gerald Ford. I think this is strange because when he was in the hospital in December, January, and July they had pretty frequent reports on his condition, the first two he was there for about 10 days. I think something serious is going on and the family is trying to keep it a secret until something must be said. Hypothetically if Ford is dying and the family wishes to keep it a secret until he dies how difficult would that be to keep it from the press and all? When Nixon had his fatal stroke in 1994, there was a media vigil at the hospital for the few days until he died, Reagan had a very public decline with Alzhiemers but the pnemonia that actually did him in was pretty much unknown by the media until the death announcement was made. However Nixon and Reagan were much more larger than life world figures than Ford is. Its possible that the Ford family just doesnt want a media death vigil and would prefer to just announce his death when it happens and since the media isnt as obsessed with Ford's persona there isnt a need to get a scoop about it by reporters. This secrecy is quite strange though and thats what makes me wonder, he could be going the Reagan route and have a private dying process and then a public death, media coverage, and state funeral. I mean he has been in the hosptial for six days now, who goes to a hospital for that long, even ex-residents, just for routine tests?

Should Gerald Ford die this was just added onto his wikipedia page today strangely enough. Gerald Ford Funeral plans for former presidents are written out by the Presidents themselves and kept by the Military District of Washington, which oversees state funerals until their death and then the funeral is performed to their wishes. Ford the oldest of the living ex-presidents, has requested a state funeral and plans to be buried at his Presidential Library honoring him in his former hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan called the Gerald R. Ford Library So Gerald Ford will get a state funeral, it will be interesting to compare media coverage and attendence of that event with Reagan's funeral considering he was President for a much shorter period, didnt capture the public nor the world's attention as much and was President so long ago that a sizable percentage of the population wasnt even born yet. I am 25 years old and its interesting to think he was defeated by Carter about four years before I was even born! Reagan's death was a media circus as was Nixon's about a decade earlier but will Ford's death be as big of a deal? I have alot of respect for Ford myself, as a democrat he is my favorite republican president of recent decades.

Here is another article with a few tidbits: Gerald Ford Undergoing Tests In Minnesota Hospital UPDATED: 9:39 am MDT August 16, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- Former President Ford has checked into the Mayo Clinic for a few days as he undergoes unspecified "testing and evaluation." Ford's office released a statement saying the 93-year-old former chief executive was admitted Tuesday, but disclosed little else about the reason for his hospital stay. The clinic in Rochester, about 75 miles southeast of Minneapolis, offered no additional details. "No further releases or updates are anticipated prior to early next week," according to the statement issued from Ford's office in Beaver Creek, Colo. Ford also has a home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Mayo Clinic spokesman John Murphy said he had no further information. A message seeking comment from Ford's chief of staff, Penny Circle, was not returned. Lee Simmons, a California friend of the former president, said he heard in the last two days that Ford was planning to undergo a series of tests for various "medical problems." He didn't have details but said he believed the tests had been planned in advance. "He does have some medical problems," Simmons, of Palm Desert, said in a telephone interview. "I did hear that they want to do a series of tests to make sure he's OK and improve his quality of life." Simmons said he visited Ford last week at the former president's vacation home in Beaver Creek. "I just saw him and he was doing fine. He's talking, his mind is sharp," Simmons said. Ford spent a few days in Colorado's Vail Valley Medical Center last month because of shortness of breath. In January, he was hospitalized for 12 days in Rancho Mirage for treatment of pneumonia. Five years ago, Ford suffered two small strokes and spent about a week in a hospital. Ford became the nation's oldest living former president after the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004. Ford was House minority leader when President Nixon chose him to replace the resigned Spiro Agnew as vice president in 1973. Ford became president on Aug. 9, 1974, when Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. =================== Ok, I was pretty sure that it wasnt some medical emergency like a severe stroke otherwise he would have just gone to the hospital in Colorado, however the fact that he went to the Mayo clinic perhaps indicates that he has some serious health problems that need to be diagnosed. Someone said that this could have been planned in advance and that Ford had been to the Mayo clinic before, I didnt realize that since I have only been following Ford's heatlh closely for the past year or so. It could also just be that as an elderly ex-president he is just getting the best medical care out there. Aside from Reagan who had Alzhimers no other president has lived this long and with modern medicine he has better care than most elderly people. I imagine someone like Ford who is not an ex-president and doesnt have a wife would probably be in a nursing home at this stage. It is possible he has a very serious medical condition that wasnt so much emergency room worthy as it is something that needs to be diagnosed ASAP. Bad colds, pnemonia, shortness of breath, stroke survivor and 93 years old, its possible he is on his last leg and they are just running tests to see if they can do anything for him. I doubt that Ford will live to be 100 as people predicted before with his robust health of just a few years ago and any serious medical attack (heart attack, stroke, pnemonia) at this point will probably kill him. Maybe he is having breathing problems (a sign of heart attack or stroke) like last month and he is just one step away from a likely fatal attack and he is at the Mayo clinic to try and postpone that as long as possible. I wouldnt be suprised if he either leaves the medical clinic in stable condition for now nor would I be surprised if he dies there today. Its also a bit odd that his staff is being so secritive about what is going on, usually they are very straightforward as to why he is there but this time they are very quiet and thats what makes me think it could be something life threatening. Its possible his family doesnt want there to be a deathbed media vigil outside the hospital and would prefer to give a death announcement first and then the media can pick up on it as front page news.

Hold on to your hats, this just in and might be some interesting news. The last we heard he was supposed to be vacaioning for the summer in Colorado and now he ends up in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic unannounced?! It could be that he is undergoing testing for some serious health problem because usually he undergoes his routine testing at the medical center near his home in Rancho Mirage, California. Just a few weeks ago he was in a Colorado hosptial for shortness of breath. Why else would he choose to stop his summer holiday in mid-August unless there was something seriously wrong? Ford admitted to Mayo Clinic News XML Posted on Tue, Aug. 15, 2006 Gerald Ford admitted to Minnesota's Mayo Clinic for 'testing' Associated Press LOS ANGELES - Former President Ford was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., on Tuesday for "testing and evaluation," his office said in a statement. The statement gave no further details on why the 93-year-old former chief executive went to the clinic. "No further releases or updates are anticipated prior to early next week," said the statement issued from his office in Beaver Creek, Colo. Ford also has a home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. No other information was released by the clinic. "I can verify that the statement is correct and I have no other additional information," said John Murphy, the Mayo Clinic spokesman. A message seeking comment from Ford chief of staff Penny Circle was not immediately returned. Last month, Ford spent a few days in Colorado's Vail Valley Medical Center because of shortness of breath. In January he spent 12 days in a Rancho Mirage hospital for treatment of pneumonia. Ford suffered two small strokes five years ago and spent about a week in a hospital. He became the nation's oldest living former president after the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004. Ford was House minority leader when President Nixon chose him to replace the resigned Spiro Agnew as vice president in 1973. Ford became president on Aug. 9, 1974, when Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal.

Well today is August 9th, the 32nd anniversary of Nixon's resignation and Ford's innaguration. Any news on the status of his health?