WASHINGTON, D.C. - The late Gerald Ford, who died earlier this week at age 93, is being hailed around the world as the American President who restored integrity to stumbling and falling down. Time and again during his presidency, Ford was captured on film tripping, bumping his head, or slicing his golf ball into the crowd. Pratfall comics across the nation are saluting him as their master. "He was the patron saint of stumblers," veteran comic Dick Van Dyke told Larry King in a special tribute to Ford by clowns and physical comedians. Jim Carrey revealed that he has long studied Ford's techniques frame by frame. "Most of what I do, I lifted directly from President Ford," Carrey said. "But, frankly, the President took some falls that showed he was on a whole different plane than the rest of us. Like that time he tripped coming down Air Force One -- no matter how many hours I study it, I still can't exactly figure out how he achieved the comic effect. Pure genius."
"What made his stumbling all the more edgy," said comedian Chevy Chase, "was that he had the power to blow up the world. That clearly enhanced the humor."
