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But that's not what happened. After agonizing over this decision, President Ford pardoned President Nixon for all crimes that he had committed against the American people. Why did he pardon him, instead of making him stand trial and go to jail? And so Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Was that the right thing to do? Absolutely, because President Ford wanted healing for America. Healing means "laying them gently down," not carrying the pains of the past on our shoulders so that they become a burden to us. Healing is not giving anyone else the power to control our lives, our destiny, our souls. When someone dies, or divorces, we need to move on in our lives, without them, and this is a difficult task indeed. Sometimes we want to keep them around so just so we can be angry with them, as if that anger will ease our pain and sorrow. It won't, but we think that it will, so we continue to make them the focus of our lives. How often do we give too much power to those who have hurt and embarrassed us? |