Gerald Ford State at the End of the Watergate Scandal Never Again
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Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in every bit president at that hour in this office.
With those words, Richard Nixon became the start—and and then far but—president to announce his resignation. He was doing so, he said, because "the interests of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations."
"From the discussions I have had with congressional and other leaders, I take concluded that because of the Watergate matter, I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this role in the way the interests of the nation will require. I have never been a quitter. To leave office earlier my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my trunk. Merely as president, I must put the interests of America first."
Nixon'south downfall, however, came not so much from lack of congressional support—though that was the proximate cause—every bit it did from what is undoubtedly history's most transparent look into of the presidency of the United States. Nixon'due south secret White House tapes, uncovered in the grade of the Senate Watergate hearings, revealed the truth nigh the Nixon presidency—and nearly Nixon himself. As much as Americans may accept wanted to believe the president when he told them that he wasn't involved in the Watergate camouflage, the tapes proved otherwise. Americans could not reconcile Nixon's public statements with the private recordings, and many could reach only one determination: Their president had lied to them.
I let down my friends. I let down the country. I let down our organization of government—the dreams of all those immature people that ought to get into government just they recall information technology's all as well corrupt. . . . I let the American people down. And I take to conduct that brunt with me for the remainder of my life.
The pardon
For Nixon, one immediate problem was solved by his successor, President Gerald R. Ford. A month after the quondam announced his resignation, the latter told the nation he would pardon Nixon "for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July twenty, 1969, through August 9, 1974." (Ford misspoke. The actual pardon was for Nixon's entire presidency, Jan 20, 1969 to August nine, 1974.) He did so, Ford said, to spare the land more and prolonged discord from Watergate, because Nixon wouldn't be able to get a fair trial and because "Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered enough."
Many reacted critically. "President Ford has affronted the Constitution and the American arrangement justice. It is a profoundly unwise, divisive, and unjust act," said the New York Times. "It is an act of flagrant favoritism. It can only outrage and dishearten millions of his fellow citizens who thought that at last the laws of this nation would be enforced without fright or favor."
Nixon had selected Ford as his vice president in the center of the Watergate scandal after Spiro Agnew resigned in Dec 1973. Some suspected Nixon had extracted a promise of a pardon in exchange for the post, a charge the president vehemently denied. Ford had to appear before a subcommittee of the Business firm Judiciary Committee to defend his action—just the second time a sitting president has testified before a congressional committee of inquiry. And merely more than two years later, he narrowly lost the presidency to Jimmy Carter, a defeat that Ford and many others attributed to the pardon.
Time, however, has convinced many former critics that Ford was right. In 2001, he received the John F. Kennedy Contour in Courage Award for the pardon. "I was one of those who spoke out confronting his action then," Senator Edward Kennedy said. "Simply fourth dimension has a way of clarifying by events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His backbone and dedication to our country made it possible for u.s. to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us. He eminently deserves this award, and nosotros are proud of his accomplishment."
Nixon, the elder statesman
With legal jeopardy no longer an issue, the former president set out to rehabilitate himself and his reputation, to become a "new Nixon" ane last time. His 1977 series of televised interviews with announcer David Frost and the 1978 publication of RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon gave him an opportunity to tell his side of the Watergate story—and injected badly needed greenbacks into his banking concern account. By 1980 he was living in the New York City area and accepting the many opportunities to give his opinion on foreign diplomacy: For all the domestic turmoil his presidency had engendered, Nixon was however the man who had opened Red china, negotiated arms-control treaties with the Soviet Union, and brought to an end, no matter how painful, the Vietnam War.
Six more than books followed. When Nixon finally passed away in 1994, his funeral was attended by every living president. "May the solar day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close," said President Nib Clinton that mean solar day. Only Watergate still resonates as the most memorable and significant aspect of Nixon's career.
The post-Watergate presidency
In the 1940s and '50s radio programme "Mr. President," America'south chief executive was described every bit "the elected leader of our people, our fellow denizen and neighbor." Immediately later on Watergate, that characterization would have been difficult to fathom. The nation was already distrustful and disoriented subsequently the racial and cultural conflicts of the 1960s and the revelation that their government, nether President Lyndon Johnson, had been hiding the truth about the Vietnam War. Nixon then put the land through a constitutional crunch and left the Oval Office in disgrace.
Seemingly overwhelmed by the office and its challenges, the presidents that followed—Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter—found themselves unable to win reelection. The press focused its attention on unmasking whatsoever the president, and presidential candidates, might be hiding. Congress, as well, became suspicious and wondered if it had ceded besides much ability to what was supposed to be a co-equal branch of authorities.
With the rise of Ronald Reagan, the luster of the presidency began to return. Skillful natured and cocky-effacing, Reagan won overwhelming reelection and overcame his ain scandal: the Iran-Contra matter. 3 of his four successors served a full eight years, fifty-fifty though i, Bill Clinton, had to survive what Nixon's resignation had precluded: impeachment by the House of Representatives and a trial in the Senate.
Simply the legacy of Watergate ultimately lies in the minds of American voters. Today, we don't seem to seek government experience or the right gear up of policies in our presidential candidates. Instead, what Americans seem to long for is authenticity, a person to trust and believe in.
During campaigns, presidential candidates assert that their opponent is ultimately untrustworthy—in essence, merely another Nixon—a tactic Nixon himself embraced in his early campaigns. And even so, ironically, these kinds of black-and-white questions well-nigh character don't seem to lead to more trust in the president, public officials, or the government as a whole. Questions of policy can be debated in logical terms and are oft ripe for compromise. Questions of trust frequently come down to feelings and emotions. It would be foolish to blame Richard Nixon for all of this. Only more than than iv decades after the June 17, 1972, burglary at the Watergate part building, it would be equally foolish to forget its effects.
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Source: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/watergate/watergate-aftermath
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