Leading in a crisis

President Gerald Ford - Being at the right place at the right time

The 10^th death anniversary of President Gerald Ford of USA fell on 26^th December, 2016.

Gerald Rudolph Ford (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States (1974 to 77). Prior to this he was the 40th Vice President of the United States from 1973 until President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.

He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency following the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew on October 10, 1973. He became president upon Richard Nixon's departure on August 9, 1974 and claimed the distinction as the first and to date only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the United States without being elected to either office.

U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended during his presidency. Domestically, Ford presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure (source: Wikipedia). Ford’s efforts to stabilize US image after the conflict in Vietnam is praised by many.

In post colonial Sri Lanka no individual has yet matched the Ford record but below are notable appointments.

Dudley Senanayake was the first to be appointed Prime Minister after a crisis when his father Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake died in 1952.

In 1959, Prime Minister Bandaranaike was killed at a moment when late W. Dahanayake was already appointed acting Prime Minister by Bandaranaike who was about to leave the country on an official visit.

Dahanayake hence, became the second to be appointed Prime Minister after a crisis.

In May 1993 President Premadasa was killed by the LTTE terrorists at a time he had completed four years & four months of his six year term. The Parliament unanimously selected Prime Minister Wijethunga to be the President for the rest of the term & Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was appointed Prime Minister by President Wijethunga. Wickramasinghe thus became the third to be appointed Prime Minister after a crisis.

Any community is fortunate if it has seasoned leaders who can shoulder responsibility at a time of unexpected crisis since unexpected crisis can be misused by pro conflict fractions which prevail hidden in any society.

© Dr. Samitha Hettige, December 2016