Chapter:
A biography of Richard Nixon, the 37th president.
Now
Playing
Related Clips
Watch here for related video from this and other Presidential biographies.
• See Comments •
You must log in to submit a comment. If you don't have an account at American Experience, you will need to register to comment. It's fast and easy to do!
Post a Comment (Limit 5000 Characters)
• View Transcripts •
Title Card: Part One: The Quest
MILITARY AIDE: [Farewell Press Conference, August 9, 1974] Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States of America and Mrs. Nixon, Mr. and Mrs. David Eisenhower, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cox.
NARRATOR: On August 9, 1974, Richard Milhous Nixon became the first president in the history of the United States to resign from office. His staff gathered in the White House to bid him farewell, as millions of Americans watched on television, some in sorrow and disbelief, others glad to see him go. Richard Nixon had accomplished great things as president and had been reelected overwhelmingly, but he was also widely distrusted, sometimes ridiculed, even despised.
President RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON: [August 9, 1974] You are here to say goodbye to us and we don't have a good word for it in English. The best is au revoir. We'll see you again.
JOHN EHRLICHMAN, Nixon Campaign Staff: Richard Nixon was studiedly different to different people. And I don't think there's any one person, including his wife probably, who could sit down and write the definitive explanation of Richard Nixon. We all saw him differently.
NARRATOR: He was a tireless campaigner, a survivor of more than a quarter of a century of political battle, yet so self-conscious that he disliked shaking hands and found it hard to look anyone in the eye.
Mr. NIXON: [campaigning for Congress] And I intend to continue to expose the people that have sold this country down the river until we have driven all the crooks and the Communists and those that defend them out of Washington, D.C.
NARRATOR: He rose to power as a crusader against Communism, only to make his most lasting mark building bridges to China and the Soviet Union.
He had millions of admirers all over the world, but trusted almost no one and in the end was left to face his enemies alone. The advice he offered his staff in his last speech as president stirred the thick August air with admonitions that seemed to apply most aptly to Nixon himself.
Pres. NIXON: [August 9, 1974] Always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them and then you destroy yourself.
ELLIOT RICHARDSON, Nixon Cabinet Member: It struck me from time to time that Nixon, as a character, would have been so easy to fix, in the sense of removing these rather petty flaws. And yet, I think it's also true that if you did this, you would probably have removed that very inner core of insecurity that led to his drive. A secure Nixon almost surely, in my view, would never have been president of the United States at all.
Major funding provided by the National
Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Web site do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Pledge Your Support
Stories to Go
