The Fiftieth Anniversary of Richard Nixon’s Resignation as
President, August 9, 1974.
American democracy faced a severe test in the early
1970s when a sitting president attempted to cover up a crime. Richard Nixon’s
downfall began on June 17, 1972, when burglars were apprehended at the
Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate Complex in
Washington, DC. These were not ordinary criminals; one of them was linked to
Nixon’s reelection committee. Nixon initiated an internal investigation and
swiftly announced that the burglars had no connections to the White House. He
then went on to secure a landslide victory in the November elections.
The
incident might have faded from memory if not for the relentless investigative
reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post. Assisted
by a whistleblower known as “Deep Throat”—later revealed in 2005 to be
Assistant FBI Director Mark Felt—their reporting convinced the Senate to create
a special investigatory committee in early 1973. The committee forced White
House officials to testify, one of whom disclosed that Nixon had approved the
cover-up, while another revealed that Nixon had taped his Oval Office
conversations. Nixon resisted as the evidence against him grew, refusing to
release the tapes, and during the “Saturday Night Massacre,” he dismissed the
special prosecutor he had appointed. However, his efforts were in vain.
On July
25, 1974, the Supreme Court unanimously ordered Nixon to release the tapes.
Three days later, the House Judiciary Committee recommended his impeachment.
Seeing the inevitable, Nixon announced on August 8 that he would resign the
following day. He remains the only president in U.S. history to have resigned
from office.
