286 a short history of the united states
personally and through his subordinates... to delay, impede, and ob-
struct” the Watergate investigation, conceal evidence, and protect indi-
viduals engaged in criminal activity. He was also accused of “violating
the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper ad-
ministration of justice in the conduct of lawful inquiries, and of contra-
vening the law governing agencies of the executive branch, and the
purposes of these agencies.” Furthermore, he was charged with defi ance
of committee subpoenas, thus impeding the impeachment pro cess.
On August 5 , Nixon released the transcripts of three conversations
with Haldeman recorded on June 22 , 1972 , conversations that had oc-
curred six days after the break-in and proved to be what was called the
“smoking gun.” The “smoking gun” revealed that Nixon had been
aware of the cover-up and had personally ordered a halt to the FBI in-
vestigation into the Watergate burglary. In addition, the vulgarity of
the language used by the President on these tapes shocked the nation.
They revealed a foulmouthed bigot who had disgraced his offi ce. The
general public now realized the extent of Nixon’s betrayal of his oath to
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The impeachment pro cess now moved to the full House, and on
August 7 , 1974, the members voted to allow live radio and television
coverage of the impeachment debate. But Nixon was frankly told by
several leaders of the Republican Party that he could expect no more
than ten votes against impeachment in the House and no more than
fifteen in the Senate against his removal.
The next day, having little choice, Nixon announced his resignation
on television, declaring that he “no longer had a strong enough political
base” to continue in office. The resignation took effect the following
day, August 9 , at which time Gerald Ford took the oath of offi ce. One
of the first things President Ford did was nominate Nelson Rockefeller
of New York to serve as Vice President. The nomination was approved
by both houses of Congress in accordance with the procedure outlined
in the Tw e n t y -fifth Amendment to the Constitution. “Our long na-
tional nightmare is over,” Ford declared. “Our great republic is a gov-
ernment of laws and not of men.”
This was the first time in American history that both the President
and Vice President advanced to the highest level of the executive branch
of the government without being elected by the people.