Set in huge bold letters, the headline screamed across Page 1 of the paper on Oct. 30, 1975. In six taut syllables, it brought home its message with the power of a knockout punch: At the height of New York's fiscal crisis, President Gerald R. Ford had declined to bail the city out.Powerful. The pen is mighty.
Those six syllables, as Mr. Ford later acknowledged, almost certainly lost him New York State in his 1976 race against Jimmy Carter, and with it, the presidency.
The NYT, which had to resist saying Brink "dropped dead," does poke fun at itself:
The corresponding headline in The New York Times that day, FORD, CASTIGATING CITY, ASSERTS HE'D VETO FUND GUARANTEE; OFFERS BANKRUPTCY BILL, remains unsung.
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1 comment:
Mister we could use a man like Gerry Ford again. A President who tries to do the right thing even at the expense of special interests and his/her prospects in the next election?
The next great hero in this nation will be the President who sacrifices a second term to make the fiscal changes needed to ensure the survival of the nation.
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