Former President Ford Called Carter Presidency a 'Disaster', Reagan's Cold War Impact Overrated

(AP) GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In 25 years of interviews with his hometown paper that could only be released upon his death, former President Gerald Ford once called Jimmy Carter a "disaster" who ranked alongside Warren Harding, and said Ronald Reagan received far too much credit for ending the Cold War.

"It makes me very irritated when Reagan's people pound their chests and say that because we had this big military buildup, the Kremlin collapsed," Ford told The Grand Rapids Press.

Ford contended his own negotiation of the Helsinki accords on human rights did more to win the Cold War than Reagan's military buildup.

Ford couldn't stand Reagan, and Reagan didn't have much use for Ford either. Ford partly blamed Reagan for his defeat to Carter in '76. Ford was upset that Reagan didn't do much campaigning for him in '76, and when Reagan became President, Ford was upset that Reagan never did ask him for advice. Personally, I don't see how the Helsinki accords did more to win the Cold War than Reagan's military buildup... Ford wanted to coexist with the Soviets; Reagan wanted the Soviets defeated.