792 Chapter 29 From Camelot to Watergate: 1961–1975
provided the public with a fascinating and shocking view
of how the president conducted himself in private. In
conversations he seemed confused, indecisive, and lack-
ing in any concern for the public interest. His repeated
use of foul language, so out of keeping with his public
image, offended millions. The phrase “expletive
deleted,” inserted in place of words considered too vul-
gar for publication in family newspapers, overnight
became a catchword.
With the defendants in the Watergate case
demanding access to tapes that they claimed would
prove their innocence, Jaworski was compelled either
to obtain them or to risk having the charges dismissed
on the grounds that the government was withholding
evidence. He therefore subpoenaed sixty-four addi-
tional tapes. Nixon refused to obey the subpoena.
Swiftly the case of United States v. Richard M.
Nixonwent to the Supreme Court.
In the summer of 1974—after so many months
of alarms and crises—the Watergate drama reached its
climax. The Judiciary Committee, following months
of study of the evidence behind closed doors, decided
to conduct its deliberations in open session. While
millions watched on television, thirty-eight members
of the House of Representatives debated the charges
and finally adopted three articles of impeachment.
They charged the president with obstructing justice,
misusing the powers of his office, and failing to obey
the committee’s subpoenas. Except in the case of the
last article, many of the Republicans on the commit-
tee joined with the Democrats in voting aye, a clear
indication that the full House would vote to impeach.
On the eve of the debates, the Supreme Court
had ruled unanimously that the president must turn
over the sixty-four subpoenaed tapes to the special
prosecutor. Executive privilege had its place, the
Court stated, but no person, not even a president,
could “withhold evidence that is demonstrably rele-
vant in a criminal trial.”
When the subpoenaed tapes were released and
transcribed, Nixon’s fate was sealed. Three recorded
conversations between the president and H. R.
Haldeman just after the Watergate break-in proved
conclusively that Nixon had tried to obstruct justice
by engaging the CIA in an effort to persuade the FBI
not to follow up leads in the case on the spurious
grounds that national security was involved.
When the House Judiciary Committee members
read the new transcripts, all the Republican members
who had voted against the impeachment articles
reversed themselves. Republican leaders told the pres-
ident categorically that the House would impeach
him and that no more than a handful of senators
would vote for acquittal.
House Judiciary Committee’s Conclusion on
Impeachmentatwww.myhistorylab.comNixon Resigns, Ford Becomes President
On August 8, 1974, Nixon announced his resigna-
tion. “Dear Mr. Secretary,” his terse official letter to
Secretary of State Kissinger ran, “I hereby resign the
Office of President of the United States. Sincerely,
Richard Nixon.” The resignation took effect at noon
on August 9, when Gerald Ford was sworn in as
president. “Our long national nightmare is over,”
Ford declared.
Within weeks of taking office, Ford pardoned
Nixon for whatever crimes he had committed in office,
even any, if such existed, as had yet come to light. Not
many Americans wanted to see the ex-presidentlodged
in jail, but pardoning him seemed both illogical and
incomprehensible when Nixon had admitted no guilt
and had not yet been officially charged with any
crime. (Nixon’s instant acceptance of the pardon
while claiming to have done no wrong was also illogi-
cal but not incomprehensible.)
The meaning of “Watergate” became the sub-
ject of much speculation. Whether Nixon’s crude
efforts to dominate Congress, to crush or inhibit
dissent, and to subvert the electoral process would
have permanently altered the American political sys-
tem had they succeeded is beyond knowing.
However, the orderly way in which these efforts
were checked suggests that the system would have
survived in any case.
Whether Nixon’s resignation marked the end of
one era or the beginning of another is a difficult
question. Like most critical moments in human his-
tory, it seems in retrospect to have been both.
Nixon had extricated the United States from
Vietnam—though at tremendous cost in lives and
money and to little evident purpose. His détente
with the Soviet Union and Red China was surely an
early sign of the easing of Cold War tensions charac-
teristic of the decades to follow. Moreover, Nixon’s
assault on liberals, coming just as public disillusion-
ment with the Great Society programs was mount-
ing, put an end to the liberal era that had begun
with the reforms of the New Deal.Richard Nixon, I am not a crookat
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