35 years ago: Nixon resigns

[unhappycamper]

Nixon Resigns
By Carroll Kilpatrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 9, 1974; Page A01

Richard Milhous Nixon announced last night that he will resign as the 37th President of the United States at noon today.

Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan will take the oath as the new President at noon to complete the remaining 2 1/2 years of Mr. Nixon's term.

After two years of bitter public debate over the Watergate scandals, President Nixon bowed to pressures from the public and leaders of his party to become the first President in American history to resign.



'Peace with honor' my ass.

[saltpoint]

1. Nixon's resignation and the couple of years or so leading up to it

were astonishing.

If anybody is looking for a good film rental this weekend, and if you have not yet seen it, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN is a top-drawer choice.

[H2O Man]

4. Good movie.

And a good choice for today.

[saltpoint]

5. Hi, H2O man. The film has a very strong cast but Hal Holbrook as

Deep Throat just blows me away.

It's one of the most intimidating presences on film I've ever seen. I hope to never encounter him in any such parking garage!

[H2O Man]

6. Agreed.

I bought the DVD a while back. And, of course, have the book. But the parking garage provides the best feel for what was actually happening.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. Nixon doesn't seem all that bad

compared to today's GOP nutcases

[Johonny]

17. that's what I was thinking too.

He was bad, but today open criminals like Liddy are allowed into polite political discourse. It's amazing!

[Hissyspit]

19. Nixon was the beginning. Nixon gave us Rove and Cheney.

Nixon doesn't seem that bad because he was held accountable.

[saltpoint]

3. A couple of folks' observations on Nixon:

“Richard Nixon is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he’d lie just to keep his hand in.”

--Harry S. Truman


“Nixon, at least, was blessed with a mixture of arrogance and stupidity that caused him to blow the boilers almost immediately after taking command. By bringing in hundreds of thugs, fixers and fascists to run the government, he was able to crank almost every problem he touched into a mind-bending crisis.”

-- Hunter S. Thompson

[denem]

7. Nixon was NOT stupid.

Paranoid, Win at any cost? - yes of course, Stupid? No.

[saltpoint]

11. Agree that he was not stupid but he was overcome by his own desperate

savagery.

Hunter S. Thompson described him as "dark and venal."

I think that hits it dead-on.

[Heidi]

8. And if not for Ford, he might have become a convicted felon. (nt)

[unhappycamper]

9. Yea, and Tricky Dick would be at the top of my convicted felons list. n/t

:hi:

[KharmaTrain]

10. Party!!!!!!!!

What a wonderful night that was. I was living in a college town...there were numerous "impeachment" parties that night and when Nixon said the words we were waiting for, you could hear a big cheer go up all around. Afterwards there was a street party...people walking around in "Impeach Nixon" shirts and high fives all around.

Nobody cared what he said, we were glad the lying scumbag was gone. He had been disgraced and the truth had been exposed. It was a great day for American democracy.

[struggle4progress]

12. Palin-Nixon 2012!

Because it's good for the country when Republicans quit

[HamdenRice]

13. I remember watching it on TV and thinking, he's gone completely crazy

My main feeling was relief that this guy who was obviously having a nervous breakdown on live tv no longer had his finger on the button.

A lot of us teenagers, who were of the "duck and cover" school drill generation, actually thought that Nixon at that point was crazy enough to want to take us all down with him, and there were enough hostilities around the world for it to happen.

[Stuart G]

14. I must add this. I never thought we would see worse than Nixon.

I was wrong. Bush /Cheney far worse in many ways.

Nixon was never brought to justice. Will Bush/Cheney ever be?

[BumRushDaShow]

15. I remember watching the resignation speech

but with anti-climatic, shell-shocked cheering. Tricky Dick would finally be gone and no one could possibly be as bad. However, as others noted, who knew that the repukes would sink further into the depths of evil and hatred? :banghead:

[HamdenRice]

18. Gore Vidal once gave an excellent rant about "infinitely decreasing Republican presidents"...

or something like that. He said that when Nixon left, he thought the Republicans could not possibly ever find a worse president. Then they found Reagan. He goes on, and on up through Bush II. He concluded by asking, what's next? President Dan Quale?

[bamacrat]

16. Mrs. bamacrat and I watched Frost/Nixon last night.

Was damn good I had to explain what all happened to lead to his resignation and then we had to OnDemand it.