Everything That Happened Leading Up to Nixon's Resignation

Richard Milhouse Nixon's presidency is remembered for being full of excitement, intrigue, grievously bad judgment, and tidal waves of boos

Oh, and of course there was Watergate, which ended in the resignation of a president, which probably remains the single most famous political scandal in American history

In its wake, it became clear to Richard Nixon that his removal was inevitable and that he would have to do the unthinkable, resign his office

Today, we're going to take a look at everything that happened in the days leading up to Nixon's resignation

Having previously served as the United States' 36th Vice President, Richard Nixon was voted

into the highest office in the land in 1969. He was a Republican who had formerly been a representative and later senator from California

First elected to serve in the federal government in 1946, Nixon developed a staunch anti-community

reputation and only narrowly lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy

During his presidency, Nixon ended the war in Vietnam, opened diplomatic relations with China

and established the Environmental Protection Agency. However, his presidency would come to

be defined on June 17, 1972, when five men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters

at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. A series of articles written for the Washington

Post by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein linked the men to the president's re-election committee

And from there, the scandal grew. In 1973, Watergate special counsel Archibald Cox

subpoenaed the secret tapes Nixon made of his Oval Office meetings. And long story short, an 18-minute gap

in the recordings came to light. Though it didn't prove anything, it

made many suspicious that Nixon had personally known about the cover-up. In November of 1973, Nixon gave an interview on television

in which he famously said, people have got to know whether their president is a crook

Well, I'm not a crook. Despite his fighting spirit, however, his allies increasingly abandoned him

and the evidence against him mounted. Nixon was soon informed that the Senate

with a Democrat majority, had enough bipartisan support to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority vote

to impeach. The writing was on the wall. He would have to resign

And he wasn't happy about it. Getting drunk and blasting a movie soundtrack is something your college roommate Tad might

do on a Saturday night, but it was also one of Richard Nixon's pastimes. Nixon loved to

get soused and listen to the score from Victory at Sea a 26 documentary about World War II naval combat that was made in the 1950s Don judge Nixon or a tad too harshly Nixon was far from being alone in his love of this particular series soundtrack

The music, which had been recorded by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, was critically acclaimed, as was the entire run of the show it came from

If you're wondering what Nixon's second favorite thing to listen to was

take it from us. It's tough to dance to. because when Nixon wasn't inebriated and listening to Victory at Sea

he was usually busy listening to tapes of himself. Tricky Dick was known to replay the tapes recorded in the Oval Office on endless repeat

especially the parts that were being used as evidence against him as his presidency was crumbling

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that

in case of the removal of the president from office or of his death or resignation

the vice president shall become president if the president is unable to discharge the powers and

duties of his office. This amendment would automatically kick in if Nixon resigned

but some didn't want to wait for impeachment or resignation to unfold procedurally

Some claimed it was too dangerous to stand around waiting for Nixon to voluntarily resign

recklessly endanger the security of the United States, or be removed from office

Rumors about using the 25th Amendment to replace Nixon with Vice President Gerald Ford

on the grounds that he was no longer fit for office, began to circulate

The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the US military

which led some to imagine fanciful scenarios about him calling upon the nation's forces

to maintain his position. Colorful rumors included a sympathetic US Air Force

the Army's 82nd Airborne, or even the Marines staging a coup to keep the president in power

The Soviets, the great Cold War foe of the United States, were even cast in these imagined plots

as a nefarious force maneuvering both politically and militarily to keep Nixon in the White House, for some reason

These fever dreams were ignored by most. And rather than calling up the military

Nixon hid out in his office at the executive building across the street from the White House

or in the Oval Office, drinking and brooding over where it all went wrong

A few in power were more than just worried about Nixon's behavior

One such was Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, who felt he had to step in, and not as a shoulder

to cry on. He reached out to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and ordered that before they did anything

President Nixon ordered them to do they had to bring it to him first Schlesinger also took it upon himself to instruct the military not to follow any orders for a nuclear strike that Nixon may issue But that wasn enough Schlesinger was so concerned with an erratic Nixon

that he had various contingency plans drawn up for what to do in case the president would not

leave the White House willingly. We have to assume it involved more than just the phrase

pretty please. These actions were necessary to save the nation, at least according to Schlesinger

There is no documentation of any such orders or plans, and no public officials have ever

corroborated the stories. Schlesinger's patriotic efforts to protect the democratic integrity of his

country, whether real or self-promoting myth, were never necessary. The transition of power

went smoothly. As for Schlesinger, Gerald Ford fired him for insubordination in 1975. He was

later appointed as the first Secretary of Energy by Jimmy Carter, who also fired him a couple years

later in 1979. His bosses may have found him difficult for the same reason. As journalist

Paul Glastris notes, Schlesinger was unbearably arrogant and impatient with lesser minds who

disagreed with him. In his final days in the White House, Richard Nixon slept very little

and drank a whole lot. There were even accounts of him walking up and down the White House halls

at all hours, talking to portraits of former presidents and giving speeches to the pictures on the wall

And to be clear, these weren't magic talking portraits. Those were just at Hogwarts

Given this sort of behavior, Nixon's staff became concerned that he would hurt himself, or worse

The president reportedly talked often about how military officers fall on their swords, as they say

to take their own lives and avoid humiliation. He's once even alleged to have said

that he bitterly regretted not owning a pistol that could do the job. After that, his advisors decided to take away his sleeping pills

just in case. Richard Nixon told his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger

that he would be leaving office in early August of 1974. One of the White House staff was able to listen in on the call

and has reported that Nixon was clearly drunk, slurring his words and out of control

Only a few days before that call took place, The two men had had dinner together

After eating, Nixon reportedly asked Kissinger what his legacy would be. Kissinger tried to reassure the president he would be given credit for his accomplishments

Nixon, as alleged to have broken down in tears, fell to his knees and asked Kissinger to pray

with him. So the two men prayed together. Then Kissinger patted Nixon on the back hugged him and helped him to his feet After that they had another drink which is understandable

On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon announced his resignation to the people of the United States

However, shortly before he made a speech, he met with members of Congress. Reports say that Nixon

broke down in tears before them, and as he prepared to deliver his statement to the nation

he continued to cry. The makeup artists are said to have had to work around Nixon's tears as they

tried to make him presentable for a television audience. They must have done an all right job

The address was well received by most members of the media, despite the fact that Nixon didn't

admit to any wrongdoing. Richard Nixon may have been in deep denial about his situation

but his wife, Pat, knew what was coming. While her husband met with politicians and readied his speeches

Pat very pragmatically began to pack up the White House. Starting two days before her husband made his public announcement

Pat Nixon was working to get the family's possessions into boxes for the move

Aides report she spent many sleepless days and nights on the project. So, if you were President of the United States

what would you do on your last night in the White House? Well, if you're like Richard Nixon

you'd stay up making phone calls till 2 a.m. After that, he made his way down to the White House kitchen

at around what he thought was 4 a.m., but was actually 6 a.m

because the president's watch had stopped. As he said, the battery had run out, worn out

at 4 o'clock the last day I was in office. By that day, I was worn out too

Since it was morning, Nixon decided to hang around and chat with the White House kitchen staff

Then he ordered one last breakfast at taxpayer expense. It was a large meal of eggs and hash

This is technically the last full meal he had in the White House, although he did subsequently order one last snack before he left

Pineapple, cottage cheese, and a glass of milk. Ugh, I'll pass. Though he didn't believe he had done anything wrong

Nixon was eventually convinced to accept a pardon from Gerald Ford. This pardon was issued on

September 8, 1974. Nixon then gave a statement admitting he was wrong in not acting more

decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate. In the end, he never admitted to any

criminal acts. Retirement didn't suit Richard M. Nixon. According to biographers, after Nixon

returned home to San Clemente, California, he was a soul in torment. Despite the fact he had no job

he still showed up at his desk every morning at 7 a.m