Watergate President Nixon

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President Richard Nixon 's Resignation Speech

This will study the complete text of President Richard Nixon 's resignation speech made on Aug . 8 , 1974 . The resignation speech is available at the watergate .info 's website at

HYPERLINK "http /www .watergate .info /nixon /resignation-speech .shtml http /www .watergate .info /nixon /resignation-speech .shtml This material was published to provide not just the American public , but the rest of the world , what considerations the president made before deciding to bow out of his office and let Vice President Ford take over the command

of responsibility

President Nixon 's resignation speech is centered on his desire to serve the American public at all costs , even if it meant giving up his seat as the nation 's leader . He kept repeating that the interest of the nation1 must always come first . That same line of thought was repeated four times in the first seven paragraphs of the president 's speech . He wanted to make his exit graceful , and at the same time , he wanted the public to know that whatever he did , he did them with America 's best interest at heart . The speech , while conveying the president 's regrets at not being able to serve his second term in full , managed to sound dignified and sincere

The president 's resignation came at the wake of the Watergate scandal The Watergate controversy was only referenced once , at the start of his speech . He didn 't try to provide reasons or excuses . He simply acknowledged that Watergate has divided the nation and he doesn 't want the conflict at his homeland to worsen . By refraining to provide an explanation , Nixon conveyed through words that his actions and decisions , whatever they were , were done based on convictions that it would be for the greater good . He managed not to sound defensive . The

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1 . Nixon 's Resignation Speech (watergate .info , [1995]

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former president only went as far as telling the nation that whatever wrong decisions he may

have done , it was for the reasons that he believed were right at that time . He wasn 't exactly apologizing , just expressing regret at the damage those wrong decisions may have caused . The president wanted his resignation to start the healing of the wounds that the nation have as a result of the scandal

President Nixon also made it a point to assure his opponents that since the controversy is not about them as persons , but rather as public servants on the opposite sides of the rope , he 's not holding any grudges and won 't spend the rest of his life trying to seek vindication

The speech also acknowledged that the issue alienated President Nixon from Congress , which he considered his "base " Nixon implied that the office of the president can 't fulfill its duties without the Congress unquestioned support . And since he lost an integral part of his support system , the president said in his speech that he deemed it best to let the next...