President Richard Nixon’s resignation announcement came in a televised speech to the nation at 9pm on August 8, 1974.
The videos on this page are of the ABC, CBS and NBC television coverage of Nixon’s resignation speech.
The coverage is features Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Harry Reasoner, John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw.
Originally posted 1974-08-08 19:00:44.
ARKANSAS GAZETTE
FLIPPIN — United States Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt of Harrison is wrong in opposing President Nixon’s resignation and is wrong in questioning whether the president has committed an impeachable offense, Bill Clinton of Fayetteville, Hammerschmidt’s opponent, said here Wednesday.
In the wake of the president’s admission Monday that he had lied about his role in the Watergate coverup, Hammerschmidt said, “We need to do our duty as quickly as possible. We should have done it a year ago.”
“I don’t see how in the world he can say that when a year ago he was saying we should forget about it and he voted against giving funds for the House Judiciary Committee staff,” Clinton said.
Hammerschmidt flatly opposed resignation.
Originally posted 1974-08-08 03:07:31.
Article by Australian journalist, academic and columnist Creighton Burns, published in The Age on July 31, 1974.
Full Transcript Of The Judiciary Committee Hearings on the Articles of Impeachment - July 24-30, 1974.
On July 24, 1974, the United States Supreme Court ordered Nixon to surrender the White House tapes.
The decision of the court was unanimous, 8-0. Justice William Rehnquist did not sit on the case.
Nixon complied with the court’s order in United States v. Nixon.
One of the tapes he released came to be known as the “Smoking Gun Tape”. It revealed that just six days after the Watergate break-in Nixon and Haldeman had discussed the ways to obstruct the FBI’s investigation. This revelation directly led to a collapse in congressional support for Nixon and resulted in his resignation as president on August 9, 1974.
UNITED STATES v. NIXON
Full Text of the Supreme Court Decision In The Watergate Case
July 24, 1974
UNITED STATES v. NIXON, 418
U.S. 683 (1974)418 U.S. 683
UNITED STATES v. NIXON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL.
CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT.
Originally posted 1974-07-24 17:40:15.
Full text of the US Supreme Court decision in the Watergate tapes case: United States v. Nixon
Audio and video presentation of oral arguments in United States Vs. Nixon in the Supreme Court of the United States - the Watergate tapes case.
President Nixon used his third address to the nation on Watergate to release edited transcripts of the White House tapes.
Text of President Richard Nixon’s Address to the Nation about the Watergate tapes.
Good evening:
I have asked for this time tonight in order to announce my answer to the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena for additional Watergate tapes, and to tell you something about the actions I shall be taking tomorrow—about what I hope they will mean to you and about the very difficult choices that were presented to me.
These actions will at last, once and for all, show that what I knew and what I did with regard to the Watergate break-in and coverup were just as I have described them to you from the very beginning.
I have spent many hours during the past few weeks thinking about what I would say to the American people if I were to reach the decision I shall announce tonight. And so, my words have not been lightly chosen; I can assure you they are deeply felt.
It was almost 2 years ago, in June 1972 that five men broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. It turned out that they were connected with my reelection committee, and the Watergate break-in became a major issue in the campaign.
The full resources of the FBI and the Justice Department were used to investigate the incident thoroughly. I instructed my staff and campaign aides to cooperate fully with the investigation. The FBI conducted nearly 1,500 interviews. For 9 months—until March 1973—I was assured by those charged with conducting and monitoring the investigations that no one in the White House was involved.
Originally posted 1974-04-29 22:27:24.
This is the text of President Nixon’s last State of the Union Address.
This was Nixon’s fifth State of the Union address. Towards the end of the speech, Nixon raised Watergate, declaring: “I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end. One year of Watergate is enough.”
Nixon resigned as president six months later.
Listen to Nixon’s Address (45m)
Transcript of President Nixon’s final State of the Union Address.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests, my fellow Americans:
We meet here tonight at a time of great challenge and great opportunities for America. We meet at a time when we face great problems at home and abroad that will test the strength of our fiber as a nation. But we also meet at a time when that fiber has been tested, and it has proved strong.
Originally posted 1974-01-30 22:46:07.
