For a man considered an "accidental president," Gerald R. Ford Jr., was tested in the manner few presidents have been.

President Ford, who died Tuesday night in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93, inherited a nation in turmoil over the Watergate scandal and the resignations of President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. The economy was sputtering due to inflation. Abroad, the Vietnam War was grinding on.

A month after taking office on Aug. 9, 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon for all crimes he may have committed as president. It is widely believed this cost Ford the presidential election. In successive years, however, the pardon was viewed as a courageous act that allowed the nation to move on from the Watergate scandal.

Ford served only 895 days as president. Many friends, politicians and historians have remarked upon his passing that he was the perfect man for such a tumultuous time in American history. He has been described as a normal guy who liked to cook his own breakfast, was open with the press and wanted to be perceived by the nation as a healer. He reached across the political aisle to move his political agenda. Ford and Jimmy Carter, who defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election, became close friends.

Ford paid a considerable price for his service. Serving as Nixon's vice president and eventually president meant that the longtime representative from Michigan would never realize his lifelong dream of serving as speaker of the House.

The Vietnam War ended on his watch, after Saigon fell in April 1975, a significant defeat for the United States. Evoking Abraham Lincoln, Ford said at the time that the United States needed to "look forward to an agenda for the future, to unify, to bind up the nation's wounds."

Serving as president also meant that his family would be thrust into the national spotlight for the remainder of their lives. He survived two assassination attempts in September 1975. Ford was parodied by Chevy Chase on "Saturday Night Live" as a clumsy oaf after a couple of well-publicized stumbles. It was a disservice to Ford who was perhaps the most gifted athlete to occupy the White House. He played on two national championship football teams at the University of Michigan and was offered two contracts to play professional football.

Instead, Ford entered law school at Yale University and started down a different path. Perhaps few gifted athletes would make such a choice today. For him, it made all the difference. Eventually, he was elected to the House in 1948, defeating incumbent Rep. Bartel Jonkman. He won re-election 12 times, served on the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and stayed in the House until Nixon appointed him the 40th vice president of the United States.

In his inaugural address, the 38th president of the United States acknowledged to Americans that he understood he was an unelected president. He asked Americans to confirm him as president with their prayers. He also, in that address, asked that the nation pray for former President Nixon.

Perhaps the best tribute to Ford was offered by his companion of 58 years, his wife Betty. She identified the three constants that drove him. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

Could anything better be said of a man?