Nixon Claimed Distinction Bush Can't

Nixon bids nation goodbye in historic resignation
by Stacy Smith Segovia | The Leaf-Chronicle

President Richard Nixon's resignation in the face of impeachment after the Watergate scandal was not a surprise to Americans. Still, his announcement Aug. 8, 1974, that he was quitting our nation's highest post was a blow.

No American president had ever before resigned, nor has one since.

The day is singular in American history.

The Leaf-Chronicle chose to cover the story by leading with Ford at the top of the page, above the name of the newspaper itself. "Nation Has New President" Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle proclaimed on Aug. 9, 1974.

The article, by Gaylord Shaw of the Associated Press, begins:

"Gerald H. Ford assumed the presidency of a scandal weary America today, solemnly swearing he would 'to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States.'

"His right hand uplifted, his left hand on a Bible, Ford formally repeated the oath administered by a black-robed Chief Justice Warren Burger. But he already had been the nation's 38th President for 25 minutes. Richard M. Nixon's letter of resignation was delivered at 11:35 a.m. EDT.

"Ford is the first president never to face national election, succeeding the first president ever to quit voluntarily."

An Associated Press article by Harry F. Rosenthal tells of the final moments of the 37th president's term in office. "Nixon Resigns, Leaves Capital" is the headline on an article that begins:

"Richard M. Nixon played out the final act of a devastated presidency today, bidding goodby to the men and women who had served his administration. Then he was to fly to a California home that will be the Western White House no more.

"'This house has a great heart and the heart comes from those who serve,' the President told his associates gathered in the East Room of the White House. With the President as he received more than five minutes of applause, were Mrs. Nixon, his daughters Julie and Tricia and their husbands.

"The chieftains of his shattered administration were there, too: Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, his Watergate lawyer James D. St. Clair. Nixon said there was no apt English word for the ceremony he was performing: 'The best is au revoir. We'll see you again.'"

On Pages 6 and 7, Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle prints editorial views about Nixon and the scandal that preceded his resignation. Views come from The New York Times and the Associated Press. The local newspaper's own editorial for the day, however, is about gardening, titled, "Organic farming no fad."

The nation was weary of the Watergate scandal by that point, and perhaps Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle aimed to cast its opinions toward more positive things. Healthy organic veggies anyone?

On page 12 of the Aug. 9, 1974, edition of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, Mrs. Winfield Dunn, wife of Tennessee's governor, offers her sympathy to President Nixon's wife: "My heart especially goes out to Mrs. Nixon," Dunn said. "I know that this must be a most difficult time for them. I can understand how crushed she must be tonight."

In addition to being the only president ever to resign, Nixon is famous for saying, on television in 1973, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."

Nixon died April 22, 1994. He was 81 years old.