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Richard Nixon: Presidents
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Richard Nixon is the only president to resign as the nation's chief executive. Facing charges of misconduct in office for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, Nixon chose to resign rather than undergo a lengthy impeachment trial.
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Richard Nixon'[S] presidency was fictionalized nearly two decades before the Watergate break in by Michelle Gordian. Nixon had already made a name for himself by 1953, so Gordian disguised him as "President Cavanaugh".
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Ford was a loyalist by inclination and promptly proclaimed his faith in the innocence of Richard Nixon in the face of accusations levelled against him in the Watergate affair. He toured the country giving speeches and defending the President, doing so after it became clear that he would be well adivsed to adopt a more aloof stance. After the release of incriminating tape recordings, Richard Nixon announced his resignation as President on 8 August 1974. The following day, Ford and his wife waved goodbye to Nixon as he left the White House by helicopter. Then, at noon, in the East Room of the White House Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States. He became the only President never to have been elected to either the presidential or vice-presidential office.
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The Nixon PardonThe Nixon pardon was highly controversial. Critics derided the move and claimed a "corrupt bargain" had been struck between the men.[9] They claimed Ford's pardon was quid pro quo in exchange for Nixon's resignation that elevated Ford to the Presidency. Nixon's Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, did in fact offer a deal to Ford. Bob Woodward, in his book Shadow, recounts that Haig entered Ford's office on August 1, 1974 while Ford was still Vice President and Nixon had yet to resign. Haig told Ford that there were three pardon options: (1) Nixon could pardon himself and resign, (2) Nixon could pardon his aides involved in Watergate and then resign, or (3) Nixon could agree to leave in return for an agreement that the new president would pardon him. After listing these options, Haig handed Ford various papers; one of these papers included a discussion of the president's legal authority to pardon and another sheet was a draft pardon form that only needed Ford's signature and Nixon's name to make it legal.
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Nixon will go down in history as the first President to resign from office. His resignation was after a prolonged cover-up of the what became known as the Watergate scandal. The scandal began when members of the Nixon reelection committee were caught in a breaking at the offices of the democratic party in the Watergate building. The crisis slowly deepened as when President Nixon tried to cover up the involvement of his staff in the break-in. During the investigation it became known that Nixon had made tapes of all his conversations and telephone calls. These became key items of evidence, and when the House drew up Articles of Impeachment, Nixon decided to resign instead of being impeached.
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Nixon signed a peace treaty with North Vietnam in January 1973, finally ending America's longest war. Meanwhile, illegal partisan activity, including the bugging of Democratic Party headquarters, conducted during the 1972 presidential campaign became known as the Watergate scandal. Nixon's support collapsed when he was implicated in a conspiracy to cover up the Watergate break-in, and in August 1974 he became the first U.S. president to resign. Although President Gerald Ford quickly pardoned him, it took Nixon a decade before he regained part of his lost prestige. Détente, which significantly reduced tensions in an era that saw some of the gravest confrontations of the Cold War, will undoubtedly stand as his most important diplomatic triumph.
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