Gerald Ford was the nation’s only Eagle Scout to serve as President of the United States, Gerald Ford fully adhered to Scout Law, which encompassed the admirable characteristics of being “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” These weren’t just words to Gerald Ford, they were a way of life, and one that he wholeheartedly embraced. He exhibited these behaviors as an All-American football player, as a graduate from Yale Law School, as a volunteer who risked his life in the Navy during World War II, and throughout a lifetime in politics when these very behaviors are often cast aside as a means to win elections and maintain positions of power. Gerald Ford stuck to the script.

Ford’s great ambition was to become Speaker himself, but that was ultimately not to be. He served for nearly a decade as the top Republican in the House of Representatives, but since his party never gained a majority during this era, the top spot was never an available option. Just when Ford was about to give up on politics and return to the private sector, a couple of scandal-induced resignations led him to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. When Spiro Agnew stepped aside as Vice President in 1973, Richard Nixon selected Ford as his replacement. Ford wasn’t Nixon’s first choice, but he was among the top four qualified candidates who were considered, and, based on the bipartisan respect Ford had in both Houses of Congress, he got the nod as the most likely to be confirmed in the bunch. Less than a year later, Ford assumed the presidency when Nixon stepped down to avoid certain impeachment over the Watergate scandal. The presidency did not change Ford. He remained committed to doing the right thing for the greater good rather than for political expediency. Seeing his primary goal as President as helping to heal the nation after the disasters of Vietnam and Watergate, he put his own career prospects in jeopardy by issuing a pardon to former President Nixon as a means to bring that crisis to an end and allow the country to move forward. Ford instantly lost nearly 30% of his national support, imperiling his prospects for re-election from the start. The centrist Ford would similarly face attacks from the right and left over policy decisions related to both the domestic economy and foreign relations with the rival Communists from the Soviet Union. Ford continued to follow his conscience, which contributed to productive outcomes for the nation over the long run, even if they damaged his own personal aspirations. Despite losing his re-election bid, Ford had no regrets, including over the divisive pardon. “It was my own feeling then,” he noted two decades after leaving office, “just as strongly today: I have no reservations at all. I do feel strongly it was the right thing for the country, and whatever political consequences for me, I accepted.” It would be difficult for many politicians to make such a statement regarding a decision that likely cost Ford four more years as the most powerful man in the world. But most politicians aren’t Gerald Ford, who followed Scout Law through all the phases of his successful and contented life.