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Okla-homey
8/8/2007, 06:04 AM
August 8, 1974: RMN bids adieu to the White House on primetime

Thirty-three years ago on this day in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon tells Americans he's had enough and will be giving up the presidency in the morning. He was unable to continue in the wake of the Watergate burglary scandal. Although two presidents have been impeached, Nixon remains the first and only president in American history to resign.

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In an evening televised address, Nixon, flanked by his family, announced to the American public that he would step down rather than endure a Senate impeachment trial for obstruction of justice.

Since 1972, Nixon had battled increasing vociferous allegations that he knew of, and may have authorized, a botched burglary in which several men were arrested for attempting to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

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The Watergate. Still a toney address in DC. The Lincoln Center is just next door.

The story was broken to the public by a couple of Washington Post reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

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Bernstein (l) and Woodward (r) during the period

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The same two guys today

The great irony in that whole covert and illegal dealio was simply the fact RMN led his Democrat challenger by at least 30 points during the entire campaign. Clearly, the need to see what the opposition had up its sleeve via a nighttime unauthorized inspection of its files was not only patently illegal, it was completely unnecessary. Nixon's victory in 1972 versus George McGovern was one of the greatest landslides in presidential electoral history. RMN carried 49 of 50 states.

Between 1972 and 1974, the press, and later a Senate investigation committee, revealed disturbing details that revealed that Nixon had indeed attempted to cover up the crime committed by key members of his administration and re-election committee.

The most damning evidence came from subpoenaed tape recordings of Nixon’s White House conversations. Nixon fought the release of the tapes in repeated assertions of executive privilege and presidential immunity but lost each challenge. When SCOTUS ruled he had to give up the tapes, the jig was up. In 1973, after hearing the tapes, the House of Representatives initiated impeachment charges against the president for obstruction of justice.

During the televised address, Nixon stated that he had never been a "quitter" and that choosing to resign went against his instincts. He refused to confess to committing the alleged high crimes and misdemeanors of which he was accused. He claimed his decision was encouraged by his political base and was in the best interests of the country and said that he hoped it would heal the political and social division caused by the Watergate scandal.

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The morning after the TV address

A report by the Washington Post on August 9 revealed the drama that had unfolded in the White House cabinet room an hour before Nixon’s resignation speech. After saying goodbye to 46 members of Congress, including his staunchest supporters, the President told them that the "country could not operate with a half-time President," broke into tears and left the room.

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One last classic RMN pose before he flies away home to California.

In terms of the enduring legacy of this day in 1974, a generation of Americans lost respect for some of our most important institutions. Prior to the Nixon administration, most Americans trusted their president never to lie to them. Further, a generation of US journalists became inebriated with the notion they could influence government, public opinion and history by blowing the whistle on high-level malfeasance.

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Not since the second Nixon administration, have journo's been such successful "giant killers," although many still strive mightily -- some even playing fast and loose with the facts themselves.

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SoonerStormchaser
8/8/2007, 06:09 AM
His masks sold like wildfire after that day...
http://www.mr-bens.co.uk/images/www.mr-bens.co.uk/thumb/tn755821879291296.jpg

TUSooner
8/8/2007, 06:35 AM
Your last 2 paragraphs say a lot about the legacy of Nixon & Watergate.

85Sooner
8/8/2007, 07:43 AM
journalists are losers.

sooner n houston
8/8/2007, 07:48 AM
Sad times for sure.

yermom
8/8/2007, 10:04 AM
journalists are losers.

politicians made them this way ;)

stoopified
8/8/2007, 01:52 PM
I thought this was going to be a A-bomb reference.Wasn't Nagusaki bombed on August 8 1945?

royalfan5
8/8/2007, 01:53 PM
I thought this was going to be a A-bomb reference.Wasn't Nagusaki bombed on August 8 1945?
The A-Bombs were the 6th and 9th.

stoopified
8/8/2007, 01:56 PM
The A-Bombs were the 6th and 9th.
Yeah I realized I was off by a day.

Pricetag
8/8/2007, 02:03 PM
The A-Bombs were the 6th and 9th.
Great, you've totally spoiled tomorrow.

TUSooner
8/8/2007, 02:59 PM
Yeah I realized I was off by a day.
Close enough for nukes?

Taxman71
8/8/2007, 03:39 PM
Token "Deep Throat" reference.

Frozen Sooner
8/8/2007, 10:21 PM
Token Fred Thompson reference.

Sooner Born Sooner Bred
8/8/2007, 10:56 PM
I thought Forrest Gump was the first to report it. :confused:

OKC Sooner
8/9/2007, 12:06 AM
Forrest Gump was Deep Throat??? :eek:

Rogue
8/9/2007, 05:33 AM
Another legacy...naming everything "....gate." :rolleyes: