“Nixon announces intention to resign, Aug. 8, 1974,” Politico
By Andrew Glass, 08/08/2017
In a televised address on this evening in 1974, President Richard Nixon announced his intention to become the first president in American history to resign from office. He addressed the nation precisely six years after accepting the Republican presidential nomination for the second time and going on to narrowly defeat Vice President Hubert Humphrey in November.
In resigning, Nixon bowed to congressional pressure to leave the White House or face impeachment proceedings in the Democrat-controlled House for his role in the Watergate scandal, followed by near-certain conviction by the Senate.
“By taking this action,” he said in his address from the Oval Office, “I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.”
As for his critics, Nixon said, “I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me.” He called on all Americans to “join together … in helping our new president succeed.”
Nixon said he had thought for a long while that it was his duty to persevere in office in the face of the Watergate charges and to complete his second term. “In the past days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort,” Nixon added.
He reported that his family had “unanimously urged” him to stay in office and fight the charges against him, but that he had come to realize that he would not have the support needed to carry out the duties of his office in difficult times. After thanking his friends for their support, Nixon concluded by saying he was leaving “with this prayer: May God’s grace be with you in all the days ahead.”
Shortly before noon on the following day, Nixon ended his term as the nation’s 37th president by writing a formal note of resignation to Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state, as mandated by the Constitution.
Before departing with his family in a helicopter from the White House South Lawn, Nixon smiled and raised his arms in what might have been a victory or peace salute. The Marine helicopter door then closed, and the Nixon family began its journey home to San Clemente, California.
Minutes later, Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in in the East Room of the White House as Nixon’s successor. After taking the oath of office, Ford declared in a televised address to “my fellow Americans” that “our long national nightmare is over.”
Later that month, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while in office, explaining that he wanted to end the national divisions created by the Watergate scandal. Some historians believe that by doing so Ford fatally undermined his bid to retain the White House in his November 1976 contest with his Democratic opponent, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter.