Cheney: Ford ‘dear friend and mentor’

updated 1:38 p.m. ET Dec. 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - The following is Vice President Dick Cheney’s statement on the death of former President Gerald Ford:

I am deeply saddened by the death of former President Gerald R. Ford.

President Ford led an honorable life that brought great credit to the United States of America. Throughout his career, as a Naval officer, Congressman, Vice President and President, Gerald Ford embodied the best values of a great generation: decency, integrity, and devotion to duty. Thirty-two years ago, he assumed the nation’s highest office during the greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. In that troubled era, America needed strength, wisdom, and good judgment, and those qualities came to us in the person of Gerald R. Ford. When he left office, he had restored public trust in the presidency, and the nation once again looked to the future with confidence and faith.

I was proud to know President Ford, and to have served in the White House as his chief of staff. He was a dear friend and mentor to me until this very day. I feel a great sense of loss at his passing, and Lynne and our daughters join me in offering heartfelt sympathy to Betty Ford and her entire family.

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