8 August 1974-- 40 years ago tonight-- President Nixon, in a speech to the nation, announced that he would resign the office of President, effective the next day, August 9, at noon. He thus became the first president ever to leave office through resignation, and thereby avoided the certainty of impeachment by the House and the high probability of conviction and removal by the Senate. Two presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, have been impeached, neither of them convicted. Death has been the only other way in which the presidency has been vacated prior to the expiration of a presidential term. Four presidents have been assassinated and four others died of natural causes. Nixons successor, Gerald Ford, subsequently issued a blanket pardon, freeing ex-President Nixon from liability for any offenses committed or which may have been committed during the course of his presidency. Coming to the vice-presidency and then the presidency through provisions of the 25th amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1967, Ford was the first and so far the only president never elected either to the vice-presidency or the presidency. Here, the relevant portion of Nixons August 8, 1974 resignation speech. https://youtube/watch?v=lzXL7C0JQDM
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 18:40:55 +0000
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