On the morning of his resignation as president, Richard Nixon addressed some final remarks to the White House staff.
Listen to extracts of Nixon’s remarks (1m):
Nixon’s speech, as issued by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in 2014 (29m):
Richard M. Nixon addressed the nation at 9pm on August 8, 1974, to announce that he would resign the presidency at noon the following day.
Nixon became the only president ever to resign the office.
The video shows Nixon’s preparations for his televised resignation announcement. The official speech begins at the 7 minute mark:
Listen to Nixon’s resignation speech (16m)
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.
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.
Nixon delivered his second speech on Watergate just over three months after the drama of the first.
This time there were no further resignations or dismissal. Instead, Nixon road-tested the executive privilege argument about the Watergate tapes and decried the nation’s “backward-looking obsession with Watergate”.
Text of President Richard Nixon’s second speech on Watergate.
Good evening:
Now that most of the major witnesses in the Watergate phase of the Senate committee hearings on campaign practices have been heard, the time has come for me to speak out about the charges made and to provide a perspective on the issue for the American people.
For over 4 months, Watergate has dominated the news media. During the past 3 months, the three major networks have devoted an average of over 22 hours of television time each week to this subject. The Senate committee has heard over 2 million words of testimony.
This investigation began as an effort to discover the facts about the break-in and bugging of the Democratic National Headquarters and other campaign abuses.
President Nixon used his first televised Watergate speech to announce the departure of several members of his staff.
The resignations of John Ehrlichman, Bob Haldeman, Richard Kleindeinst and John Dean were all announced in this speech.
Listen to Nixon’s speech (24m)
Full text of Nixon’s first Watergate speech.
Good evening:
I want to talk to you tonight from my heart on a subject of deep concern to every American.
This is the text of President Nixon’s radio and television broadcast announcing the initialing of the Paris ‘Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam’.
Nixon’s speech was broadcast at 10pm from the Oval Office at the White House.
Listen to Nixon’s broadcast (10m)
Text of President Richard Nixon’s ‘Peace With Honor’ Broadcast.
Good evening. I have asked for this radio and television time tonight for the purpose of announcing that we today have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.
Following a landslide re-election in November 1972, Nixon was inaugurated for a second term on January 20, 1973.
Listen to Nixon’s Second Inaugural Address (17m)
President Nixon’s second inaugural address.
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Senator Cook, Mrs. Eisenhower, and my fellow citizens of this great and good country we share together:
When we met here four years ago, America was bleak in spirit, depressed by the prospect of seemingly endless war abroad and of destructive conflict at home.
As we meet here today, we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world.
This is the full text of President Richard Nixon’s 1970 State of the Union Address.
This was Nixon’s first State of the Union Address, delivered one year and two days after he took office.
Listen to Nixon’s speech (36m)
Nixon’s 1970 State of the Union Address to Congress.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, my colleagues in the Congress, our distinguished guests and my fellow Americans:
To address a joint session of the Congress in this great Chamber in which I was once privileged to serve is an honor for which I am deeply grateful.
The State of the Union Address is traditionally an occasion for a lengthy and detailed account by the President of what he has accomplished in the past, what he wants the Congress to do in the future, and, in an election year, to lay the basis for the political issues which might be decisive in the fall.
This is President Richard Nixon’s Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam. The address is now known as “The Silent Majority” speech.
President Nixon’s Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam.
Good evening, my fellow Americans:
Tonight I want to talk to you on a subject of deep concern to all Americans and to many people in all parts of the world–the war in Vietnam.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon.
Thirty years after Apollo 11’s successful moon landing, an undelivered speech prepared for President Richard Nixon came to light.
Not quite five months after his inauguration as president, Richard Nixon delivered a speech to the Air Force Academy Commencement Exercises in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Richard Nixon foundation bills it as “the speech that broke with the establishment”.
On its YouTube site, the foundation says: On June 4, 1969, President Nixon addressed the Air Force Academy Commencement Exercises in Colorado Springs during a critical moment in the United States’ history. When RN inherited the Oval Office, the country was bitterly divided over the Vietnam War and according to many sources, morale in the United States military forces was at an all-time low. In his address, the President saluted the Air Force cadets for their years of study and training, and celebrated them for their pursuit of the military profession at a time when military programs were often ridiculed, nationalism frowned upon, and patriotism misunderstood.”
Complete video, audio and transcript of the speech is provided on this page.
Richard Milhous Nixon was sworn in as the 37th president of the United States at noon on January 20, 1969.
Listen to Nixon take the oath of office (2m)
Listen to Nixon’s Inaugural Address (18m)
Text of President Nixon’s first inaugural address.
Senator Dirksen, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, President Johnson, Vice President Humphrey, my fellow Americans–and my fellow citizens of the world community:
I ask you to share with me today the majesty of this moment. In the orderly transfer of power, we celebrate the unity that keeps us free.
Video of Richard Nixon claiming victory in the 1968 presidential election on the evening of November 6.
This is Richard Nixon’s 1968 speech accepting the Republican Party nomination for President.
Watch Nixon’s speech – alternative (33m)
Listen to Nixon (33m)
Richard Nixon’s speech accepting the Republican Party nomination for president.
Mr. Chairman, delegates to this convention, my fellow Americans:
Sixteen years ago I stood before this convention to accept your nomination as the running mate of one of the greatest Americans of our time or any time – Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Eight years ago I had the highest honor of accepting your nomination for President of the United States.
Tonight I again proudly accept that nomination for President of the United States.
This is the full text of the first joint radio-television debate between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Richard M. Nixon.
The debate took place in a CBS studio in Chicago, Illinois. The moderator was Howard K. Smith.
Listen to the debate (58m)
Full transcript of the first Kennedy-Nixon debate.
Mr. Smith:
Good evening.
The television and radio stations of the United States and their affiliated stations are proud to provide facilities for a discussion of issues in the current political campaign by the two major candidates for the presidency.
The candidates need no introduction. The Republican candidate, Vice President Richard M. Nixon, and the Democratic candidate, Senator John F. Kennedy.
According to rules set by the candidates themselves, each man shall make an opening statement of approximately 8 minutes’ duration and a closing statement of approximately three minutes’ duration.
In between the candidates will answer, or comment upon answers to questions put by a panel of correspondents.
In this, the first discussion in a series of four joint appearances, the subject matter, it has been agreed, will be restricted to internal or domestic American matters.
This is the text of a speech given by Richard Nixon during his 1960 presidential election campaign.
The Meaning Of Communism To Americans
by Vice-President Richard Nixon
The major problem confronting the people of the United States and free peoples everywhere in the last half of the 20th century is the threat to peace and freedom presented by the militant aggressiveness of international communism. A major weakness in this struggle is lack of adequate imderstanding of the character of the challenge which communism presents.
I am convinced that we are on the right side in this struggle and that we are well ahead now in its major aspects. But if we are to maintain our advantage and assure victory in the struggle, we must develop, not only among the leaders, but among the people of the free world a better understanding of the threat which confronts us.
The question is not one of being for or against communism. The time is long past when any significant number of Americans contend that communism is no particular concern of theirs. Few can still believe that communism is simply a curious and twisted philosophy which happens to appeal to a certain number of zealots but which constitutes no serious threat to the interests or ideals of free society.
The days of indifference are gone. The danger today in our attitude toward communism is of a very different kind. It lies in the fact that we have come to abhor communism so much that we no longer recognize the necessity of understanding it.
This is the text of a speech given by Vice-President Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential election campaign.
Nixon was the Republican Party nominee for president. He was narrowly defeated by the Democratic Party nominee, John F. Kennedy.
Text of speech by Vice-President Richard Nixon in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Need For Leadership
Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, and I think I can say, my fellow North Carolinians, what a very great thrill it is for my wife, Pat, and for me to he here and to receive such a wonderful welcome in my first visit to North Carolina as a candidate. To the crowd that we see here in this magnificent coliseum, and to those who are in an auditorium in another part of the building, and to those who are outside, who could not get in, may I say thank you for coming and for giving us a tremendous morale booster on this return to North Carolina.
My good friend Congressman Charles Jonas (Republican, North Carolina) has often invited me to come to North Carolina and suggested we might do well down here. I must say I thought Charlie was being a bit enthusiastic then. But tonight I can only say that after looking at the election results for 1952 and seeing that we got 44 percent of the North Carolina vote, and after looking at the results for 1956 and seeing that we got 49 percent of the North Carolina vote, and after seeing this enthusiastic crowd – I think we are going to get over 50 percent of the votes in North Carolina.
In what became known as “The Kitchen Debate”, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev met at the U.S. Embassy, Moscow, in 1959.
Text of The Kitchen Debate between Nixon and Khrushchev.
[Both men enter kitchen in the American exhibit.]
NIXON
I want to show you this kitchen. It is like those of our houses in California.
[Nixon points to dishwasher.]
KHRUSHCHEV
We have such things.
In his 1952 Checkers speech, Richard Nixon was one of the first politicians to use the medium of television to defend himself against accusations of wrong-doing.
This speech came during the 1952 presidential election campaign. Senator Nixon was Dwight D. Eisenhower’s vice-presidential running mate. Accused of accepting illegal gifts, Nixon used his television appearance to deny the allegations and outline his personal financial circumstances.
Nixon referred to a cocker spaniel dog his family had been given. Black and white spotted, they called it Checkers. “And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.”
