The Resignation Speech of President Richard M. Nixon

The Nixon era of American history will be considered one of the close to tumultuous times the nation has faced. Elected in 1968, Nixon was faced with a nation divided by the War in Vietnam, racial tension and sparing disparity. International tensions were no less Communist China was a great unknown enemy and the Cold War with Russia seemed on the verge of turning into a hot and potentially nuclear conflict at all moment. Six years later, following the infamous break-in at the Watergate Hotel and facing impeachment, Richard M. Nixon delivered his resignation patois on August 8, 1974.His speech is clearly a primary document necessary for understanding Nixon and his perspective on himself as well as on the Watergate fiasco. Obviously Nixon did not eat up a generous amount of time to prepare the speech, such as he would ware with a typi-cal State of the kernel address. It is also likely he wished, in retrospect, to have more time to craft a finer product. Nonetheless, he realized the magnitude and preposterousness of the document, although at the time he probably did not realize the candid insight into his atti-tude and personality that it would provide.Facing impeachment as well as the possibility of criminal charges, it is likely Nix-on potently felt the legal implications of any admissions he would make. Whether inten-tional or not, his speech gave strength to his detractors who considered him the deceitful Tricky Dick. Few if any of his supporters, much less detractors, judge him to shoul-der any blame for the illegal activities and cover-ups. The closest he could come to an admission of wrong-doing carried a self-serving caveat I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision.I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation. Later revelations brought about through the White Ho le nd oneself Tapes would indicate Mr. Nixon had other interests, in-cluding his own political survival, in mind as well. Nixon took the come on of being a wounded warrior giving up a just cause for the good of the country.He does not refer to the act or use impeachment rather, he calls it the constitutional process and although he felt strongly to see it through, he incongruously declared to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the olfactory sensation of that deliber-ately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. He claims he has never been a quitter and had always taken heart in Theodore Roose-velts objet dart in the arena speech, and quotes it in its entirety. It would be nothing short of delightful to hear Teddy Roosevelts response.He claims he preferred to carry through to the acculturation whatever the personal agony it would have involved and despite his family urging him onward, he reluctantly resigns because the interests of the nation mu st always come before any personal considera-tions. Therefore, he believes he can take credit for making the nation better I hope I will have hastened the snuff it of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. In other words, America has me to thank for removing the noose around the governments cope which I so carefully knotted.Nixon was known as a man who often forgot his friends nevertheless never forgot an ene-my. Therefore it was pleasant to see his reformation And to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say I leave with no bitterness toward those who have op-posed me, because all of us, in the final analysis, have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ. Once again, later revelations would indicate Nixon was beyond bitterness, and fully capable of destroying any real or poten-tial enemy, if it was in his agent to do so without accountability.In retrospect, after thirty-plus years, the document really is, in a sense, Richard Nixon. A career politician, he was indeed a fighter from his days in Congress to facing off with Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the U. N. while Eisenhowers Vice President. As president he shut down a gloomy war he inherited in Vietnam and took it upon himself to open relations with China and strengthen relations with the Arab states. Yet there was Tricky Dick, craw-fishing to the nation, claiming some judgments were wrong, but you know, I did it because I had the nations interests at heart.Truly a man of complexity and contradictions, his rehabilitation with the American public took years, and he never re-ally reached the senior statesmen crop more easily carried by Jimmie Carter and even Gerald Ford. No doubt anyone in his position would like to go back and redo such a unique and pivotal document. In todays political arena even a finger-wagging I did not have relations with that woman Clinton, himself a seasoned of the constitutional proces s can find rapid rehabilitation. One wonders whether some judicious and non-exculpatory editing on Nixons part would have hastened his recovery.Ending his disposal as no predecessor had, Nixon found it necessary to use al-most half of his address to extol the virtues and accomplishments of his presidency. Sad-ly, it sounds hollow, as if no one else will tell you I left the world a better place, than I will. In essence, it is a very sad document indeed, and Nixon supporters at the time felt the convict of humiliation and the disgrace of a remarkable hero while his opponents could point to his final words as president as a fitting memento of a failed and bitter man. His final speech helped place him in history in a way he never could have imagined.