This Day in American History: Nixon Announces His Resignation
- For America
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
On this day in 1974, a president sat down at his Oval Office desk for the 37th time to address the nation -- and told the country, for the first time in American history, that he was resigning.
The Watergate scandal had been closing in on Richard Nixon for two years, since five men broke into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office complex in June 1972. By the summer of 1974, the House Judiciary Committee had approved three articles of impeachment, and newly released White House tapes confirmed Nixon had participated in the cover-up. On August 7, Republican congressional leaders met with Nixon and told him plainly that he faced near-certain impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate.
That evening, Nixon finalized his decision. The next night, August 8, 1974, at 9:01 p.m., he addressed the nation live from the Oval Office in a speech drafted by speechwriter Raymond K. Price. Rather than dwelling on Watergate itself, Nixon framed his decision in practical political terms: "I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary." He announced he would resign the presidency effective at noon the following day, adding, "I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."
The next morning, Nixon gave an emotional farewell address to White House staff, telling them, "Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." His resignation letter, addressed to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as required by an 1792 law, took effect when Kissinger initialed it at 11:35 a.m. Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as president that same day, declaring, "Our long national nightmare is over." A month later, Ford granted Nixon a full pardon for any crimes he may have committed in office, closing the book on the only presidential resignation in American history.
Also on this day:
1936 -- Jesse Owens wins his fourth and final gold medal of the Berlin Olympics, anchoring the 4x100-meter relay.
1945 -- The Soviet Union declares war on Japan, invading Japanese-held Manchuria.
1992 -- The U.S. "Dream Team" wins Olympic gold in basketball at the Barcelona Games.
Sixteen minutes at a desk, and the only resignation in the history of the American presidency. The system, for all its messiness, did exactly what it was built to do.
Source: National Archives, Miller Center, The Washington Post
Comments