From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:

—On President Ford—

FRED BARNES: Denny Hastert, Saturday night, called him a “rock.” President Bush today, called him today a “rock of stability.” And it wasn’t just that he was a cheerful guy who could get along with people, which, of course, he could, but underneath it was some real solid — he was emotionally solid. He was a very stable person. He wasn’t intimidated by the office. You know, he hadn’t trained to be president, hadn’t expected to be. Yet, when he got in there he wasn’t frightened by the duties and responsibilities he had. He carried them out very strongly.
BILL SAMMON: I think the best line that Bush had . . . in his eulogy today is that Ford became president, “because America needed him, not because he needed the office.” And I think that says something, because most presidents are, you know, you think of Al Gore who would be president, you know, sort of being trained to be president since he was a teenager, or others who have lusted after that job, and here’s a guy who ended up getting the job, not wanting it . . .
BARNES: [I]n 1977, when he left office, when I think inflation was about a third of what it had been, and interest rates were down and growth was up to something like six percent in 1976 so, the economy had improved a lot and of course, you know, one of the things Wall Street loves in Washington is gridlock. And here was a president who was dedicated to cutting spending, to holding down the spending that Congress passed. . . .

—On Lessons Learned—

MARA LIASSON: I think that especially Vice President Cheney’s view of the proper balance of power between the executive and legislative was really formed when he worked for Gerald Ford and felt that Congress was usurping a lot of the powers that were traditionally — that should be in the executive branch and I think he’s worked very hard to change the balance into the one he sees better.
SAMMON: Two and a half years ago I was in the National Cathedral for Reagan’s funeral . . . and I remember all the pundits saying maybe Reagan was right about tearing down the wall or the evil empire and maybe we were wrong about him. And now I can’t help but be struck, I was at the funeral service over the weekend at the capitol rotunda and I heard people saying . . . maybe Ford was right about the pardon; the press and the Democrats all said he was wrong at the time. And it — you can’t help but wonder if, you know, a quarter of a century or whatever from now, people are going to say the same thing about George W. Bush — maybe he was right to try to democratize the Middle East and liberate 50 million people.