Last night's death of our 38th president, Gerald R. Ford, sent me back to my analysis of the economic performance of U.S. presidents over the last 60 years. This analysis reveals that during Ford's 895 day tenure, the U.S. stock market and certain aspects of the economy performed surprisingly well.
Earlier this month, I met a colleague in the second floor lounge at the Yale Club in New York. While there, I admired the portrait of Ford, a graduate of Yale Law School, which hung above the fireplace. Ford was a popular target for Saturday Night Live comedian Chevy Chase and was mocked for his inflation fighting Whip inflation now (WIN) buttons.
But compared to 10 of his presidential peers, he ranked second -- to fellow Yale Law School graduate, Bill Clinton -- in stock market performance and fifth in overall economic performance. Specifically, the S&P 500 rose an annual average of 17% under Ford's tenure. Ford ranked fifth on six economic performance measures: during his presidency the economy experienced GDP, real disposable income and employment growth, while unemployment rate, inflation and the federal deficit declined.
He was particularly strong in reducing inflation (WIN won) and the federal deficit where he ranked first and second respectively. While debate may continue on the wisdom of his decision to pardon Richard Nixon, Ford's economic legacy is likely to be surprisingly good.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, and a Professor of Management at Babson College.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-27-2006 @ 12:31PM
Orin Black said...
It is unlikely much of what occurred during his brief 800+ days actually were the result of something he did. There are always lags of various lengths on actions taken by officials. Most of what happened during his brief tenure probably tied to what Congress and Nixon did in the previous couple of years.
He did provide stability during the upheaval caused by Nixon/Agnew.
I think Nixon was pardoned with little in the way of complaints because neither side wanted the details of exactly what the thieves were after in the Watergate offices. I personally think they were after records showing some rather disgusting activities of the other side.