Chevy Chase Admits Falling For Carter In 1976 Prez Election

By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

He looked nothing like his subject physically and never mastered the voice, but in the Presidential Election of 1976, Chevy Chase lit the world on fire with his take on the incumbent, and soon to be defeated, President Gerald R. Ford. Pratfalling his way through every skit, the comedian mastered his subject in a way never done before, and not duplicated since.

The show that broke the mold, Saturday Night Live has thrived over the years since, largely based on an ability to lampoon news events as they were happening. As time went by, viewers became more and more attracted to the off-beat, unprecedented spoofing of prominent politicians with eerie renditions via make-up, costuming and dead-on voice impersonations, raising the show to “Must-See” status during political happenings.

And its popularity has soared to unprecedented heights during the current campaign. There are actually a good number of people who would rather vote for Tina Fey than her alter-ego Sarah Palin.

More than 30 years later, in an interview with CNN, Chevy has confirmed the long suspected rumor that Democratic Party sympathies pushed the decision to portray the Nixon successor, and pardoner, in a most unflattering light.

“Ford was a sweet man, a terrific man. We became good friends after, but he just tripped over things a lot. It’s not that I can imitate him so much that I can do a lot of physical comedy and I just went after him. Obviously my leanings were Democratic and I wanted Jimmy Carter in and I wanted Ford out. I figured look, we’re reaching millions of people every weekend, why not do it.”

So Conspiracy Theorists were right all along…. maybe we should demand a recount?

Watch More Chevy Chase/Gerald Ford Clips Right Here On Fancast!