Gerald Ford was by all accounts a decent man and a competant politician - aware of his own shortcomings ("I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln") - but he had the dubious honor of replacing Richard Nixon after Nixon resigned the Presidency. Public trust of the office was at an all time low, and Ford's verbal and physical blunders did nothing to instill confidence in America's perception of him in office. He only served as Presidnt for two and a half years.