40 years ago today: President Nixon leaves the White House

  • News
  • Thread starter jtbell
  • Start date
  • Tags
    Years
In summary, Nixon's departure from the White House was caught on live TV and followed by Ford taking his oath of office. Nixon is chiefly remembered for his actions as President, such as ending the gold standard, deregulating the banks, and facilitating international movement of capital. He is also remembered for his controversial actions such as starting relations with China.
  • #1
jtbell
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
15,907
5,580
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
jtbell said:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?8671-1/president-nixons-departure-white-house

I was at home that summer, between my junior and senior years in college. My parents and I watched Nixon's departure on live TV that morning, followed by Gerald Ford's taking the oath of office as his successor.

I would have been 15 years old. I remember him flying away, but not much else. I remember he'd said he wasn't a crook. Which I believe, we found out he was. Though, I suppose, by today's standards of politicians, he should be considered a saint. :rolleyes:
 
  • #3
No, he was a crook even by today's standards.
 
  • #4
Some of my ultra-conservative friends until very recently still defended Nixon.

But - when i observed
Nixon ended the gold standard, deregulated the banks, and facilitated international movement of capital
http://www.herinst.org/BusinessManagedDemocracy/government/international/deregulation.html
In 1971 President Nixon disconnected the value of the US dollar from the gold standard. Other countries, since the Bretton Woods Conference at the end of the second world war, had fixed the value of their currencies to the US dollar, on the understanding that the value of US dollar would be fixed at $35 per ounce of gold. However now that the value of US currency fluctuated, free of the value of gold, many countries found it very difficult to keep a fixed exchange rate between their own currency and the US dollar. This led to most adopting a floating exchange rate; that is, an exchange rate set by the market rather than the government. In 1974 Nixon deregulated the movement of capital in and out of the US. Britain followed suit in 1979 and other countries did so during the 1980s so that by the 1990s most of the world’s flow of capital was deregulated.

he created the EPA
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/gallery-why-nixon-created-the-epa/67351/ Dec 2, 2010
Forty years ago today, Richard Nixon's Administration officially created a new entity, the Environmental Protection Agency.

1970 was a year of tremendous environmental action by Nixon and Congress.The President signed the National Environmental Policy Act on January 2nd, delivered a call to make "the 1970s a historic period when, by conscious choice, [we] transform our land into what we want it to become" in his State of the Union Address, and ended the year with the creation of an independent agency to regulate the environment.

and, to antagonize the Russians he started relations with China..
http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/asia/a/Nixon-Goes-To-China.htm
Internally wounded, China was also increasingly isolated on a global scale. As border fighting broke out between Chinese and Soviet troops, China found itself pitted against its old ally and still cut off from the Western world by the American policy of containment.
Exploiting The Breach

Enter Richard Nixon. Nixon had made a political reputation after World War II by chasing Communists. He gained national fame by leading an investigation of accused Communist Alger Hiss, and he parlayed that notoriety into eight years as Eisenhower's vice-president. Eisenhower struck a relaxed, affable posture as president; he left strong-arm anti-Communism to Nixon and his secretary of state John Foster Dulles. Nixon again became famous for debating Khrushchev on the merits of capitalism versus communism in a mock-up of a modern kitchen at a Moscow exhibition.

Nixon lost the 1960 presidential race to John F. Kennedy, as well as the 1962 California gubernatorial race. Still, private-citizen Nixon kept up with foreign affairs, and he keenly watched the widening Sino-Soviet rift.

Nixon won the 1968 U.S. Presidential race, and as soon as he took office in 1969, Nixon set his National Security Advisor Dr. Henry Kissinger to begin exploiting China's isolation.

Suddenly he's to blame for all that ails the country. :wink:
 
  • #5
Not owning one, I bought a small TV just to witness his resignation. I'll never forget the last words he said on TV as President:

"those who hate you don't win, unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."
 
  • #7
Nixon was definitely one of our most intriguing Presidents. He's even the only one to have had an opera written about him, as far as I know: John Adams's Nixon in China (1987).

 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #8
I was home from college in the summer of 1973, feeling sorry for myself for missing the most important witnesses in the Senate Watergate Hearings. These had started in May, and that year I had fairly intense end-of the year studying and finals. I watched a procession of minor officials appear before the committee in July, in our family living room. I was watching as one of these boring "little fish," named Butterfield, mentioned calmly that every conversation in the oval office had been taped. I couldn't believe it! Senator Sam Irvin asked again and again. All hell broke loose and the rest of the summer was dynamite!
 
  • #9
marcusl said:
I was watching as one of these boring "little fish," named Butterfield, mentioned calmly that every conversation in the oval office had been taped.

The man who revealed the Nixon tapes (Washington Post, 2012)

I didn't see his testimony live, but I certainly remember what a bombshell it was.

And then there was the 18.5 minute gap in the tape during a crucial Watergate-related meeting. Nixon's secretary Rose Mary Woods claimed that she had accidentally erased the tape while transcribing it, and demonstrated how it might have happened, leading to jokes about the "Rose Mary stretch".
 
Last edited:
  • #10
jim hardy said:
Some of my ultra-conservative friends until very recently still defended Nixon.

But - when i observed
...
Don't forget wage and price controls.
 
  • #11
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/worse-than-watergate--new-revelations-from-nixon-tapes-40-years-after-resignation-180150338.html
Ken Hughes, the author of a new book about Nixon, "Chasing Shadows," joined Kunhardt for an interview with "Top Line" and said that one of the most shocking recent revelations about Nixon is that he intentionally prolonged the war in Vietnam for political gain.

"He realized if Saigon fell before Election Day 1972, it would take his chances of a second term down with it," Hughes said. "You can hear him discussing that in his keeping the war going, sending more Americans to fight and some to die; and it's for political reasons."

The documentary lays out which aides to Nixon were aware they were being recorded and those who were unaware. Among those who were unaware: Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

"There is I think an extra degree of openness and candor with the people who don't know they are being taped," Hughes said. "Henry Kissinger clearly did not know he was being taped and was very angry about being taped."

I seem to remember something about cash in safe in the Oval office with which he paid off people who did illegal things - such as the break-in at the DNC headquarters at the Watergate hotel.

I was doing a summer program in Electrical and Nuclear Engineering at Colorado School of Mines between 11th and 12th grade. We were busy with studies and weekend visits to state and national parks, and sites like the Museum of Natural History in Denver. We caught bits and pieces of the news from others, and then heard about the resignation. On one of tricks, we encountered some back country hikers, who were surprised to learn that Nixon had resigned.
 
Last edited:
  • #12
marcusl said:
I was home from college in the summer of 1973, feeling sorry for myself for missing the most important witnesses in the Senate Watergate Hearings. These had started in May, and that year I had fairly intense end-of the year studying and finals. I watched a procession of minor officials appear before the committee in July, in our family living room. I was watching as one of these boring "little fish," named Butterfield, mentioned calmly that every conversation in the oval office had been taped. I couldn't believe it! Senator Sam Irvin asked again and again. All hell broke loose and the rest of the summer was dynamite!
The tapes were the turning point.

As for Alexander Butterfield, "Among his responsibilities was the setting of Nixon's schedule and the maintenance of his historical records, which included the operations of the secret taping system which Nixon had installed in the White House."
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Butterfield
 

1. What was the reason for President Nixon's resignation?

President Nixon resigned from office due to the Watergate scandal, where he was accused of covering up illegal activities carried out by his administration.

2. When exactly did President Nixon leave the White House?

President Nixon officially left the White House on August 9, 1974, following his resignation speech the night before.

3. Who was the president after Nixon?

Gerald Ford, who was Nixon's vice president, became the next president after Nixon's resignation.

4. Did President Nixon face any consequences after leaving office?

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, President Nixon faced legal repercussions, including paying a fine and receiving a pardon from President Ford.

5. How did Nixon's resignation impact the political landscape in the United States?

Nixon's resignation had a significant impact on the political landscape, leading to increased distrust in government and stricter laws and regulations to prevent future political scandals.

Similar threads

  • General Discussion
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
16
Views
4K
  • General Discussion
Replies
11
Views
3K
  • Computing and Technology
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • General Discussion
Replies
15
Views
3K
Replies
69
Views
11K
  • General Discussion
2
Replies
65
Views
8K
Replies
7
Views
29K

Back
Top