Nixon's Resignation
NBC News Special Report 8 Aug. 1974
As Watergate investigations led to the Oval Office, Nixon's lawyers argued that the President is immune from judicial control:
"...a holding that the President is personally subject to the orders of a court would effectively destroy the status of the Executive Branch as an equal and co-ordinate element of government." [1] Nixon's defense hinged on the constitutionality of executive privilege, the idea that: "the Chief Executive has the right to decide finally and for all purposes what information, documents, or other papers in the Executive Branch of the government shall be kept confidential." The opposition argued that the president is not above the Constitution in the prosecution of criminal matters. The Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon ruled that "Neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the need for confidentiality of high level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances." Nixon had exceeded his power under Article II of the Constitution. The tapes were released and Nixon resigned. |
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interest of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations. ... I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interests of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. ... Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office." Nixon Resignation Speech Excerpt--8 Aug. 1974
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"President Nixon reads a passage from a book by Theodore Roosevelt as he addresses an East Room White House audience Friday, Aug. 9, 1974. Julie Nixon Eisenhower and her husband David listen, left, along with Mrs. Pat Nixon, Tricia Nixon Cox and her husband stand at the right." (AP Photo/Charles W. Harrity)
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I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen.... I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. ... In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end. |
Richard Nixon left the White House, but the nightmare of Watergate hovered over Ford's presidency.
There was still one lingering matter: Nixon's future. Would the former president be prosecuted? The nation--or at least the media--seemed transfixed by the question." ~Bob Woodward [4]
When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, it was only the second time in our history that impeachment of a President had been considered. Nearly every action taken with regard to the case had some constitutional significance. The document shown here deals with a specific question: Should the Watergate Special Prosecutor seek an indictment of the former President?" ~National Archives [5] |
Presidential Pardon
A 1915 Supreme Court case, Burdick v. United States, determined that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt, acceptance, a confession of it." Nixon's acceptance of a pardon would carry the weight of a confession. You make sure Richard Nixon understands that case, too...That he understands that our position, the White House position, will be his acceptance is an acknowledgement of guilt." |
"Former president Richard Nixon gestures as he talks with David Frost during their fourth televised interview Wednesday, May 25, 1977. During the interview, Nixon said he would have preferred "the agony of a trial" to accepting a presidential pardon that he knew made him look guilty. Photo taken from television monitor at WNEW-TV in New York." (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and captions courtesy AP Images.