Nixon's Resignation
The only President ever to resign the office was Richard Nixon, who did so in a televised announcement on August 8, 1974 (38 years ago today.) He said in the announcement that he would do so effective the next day at noon.
Nixon resigned, following a loss of political support and the near certainty of impeachment. He had been told that even many Republicans would be voting for impeachment and the President of the Republican National Committee (RNC), a man who would later be elected President of the United States, one George Herbert Walker Bush, recommended that Nixon resign. Bush had been one of Nixon's most loyal supporters, but he felt that the writing was on the wall and urged Nixon to resign rather than suffer the indignity of being found guilty in an impeachment trial.
Nixon resigned the office of the presidency on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. The resignation speech was delivered from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television. Nixon stated that he was resigning for the good of the country and asked the nation to support the new president, Gerald Ford. Nixon went on to review the accomplishments of his presidency, especially in foreign policy. He defended his record as president, stating:
"Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, 'whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly'."
Nixon's speech contained no admission of wrongdoing. The initial response from network commentators was generally favorable, news media of the day having a different set of rules about the etiquette of presidential criticism. Only Roger Mudd of CBS news was critical, stating that Nixon had evaded the issue of Watergate, and had not admitted his role in the cover-up.
Following is a YouTube video of a portion of Nixon's speech:
P.S. I'm on vacation and the Potus Geek in me was happy to learn that I'm staying in the same hotel where Nixon (and three other Presidents) stayed when they visited this community.
Nixon resigned, following a loss of political support and the near certainty of impeachment. He had been told that even many Republicans would be voting for impeachment and the President of the Republican National Committee (RNC), a man who would later be elected President of the United States, one George Herbert Walker Bush, recommended that Nixon resign. Bush had been one of Nixon's most loyal supporters, but he felt that the writing was on the wall and urged Nixon to resign rather than suffer the indignity of being found guilty in an impeachment trial.
Nixon resigned the office of the presidency on August 9, 1974, after addressing the nation on television the previous evening. The resignation speech was delivered from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television. Nixon stated that he was resigning for the good of the country and asked the nation to support the new president, Gerald Ford. Nixon went on to review the accomplishments of his presidency, especially in foreign policy. He defended his record as president, stating:
"Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, 'whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly'."
Nixon's speech contained no admission of wrongdoing. The initial response from network commentators was generally favorable, news media of the day having a different set of rules about the etiquette of presidential criticism. Only Roger Mudd of CBS news was critical, stating that Nixon had evaded the issue of Watergate, and had not admitted his role in the cover-up.
Following is a YouTube video of a portion of Nixon's speech:
P.S. I'm on vacation and the Potus Geek in me was happy to learn that I'm staying in the same hotel where Nixon (and three other Presidents) stayed when they visited this community.