Chapter 01: Changing of the Guard (August 8th - August 9th, 1974)
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
A few years back, I wrote a timeline that I'd like to revisit. I owe much of the inspiration for this project to @Drew, whose timeline Fear, Loathing, and Gumbo continues to be one of my all time favorites, and whose advice was essential in getting this project off the ground. I also want to note that @KingSweden24's timeline Bicentennial Man was also a big source of inspiration. My Kerry timeline is still ongoing, and I'll try and update it soon as well.
President Nixon prepares to read his resignation address as aide Alvin Snyder looks on.The rumor-mill in Washington was spinning with such force that it could have burst into flames; the White House was practically under siege, with the press staked out for hours in anticipation of the inevitable. The stories of the increasingly despondent and erratic President’s latest actions proliferated themselves through the city. One such rumor – which no doubt originated from the Secretary of State himself – described how Nixon broke down in tears in the presence of Henry Kissinger, sobbing on the floor in despair at the twilight of his presidency. Others described a rabid drunk who was dependent on Dilantin, constantly terrorizing his wife, daughters, and staff behind the scenes. But the most accepted rumor however was the report that Al Haig had all but taken control of the White House in the recent weeks, effectively becoming a de-facto Prime Minister of sorts as Nixon’s political situation became increasingly precarious.
Now, the moment had come. The lone camera, supplied by CBS, would broadcast the speech to all three major networks. A camera crew and a gaggle of Secret Service agents filled the room and were busy at work when the President finally arrived. His family had already gathered upstairs to watch the fateful broadcast, and there was no staff to be seen. The reality was beginning to sink in for the President. It was over.
He took his seat behind the Resolute Desk, where one of the CBS cameramen had broken protocol by taking a seat in order to review the lighting. “Hey, you’re better looking than I am, why don’t you stay here!” cracked Nixon, asking sheepishly afterwards that “blondes, they say, photograph better than brunettes. That true or not?” “I'm a redhead, sir” replied the camera technician. “Then we’re basically the same” replied the President as he pouted his arms and leaned back in his chair, his face displaying that famed smile, whose insincerity betrayed the sense of insecurity that had brought him here. “You’re from NBC?” asked the President of the crew, to which another one of the camera technicians affirmed simply with “CBS.” “CBS” said Nixon aloud, “CBS. CBS. This is a CBS camera, correct?” The technician gave the same answer.
“Are the lights proper?” asked Nixon, “when you’re past sixty...” he continued before being distracted by the flash of a camera. Briefly stunned, Nixon turned with a scowl that quickly gave way to a forced smile towards his photographer. “My friend Ollie always wants to take a lot of pictures” he joked to the crew from CBS, who continued to work diligently to ensure the feed would be up in time for the planned address. “I’m always worried when he’s taking all these candid pictures” continued Nixon, “I’m afraid he’ll catch me picking my nose! You wouldn’t print that, right Ollie?” Nixon chuckled, but everyone was too busy with the preparations to respond. The President’s mood was light, almost jovial, and it slightly unnerved some of those present who expected the typically sober minded President to be withdrawn and defeated.
He began quickly reading through the speech, making it through the first page as the crew tested the broadcast feed and made some final adjustments to the lighting and microphone placement. “Ollie, only the CBS crew is to be in here now” ordered the President. “What about the picture?” asked the White House photographer, who was interrupted instantly by the President. “No, no, no” interjected Nixon, “there will be no picture. You’ve gotten enough shots already.” The photographer exited, and he turned towards the few Secret Service agents in the room. “All Secret Service agents in the room, OUT” he barked. “We are under orders to stay” replied one. “You can stay, fine” growled Nixon, who shuffled his prepared remarks as the CBS crew’s head producer briefed him quickly ahead of the broadcast.
The camera was trained on the President, with instructions to pan in and out at certain parts to emphasize certain parts of the speech. “Thirty seconds” warned the producer as the Oval Office fell dead silent. “Twenty seconds” he again warned after a silence; Nixon felt a stirring sensation in the pit of his stomach. If he had a loaded gun, he’d had have used it right then and there. “Ten seconds.” The room remained silent. “Three…two…one” counted down the technician, who whispered afterwards towards the President: “we’re live.”
"Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest. In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the nation. Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interest of the nation must always come before any personal considerations. From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders, I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation would require.
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first.
America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
As I recall the high hopes for America with which we began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those hopes in the next two and a half years. But in turning over direction of the government to Vice President Ford, I know, as I told the nation when I nominated him for that office ten months ago that the leadership of America will be in good hands. In passing this office to the Vice President, I also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow and, therefore, of the understanding, the patience, the cooperation he will need from all Americans. As he assumes that responsibility, he will deserve the help and the support of all of us. As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this Nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us, and to rediscover those shared ideals that lie at the heart of our strength and unity as a great and as a free people.
By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation.
To those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, to many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, I will be eternally grateful for your support. And to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me, because all of us, in the final analysis, have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ. So, let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new President succeed for the benefit of all Americans.
I shall leave this office with regret at not completing my term, but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your President for the past five and a half years. These years have been a momentous time in the history of our nation and the world. They have been a time of achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that represent the shared efforts of the administration, the Congress, and the people. But the challenges ahead are equally great, and they, too, will require the support and the efforts of the Congress and the people working in cooperation with the new administration.
We have ended America's longest war, but in the work of securing a lasting peace in the world, the goals ahead are even more far-reaching and more difficult. We must complete a structure of peace so that it will be said of this generation, our generation of Americans, by the people of all nations, not only that we ended one war but that we prevented future wars. We have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People's Republic of China. We must now ensure that the one quarter of the world's people who live in the People's Republic of China will be and remain not our enemies but our friends.
In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy for nearly 20 years, now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that peace can settle at last over the Middle East and so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave.
Together with the Soviet Union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. But we must set as our goal not just limiting but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons so that they cannot destroy civilization and so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people. We have opened the new relation with the Soviet Union. We must continue to develop and expand that new relationship so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation.
Around the world, in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East, there are millions of people who live in terrible poverty, even starvation. We must keep as our goal turning away from production for war and expanding production for peace so that people everywhere on this earth can at last look forward in their children's time, if not in our own time, to having the necessities for a decent life.
Here in America, we are fortunate that most of our people have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good and, by the world's standards, even abundant lives. We must press on, however, toward a goal of not only more and better jobs but of full opportunity for every American and of what we are striving so hard right now to achieve, prosperity without inflation.
For more than a quarter of a century in public life I have shared in the turbulent history of this era. I have fought for what I believed in. I have tried to the best of my ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me. Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, "whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
I pledge to you tonight that as long as I have a breath of life in my body, I shall continue in that spirit. I shall continue to work for the great causes to which I have been dedicated throughout my years as a Congressman, a Senator, a Vice President, and President, the cause of peace not just for America but among all nations, prosperity, justice, and opportunity for all of our people. There is one cause above all to which I have been devoted and to which I shall always be devoted for as long as I live.
When I first took the oath of office as President five and a half years ago, I made this sacred commitment, to "consecrate my office, my energies, and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace among nations." I have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge. As a result of these efforts, I am confident that the world is a safer place today, not only for the people of America but for the people of all nations, and that all of our children have a better chance than before of living in peace rather than dying in war. This, more than anything, is what I hoped to achieve when I sought the Presidency. This, more than anything, is what I hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as I leave the Presidency.
To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead."
The Vice President, his wife Betty, and children watched the resignation address in silence at their private residence in northern Virginia. Betty sat lifeless, her hand shakily clutching the stem of a martini glass, her other holding a cigarette. Jerry was also quiet, listening intently to the President’s parting words. Their children contained their anxieties to themselves, knowing their lives were about to be forever changed. As the speech concluded, Ford – who generally liked Richard Nixon – couldn’t help but share the same feeling of indignant rage that so many Americans were feeling. There was no apology, no sincere accounting of his underling’s misdeeds, only a rambling defense of his legacy and a half-hearted call for unity. It didn’t pass muster in Gerald Ford’s view.
The Secret Service surrounded the property, with agents posted in the yard, the porch, and up and down the street. In the morning, a limo would come to collect him and his family to bring them to the White House. It was to be their final night in the home in which they had spent so many years. The soon to be first family prepared to retire to bed, but the Second Couple remained firmly planted on the couch in virtual silence. Finally, the Vice President spoke up.
“I think we’re going to need the National Guard to drag Haig out of there” he opined to his wife, “we’re going to face stiff resistance inside the walls of the White House, that I’m sure of.” Betty was well versed in the power networks that defined Washington, and was in many ways the consummate political wife. Like her predecessor, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford was appreciative and mindful of the traditional duties that came with the title. But whereas Mrs. Nixon was perfectly content to keep her political opinions to herself, the lively and vivacious Mrs. Ford planned to make her mark. “You have to change things” she warned, “you have to change the mood of the country. We must be more open, more transparent. You know, down to earth.”
“Well....aren’t we?” replied Jerry with a laugh. Betty smiled and leaned in on her husband, who wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "I think we do good enough at it" laughed Betty nervously as she took another sip from her martini.
“And you wanted to be Speaker of the House!” she cracked, reminding Jerry of his greatest ambition – a goal great in and of itself – that had now been surpassed, the result of an accident of fate. Betty had wanted to leave Washington once this goal had been reached, which at the onset of Nixon’s second term in 1973 had already seemed impossible. Now she was to stay there, for better or for worse, indefinitely. But if there was one thing Betty did best, it was to make the best of a bad situation. “What if something bad happens to me?” asked the Vice President, “it’s a dangerous job.”
“You’re a dangerous man, so what difference does it make?” ribbed Betty once again sarcastically. “You know what else is dangerous?” asked Betty, as she stood up from the couch and moved towards the stairs.
“What’s that?” asked Jerry as he stretched himself out on the couch and struck up a cigarette.
“Assuming the Presidency without a good night of sleep” she warned. She flicked the lights off and went up the stairs, leaving the Vice President alone in the glow of the television.
Hail to the Chief" was struck up one final time as the Nixon family entered the White House's East Room to thunderous applause from the staff, aides, cabinet, housekeepers, groundskeepers, cooks, and friends who had gathered to see off one of the most accomplished and controversial statesmen of modern times. It had ended all too early, a Presidency on the cusp of being on par with that of Teddy Roosevelt's sunk by a scandal that could have all too easily been avoided. Pat Nixon had sacrificed a lot, and suffered even more, for her husband to achieve his quest for power. Now it was all over, and the whole affair had left a bitter taste in her mouth. On one hand, she was more than glad it was done and over with. She had never liked political life, had little in common with the women of Washington Society, and wanted nothing more than to regain her privacy. On the other hand, all those years of campaigning, hand-shaking, forced smiles, and abuse from the opposition were now sent down the drain. They had won. They had beaten Dick once and for all. Three decades down the drain.
She held her husband's hand as they walked through the throngs of well-wishers to the podium, their daughters and son-in-laws in tow. Kissinger, Chief Justice Berger, and their spouses sat in the front row with other dignitaries. The Chief Justice had been flown in the night before on a military jet, his vacation in Paris interrupted by the reality that he'd be needed for the swearing in of Gerald Ford at noon. To her left, Julie began to quiver as tears began to roll down her face. Her husband, David Eisenhower, put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her as Pat stood there, almost in a daze. Tricia and her husband Edward Cox likewise remained composed, the only hint of emotion being the downward drift of their eyes.
The President delivered a solemn speech with glimmers of hope and moments of self-depreciation. He spoke of the White House as being the people's house, not as grand or ornate as Buckingham Palace or halls of the Kremlin, but more firmly rooted in the American spirit. He praised his record as President, he spoke of his mother being a saint, and he cracked the familiar joke about his father selling their virtually worthless farmland before oil had been discovered under it. He thanked those he worked with, from the butlers and maids on up to the heads of the various cabinet departments.
As he spoke, Pat remembered everything. She remembered typing literature for his '46 campaign only for their opponent's to destroy it. She remembered the Latin American tour of '58. She remembered the women who called her "Plastic Pat." She remembered when JFK stole the Presidency from her husband. She remembered when he was humiliated again in '62. She remembered the smears, the lies, the phoniness, the back-stabbing, the fundraising, and the Checkers Speech. She remembered it all. She hated it all.
Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th President.The polite applause died down in the East Room; after the Nixon's left by helicopter, Chief Justice Burger took to the podium to administer the presidential oath of office. The clock had just struck noon; the Nixon presidency had officially expired, with a secret service agent even confiscating the nuclear football as Air Force One soared through the skies of middle America, carrying the disgraced former President into a self-imposed internal exile. Back in Washington, Vice President Ford had now officially ascended into office as America's 38th Commander-in-Chief. The Chief Justice now stood before the cameras, broadcasting the image live to what felt like every pair of eyes in the world. "Mr. Vice President" he began, "will you repeat after me?"
"I, Gerald R. Ford, do solemnly swear."
"I, Gerald R. Ford, do solemnly swear."
"That I will faithfully execute."
"That I will faithfully execute."
"The office of President of the United States."
"The office of President of the United States."
"And will to the best of my ability."
"And will to the best of my ability."
"Preserve, protect, and defend."
"Preserve, protect, and defend."
"The constitution of the United States."
"The constitution of the United States."
"So help me God."
"So help me God."
"Congratulations, Mr. President."
The room broke out in quiet respectful applause; the Chief Justice removed himself from the podium, and took a seat next to Betty Ford, who watched on as her husband began his inaugural address. The Chief Justice watched on, weighing in his mind the possibility of resuming his Paris vacation now that this long chapter in American history had been wrapped up.
Mr. Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans:
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech - just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many.
I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many. If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman - my dear wife - as I begin this very difficult job.
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people. Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, "Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?"
I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views. And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it.
Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together. To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace. America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom.
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.
My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
Our constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy. As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.
In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family. May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House. I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others. With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to forty states, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6th: to uphold the constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best I can for America.
God helping me, I will not let you down. Thank you.
Tricky Dick.
The White House, Washington, D.C.
8:50 PM, Thursday, August 8th, 1974.
The White House, Washington, D.C.
8:50 PM, Thursday, August 8th, 1974.
President Nixon prepares to read his resignation address as aide Alvin Snyder looks on.
Now, the moment had come. The lone camera, supplied by CBS, would broadcast the speech to all three major networks. A camera crew and a gaggle of Secret Service agents filled the room and were busy at work when the President finally arrived. His family had already gathered upstairs to watch the fateful broadcast, and there was no staff to be seen. The reality was beginning to sink in for the President. It was over.
He took his seat behind the Resolute Desk, where one of the CBS cameramen had broken protocol by taking a seat in order to review the lighting. “Hey, you’re better looking than I am, why don’t you stay here!” cracked Nixon, asking sheepishly afterwards that “blondes, they say, photograph better than brunettes. That true or not?” “I'm a redhead, sir” replied the camera technician. “Then we’re basically the same” replied the President as he pouted his arms and leaned back in his chair, his face displaying that famed smile, whose insincerity betrayed the sense of insecurity that had brought him here. “You’re from NBC?” asked the President of the crew, to which another one of the camera technicians affirmed simply with “CBS.” “CBS” said Nixon aloud, “CBS. CBS. This is a CBS camera, correct?” The technician gave the same answer.
“Are the lights proper?” asked Nixon, “when you’re past sixty...” he continued before being distracted by the flash of a camera. Briefly stunned, Nixon turned with a scowl that quickly gave way to a forced smile towards his photographer. “My friend Ollie always wants to take a lot of pictures” he joked to the crew from CBS, who continued to work diligently to ensure the feed would be up in time for the planned address. “I’m always worried when he’s taking all these candid pictures” continued Nixon, “I’m afraid he’ll catch me picking my nose! You wouldn’t print that, right Ollie?” Nixon chuckled, but everyone was too busy with the preparations to respond. The President’s mood was light, almost jovial, and it slightly unnerved some of those present who expected the typically sober minded President to be withdrawn and defeated.
He began quickly reading through the speech, making it through the first page as the crew tested the broadcast feed and made some final adjustments to the lighting and microphone placement. “Ollie, only the CBS crew is to be in here now” ordered the President. “What about the picture?” asked the White House photographer, who was interrupted instantly by the President. “No, no, no” interjected Nixon, “there will be no picture. You’ve gotten enough shots already.” The photographer exited, and he turned towards the few Secret Service agents in the room. “All Secret Service agents in the room, OUT” he barked. “We are under orders to stay” replied one. “You can stay, fine” growled Nixon, who shuffled his prepared remarks as the CBS crew’s head producer briefed him quickly ahead of the broadcast.
The camera was trained on the President, with instructions to pan in and out at certain parts to emphasize certain parts of the speech. “Thirty seconds” warned the producer as the Oval Office fell dead silent. “Twenty seconds” he again warned after a silence; Nixon felt a stirring sensation in the pit of his stomach. If he had a loaded gun, he’d had have used it right then and there. “Ten seconds.” The room remained silent. “Three…two…one” counted down the technician, who whispered afterwards towards the President: “we’re live.”
"Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest. In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the nation. Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interest of the nation must always come before any personal considerations. From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders, I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation would require.
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first.
America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
As I recall the high hopes for America with which we began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those hopes in the next two and a half years. But in turning over direction of the government to Vice President Ford, I know, as I told the nation when I nominated him for that office ten months ago that the leadership of America will be in good hands. In passing this office to the Vice President, I also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow and, therefore, of the understanding, the patience, the cooperation he will need from all Americans. As he assumes that responsibility, he will deserve the help and the support of all of us. As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this Nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us, and to rediscover those shared ideals that lie at the heart of our strength and unity as a great and as a free people.
By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation.
To those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, to many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, I will be eternally grateful for your support. And to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me, because all of us, in the final analysis, have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ. So, let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new President succeed for the benefit of all Americans.
I shall leave this office with regret at not completing my term, but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your President for the past five and a half years. These years have been a momentous time in the history of our nation and the world. They have been a time of achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that represent the shared efforts of the administration, the Congress, and the people. But the challenges ahead are equally great, and they, too, will require the support and the efforts of the Congress and the people working in cooperation with the new administration.
We have ended America's longest war, but in the work of securing a lasting peace in the world, the goals ahead are even more far-reaching and more difficult. We must complete a structure of peace so that it will be said of this generation, our generation of Americans, by the people of all nations, not only that we ended one war but that we prevented future wars. We have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People's Republic of China. We must now ensure that the one quarter of the world's people who live in the People's Republic of China will be and remain not our enemies but our friends.
In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy for nearly 20 years, now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that peace can settle at last over the Middle East and so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave.
Together with the Soviet Union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. But we must set as our goal not just limiting but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons so that they cannot destroy civilization and so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people. We have opened the new relation with the Soviet Union. We must continue to develop and expand that new relationship so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation.
Around the world, in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East, there are millions of people who live in terrible poverty, even starvation. We must keep as our goal turning away from production for war and expanding production for peace so that people everywhere on this earth can at last look forward in their children's time, if not in our own time, to having the necessities for a decent life.
Here in America, we are fortunate that most of our people have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good and, by the world's standards, even abundant lives. We must press on, however, toward a goal of not only more and better jobs but of full opportunity for every American and of what we are striving so hard right now to achieve, prosperity without inflation.
For more than a quarter of a century in public life I have shared in the turbulent history of this era. I have fought for what I believed in. I have tried to the best of my ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me. Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, "whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
I pledge to you tonight that as long as I have a breath of life in my body, I shall continue in that spirit. I shall continue to work for the great causes to which I have been dedicated throughout my years as a Congressman, a Senator, a Vice President, and President, the cause of peace not just for America but among all nations, prosperity, justice, and opportunity for all of our people. There is one cause above all to which I have been devoted and to which I shall always be devoted for as long as I live.
When I first took the oath of office as President five and a half years ago, I made this sacred commitment, to "consecrate my office, my energies, and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace among nations." I have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge. As a result of these efforts, I am confident that the world is a safer place today, not only for the people of America but for the people of all nations, and that all of our children have a better chance than before of living in peace rather than dying in war. This, more than anything, is what I hoped to achieve when I sought the Presidency. This, more than anything, is what I hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as I leave the Presidency.
To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead."
Betty.
Alexandria, VA.
10:45 PM, Thursday, August 8th, 1974.
Alexandria, VA.
10:45 PM, Thursday, August 8th, 1974.
The Vice President, his wife Betty, and children watched the resignation address in silence at their private residence in northern Virginia. Betty sat lifeless, her hand shakily clutching the stem of a martini glass, her other holding a cigarette. Jerry was also quiet, listening intently to the President’s parting words. Their children contained their anxieties to themselves, knowing their lives were about to be forever changed. As the speech concluded, Ford – who generally liked Richard Nixon – couldn’t help but share the same feeling of indignant rage that so many Americans were feeling. There was no apology, no sincere accounting of his underling’s misdeeds, only a rambling defense of his legacy and a half-hearted call for unity. It didn’t pass muster in Gerald Ford’s view.
The Secret Service surrounded the property, with agents posted in the yard, the porch, and up and down the street. In the morning, a limo would come to collect him and his family to bring them to the White House. It was to be their final night in the home in which they had spent so many years. The soon to be first family prepared to retire to bed, but the Second Couple remained firmly planted on the couch in virtual silence. Finally, the Vice President spoke up.
“I think we’re going to need the National Guard to drag Haig out of there” he opined to his wife, “we’re going to face stiff resistance inside the walls of the White House, that I’m sure of.” Betty was well versed in the power networks that defined Washington, and was in many ways the consummate political wife. Like her predecessor, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford was appreciative and mindful of the traditional duties that came with the title. But whereas Mrs. Nixon was perfectly content to keep her political opinions to herself, the lively and vivacious Mrs. Ford planned to make her mark. “You have to change things” she warned, “you have to change the mood of the country. We must be more open, more transparent. You know, down to earth.”
“Well....aren’t we?” replied Jerry with a laugh. Betty smiled and leaned in on her husband, who wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "I think we do good enough at it" laughed Betty nervously as she took another sip from her martini.
“And you wanted to be Speaker of the House!” she cracked, reminding Jerry of his greatest ambition – a goal great in and of itself – that had now been surpassed, the result of an accident of fate. Betty had wanted to leave Washington once this goal had been reached, which at the onset of Nixon’s second term in 1973 had already seemed impossible. Now she was to stay there, for better or for worse, indefinitely. But if there was one thing Betty did best, it was to make the best of a bad situation. “What if something bad happens to me?” asked the Vice President, “it’s a dangerous job.”
“You’re a dangerous man, so what difference does it make?” ribbed Betty once again sarcastically. “You know what else is dangerous?” asked Betty, as she stood up from the couch and moved towards the stairs.
“What’s that?” asked Jerry as he stretched himself out on the couch and struck up a cigarette.
“Assuming the Presidency without a good night of sleep” she warned. She flicked the lights off and went up the stairs, leaving the Vice President alone in the glow of the television.
Pat.
The White House, Washington, D.C.
11:35 PM, Friday, August 9th, 1974:
The White House, Washington, D.C.
11:35 PM, Friday, August 9th, 1974:
She held her husband's hand as they walked through the throngs of well-wishers to the podium, their daughters and son-in-laws in tow. Kissinger, Chief Justice Berger, and their spouses sat in the front row with other dignitaries. The Chief Justice had been flown in the night before on a military jet, his vacation in Paris interrupted by the reality that he'd be needed for the swearing in of Gerald Ford at noon. To her left, Julie began to quiver as tears began to roll down her face. Her husband, David Eisenhower, put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her as Pat stood there, almost in a daze. Tricia and her husband Edward Cox likewise remained composed, the only hint of emotion being the downward drift of their eyes.
The President delivered a solemn speech with glimmers of hope and moments of self-depreciation. He spoke of the White House as being the people's house, not as grand or ornate as Buckingham Palace or halls of the Kremlin, but more firmly rooted in the American spirit. He praised his record as President, he spoke of his mother being a saint, and he cracked the familiar joke about his father selling their virtually worthless farmland before oil had been discovered under it. He thanked those he worked with, from the butlers and maids on up to the heads of the various cabinet departments.
As he spoke, Pat remembered everything. She remembered typing literature for his '46 campaign only for their opponent's to destroy it. She remembered the Latin American tour of '58. She remembered the women who called her "Plastic Pat." She remembered when JFK stole the Presidency from her husband. She remembered when he was humiliated again in '62. She remembered the smears, the lies, the phoniness, the back-stabbing, the fundraising, and the Checkers Speech. She remembered it all. She hated it all.
Jerry.
The White House, Washington, D.C.
12:15 PM, Friday, August 9th, 1974:
The White House, Washington, D.C.
12:15 PM, Friday, August 9th, 1974:
Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th President.
"I, Gerald R. Ford, do solemnly swear."
"I, Gerald R. Ford, do solemnly swear."
"That I will faithfully execute."
"That I will faithfully execute."
"The office of President of the United States."
"The office of President of the United States."
"And will to the best of my ability."
"And will to the best of my ability."
"Preserve, protect, and defend."
"Preserve, protect, and defend."
"The constitution of the United States."
"The constitution of the United States."
"So help me God."
"So help me God."
"Congratulations, Mr. President."
The room broke out in quiet respectful applause; the Chief Justice removed himself from the podium, and took a seat next to Betty Ford, who watched on as her husband began his inaugural address. The Chief Justice watched on, weighing in his mind the possibility of resuming his Paris vacation now that this long chapter in American history had been wrapped up.
Mr. Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans:
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech - just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many.
I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many. If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman - my dear wife - as I begin this very difficult job.
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people. Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, "Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?"
I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views. And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it.
Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together. To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace. America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom.
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.
My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
Our constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy. As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate.
In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family. May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House. I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others. With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to forty states, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6th: to uphold the constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best I can for America.
God helping me, I will not let you down. Thank you.
