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Carter hails Ford as friend, leader

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Wednesday said his relationship with Gerald R. Ford was the closest in history between former presidents.

Carter eulogized Ford during the final service in a six-day celebration of the 38th president's life at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids, Mich. Following the service, Ford was buried on a grassy slope overlooking the Gerald R. Ford Museum in downtown Grand Rapids.

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Carter said he could think of no finer tribute to Ford than the first words he spoke after assuming the presidency: "For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he did to heal our land."

Carter said a mutual respect between himself and Ford grew into a close personal friendship. They bonded during their trip to Egypt for the funeral of Anwar Sadat. They had been lamenting the difficulty in raising funds for a presidential library for an "unexpectedly defeated candidate."

"Gerry Ford and I shared a lot," Carter said, citing their stints in the Navy, their offspring -- both had three sons and a daughter -- and the similarities between their wives, "good-looking, smart and very independent."

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Carter gave Ford credit for laying the foundation for the Panama Canal treaties, nuclear weapons control with the Soviet Union, normalized relations with China and the Camp David Accords.

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