He who helped US recover from 'Watergate'

US President George W. Bush hailed late President Gerald Ford on Tuesday night for using common sense and "quiet integrity" to restore Americans' confidence in the presidency after the Watergate scandal.

Bush, in a statement from his Texas ranch, where he is spending the week, said: "The American people will always admire Gerald Ford's devotion to duty, his personal character and the honourable conduct of his administration."

Bush, whose father served as CIA director and a diplomat under Ford, expressed his personal condolences in a phone call with former first lady Betty Ford.