Wikipedia:Peer review/Gerald Ford/archive1

Gerald Ford

This is the most recent article from Wikipedia:WikiProject Michigan and Featured Article status is being sought. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Jtmichcock 20:41, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

• This will be a pain to correct but why are all of the footnotes using different citation methods in terms of access date? To create a consistency, I think that all of them should have the retrieval date following "accessed on". Thanks, AndyZ 02:20, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

There are two types of cites: for those that are already dated in terms of news articles, dated essays, etc., the dates of the items are posted. The second set are undated webpages. In both instances, the readers know that the website has been posted for a certain minimal length of time. Like all other things, however, the suggestion will be considered. Jtmichcock 02:28, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

• Overall, I like this article and appreciate the work that has been put into it. Most of my suggestions are minor.
  • I believe the marriage and family section should be expanded. Right now, it is considerably shorter than other sections and is a stub. I realize there's a redirect to the Betty Ford article just above it, but I think some more information, such as how they met, might be appropriate in this article.

This section was quite a bit larger but if you look in the edit history, someone insisted that the section be removed entirely (and delete any reference to Betty Ford because she had her own article(!)}. It was only after quite a bit of dialouge that I managed to get the small amount in there. I agree with you and will incorporate more into that section.

• • In the Nixon Pardon section, you mention "conditional amnesty programs" regarding the Vietnam war. I realize this was probably put there to keep the pardon's together, but it's out of place, with both the sentences right before and after dealing with a different topic, Nixon.

Ford actually announce the programs close together to attempt to ameliorate some of the expected criticism (it didn't work too well). What I can do is tie in the two portions together and better show how they were connected.

• • The article mentions him receiving a House of Representative award, but who gave him the award?

The entire House. It's kind of a Miss Congeniality award :). I will edit that into the sentence.

• • "Ford, like many of his generation, responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor and joined the military". I'm not a fan of this sentence, mainly the "like many of his generation" part as it sounds like an opinion.

Everyone remembers the Tom Brokaw book. I will delete "of his generation" and this should make it sound more even-handed.

• • "Ironically, as President, Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino, treason as "Tokyo Rose" for her World War II propaganda broadcasts to Allied forces.[9]" This is out of place with the rest of the section, and I think means to say "pardoned Iva Toguri D' Aquino of treason".

That can be fixed.

• • Finally, a minor copyedit would work. I corrected some changes, but noticed a repeat of some words. For example, two sections end with "Ironically," (The above quote, and "Ironically, Douglas's later retirement ..." Another, "Ford has experienced a few health problems in the last few years" repeats few twice. Another, "In addition" begins the first two sentences of the same paragraph in the 1976 Presidental Election section. This is minor, I realize, and I'm just nitpicking at this point.

I'll look at the language. I thought that too about ironically and had deleted a third one. So, it could have been worse.

• • Overall, all's good, and as you can see, my suggestions are relatively minor. I hoped they were helpful.--Ataricodfish 22:01, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks much. It was very helpful. Jtmichcock 22:40, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

• I'm not a fan of the U.S. House of Representatives seal or the Vice President's seal being placed in the article; it doesn't really pertain to Ford. (I presume you just added these in, because I don't recall seeing them before.) Also, in the "Presidency, 1974-1977" section, the quote box ("Our long national nightmare is over.") is in an unusual location, being pushed to the left by the image. Perhaps this could be rectified? I'll try and post more comments here soon and improve the article as well. Overall, though, it's excellent. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 00:15, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I moved the text box over a bit so it's right above the photo. The two seals were relatively recent insertions to lead off the separate sections. Since there are no dramatic photos during the 8 months as VP, I felt the section needed some artwork to correspond to the occasion. And since the presidential seal is on the podium of the Presidency section, having the three seals of office looked like a good idea at the time. Jtmichcock 00:51, 28 March 2006 (UTC)