Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words (2014) - full transcript

I don't come from a political family.

I didn't think about the possibility

of being President of the United States.

My mother didn't take me
into her arms and tell me

"Some day you'll be president."

My mother was a Quaker

and she was a very devout pacifist.

As... as a good Quaker should be.

My mother was quite
well educated for those times.

My father only went through
the sixth grade.

And he worked in every kind of a job.



As a matter of fact,
he built the house that I was born in.

Uh...

my father had a small store

and my brothers and I had worked in it.

We worked before and after school

in order to help work
our way through school.

My mother was one

who had no enemies.

My father was argumentative;
he was combative;

he was competitive.
From him I got that arguing ability,

but from my mother,

more the dedication

to scholarship at an early start.

And if it had not been for my mother,
it would have been very difficult.



My mother recalls that I played by ear,

which I did, before I ever
took any lessons.

And I became quite advanced.

But I think it really
came down to a choice:

would I concentrate on music

or should I move to debating
and other areas?

And I finally moved in the other direction.

Sometimes I... I rather regret it.

Testing testing testing testing testing.

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This is an audio test. Testing
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"Nixon Bugged Himself."

Taping was done for the purpose

of having it for the historical record.

It was voice activated.
Everything was taped,

which of course was probably stupid.

There has been a new release
of White House audio tapes

and documents just out tonight

from the Nixon Library in California.

Say what you will about him, Richard Nixon

is one of the most fascinating
figures in American history.

Just when we think we know everything
there is to know about him,

we find out something else.

The recordings Richard Nixon
intended for his own use

continue to tell history
his uncensored story.

The problem is that historians

are going to grab an hour of tape...

when these tapes come out...

and if you listen to a snippet of tape,

you're going to form an impression of
this man that's going to be wrong.

So sometime, hopefully,
there will be a historian

or a committee of historians
who will listen to all the tapes

and go into all the archives,
and then come out and say

"Richard Nixon was
the strangest collection,

the strangest paradoxical combination

of any man I ever heard of."
And they'll be right.

Mr. Nixon has always been a solitary figure,

protected by only a few trusted associates.

We were obsessed with secrecy.

I was almost a basket case
with regard to secrecy.

We have to recognize that this was wartime.

We were trying to prevent
a Communist takeover

of South Vietnam.

I wasn't thinking that much about

the tape system that we had.
My main concern was ending that war.

The Nixon Administration said today

that it has no intention of permitting

a Communist military victory
in South Vietnam,

that the intensified American
bombing of North Vietnam

is an expression of that determination.

Mr. Haldeman, sir.

It is said the new bombing of North Vietnam

is only temporary, and the policy still is

gradually to end the war.

Nobody says when,
and nobody gives any persuasive reasons

why it didn't end long ago.

It is hard to remember the time

when the American people tended to believe

what their government said.

I can assure you tonight with confidence

that American involvement in this war

is coming to an end.

The day the South Vietnamese
can take over their own defense

is in sight.

Impeach Nixon now!

We're veterans of Vietnam

and we're telling the American
people that the war is wrong.

Who are you going to believe,

the veterans of Vietnam or Tricky Dick?

Mr. President, Dr. Kissinger, sir.

Each day to facilitate the process by which

the United States washes
her hands of Vietnam

someone has to die so that
President Nixon won't be...

and these are his words...
"the first president to lose a war."

- This fellow Kerry...
- Yeah.

Hell, he turns out to be

really quite a phony.

Well, he is sort of a phony, isn't he?

I realize in this room

there are many reporters
who disagree with my policy

to bring the war to an end in the way
that I believe it should be ended,

and who probably agree with the
views of the demonstrators.

I was insisting on
and worked for peace with honor.

And they wanted peace at any price.

Impeach Nixon now, impeach Nixon now!

Richard Nixon was elected to end a war.

Impeach Nixon now!

This bloodbath started long ago

and we are a part of it.
And it will continue daily

as long as the war continues.

Despite the fact that
many members of Congress

were making great noises against the war,

and despite the fact that the media
was overwhelmingly against the war,

that was not the voice of America.

The voice of America was
the Silent Majority.

Tricia Nixon and Edward
Cox will be married tomorrow.

The women of my life
have all been remarkable.

I have always sort of prided myself

on self-control.

And I am emotional,

but I don't believe
you should share emotions.

I am a great believer in privacy.

- Hello.
- Secretary Rogers.

- Hi, Bill.
- Hey, that wedding was just great.

It was the...
you've got to give Pat and Tricia the credit.

They really worked. And that White
House staff, weren't they great?

It was absolutely superb.

General Haig, sir. Ready.

- Hello?
- Yes sir.

Nothing else of interest in the world today?

Yes sir. This goddamn "New York Times"...

expose of the most highly-classified
documents of the war.

This is a devastating security breach

of the greatest magnitude.

I was very surprised and shocked,

and of course Henry Kissinger
was just as surprised.

Mr. President,
I have Dr. Kissinger calling you.

Thousands of pages of documents

secret documents from the Pentagon

were published in "The New York Times,"

the so-called Pentagon Papers.

As a result of their publications,

I know that it encouraged the enemy.

Publication of parts of the 47-volumed,

top secret history of American
involvement in Vietnam

has triggered a major
Constitutional legal battle

over government secrecy
and freedom of the press.

The Justice Department went
to court in New York today

and got a temporary order
restraining "The Times"

from publishing the next
and last two installments.

In all probability, it will go all the way

to the Supreme Court by midweek or sooner.

We've got some information we've developed

as to where these copies are

and who they're likely to have leaked them.

And the prime suspect is a gentleman

- by the name of Ellsberg.
- Yeah.

Who's a left-winger
that's now at the RAND Corporation.

I felt that as an American citizen,

as a responsible citizen,

I could no longer cooperate in concealing

this information from the American public.

The Supreme Court said no to the
government and yes to the newspapers,

voting six to three to let
"The New York Times"

and "The Washington Post"

print the rest of the Pentagon Papers.

We've got to go gung-ho now on this Ellsberg.

You make a martyr out of him,
we're going to give an incentive

to every little son of a bitch
in this government

to run out of the place and rat on us.

Hoover, sir.

Domestically,
the most important achievement

without question were the
appointments to the Supreme Court.

We left a lot of blood on the floor,

but we changed history
in the United States.

Sir, can you tell us when you may make

a nomination or nominations
for the Supreme Court?

I will make the nominations next week.

Both. Both.

Mr. President sir, are you going
to have a woman on there, aren't you?

I certainly don't rule out a woman.

Incidentally, at least two women

are under consideration at this time.

In preparation for naming two
Supreme Court nominees next week,

President Nixon has asked
the American Bar Association

to investigate six potential choices.

And the Bar has been asked
to concentrate first

on Judge Mildred Lillie of the
California Court of Appeals.

- Hello?
- The Attorney General, sir.

Yeah, good good.

Judge Lillie, who would be the
first woman on the nation's highest court,

originally was appointed
to the California bench

by then-governor Earl Warren,
later Chief Justice.

Oh,
you said you've talked to Chief Justice.

He's not anxious to have a woman up there.

I understand that.
No more anxious than I am.

I don't want them to zero in
too much on Lillie.

See, I always handle
the woman with a smile,

nobody thinks I'm going to do a woman.
Until this story.

One dependable White
House source strongly indicates

the president will produce
a surprise candidate.

One not cleared by the ABA
or mentioned in speculation.

I still think that the Rehnquist thing

is a damn good possibility.

Incidentally, what is Rehnquist?

I suppose he's a damn Protestant?

- I'm sure of that.
- That's too bad.

He's about as WASPish as WASPish can be.

Well, that's too damn bad.

Tell him to change his religion.

All right. I'll get him
baptized this afternoon.

A special investigating
committee of the Bar Association

decided last night that neither Friday

nor Mrs. Lillie was qualified.

What did they just say? "Not qualified?"

- Yup.
- Great.

And you know what they said? Great.

That she was probably as good

as any woman

that could be considered by the Court.
Yup yup yup.

The statement was made up there.

She's the best-qualified woman,

but she's not qualified
for the Supreme Court.

Jesus, that's great. That's great.

- Have you told Rehnquist yet?
- Uh, not yet,

but I'm sure that
he will be more than pleased.

Pleased?
Christ, he will probably drop his teeth.

I would expect so.

Yeah. I don't want to see him.

I think it's not... I don't think I should.

There's no necessity for it.

And I haven't seen Powell.

I wouldn't know him if I saw him.

Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist...

those are names you will remember,

because they will add
distinction and excellence

in the highest degree to the
Supreme Court of the United States.

By design or not, the president has emerged

from the controversy
as having tried but failed

to place a woman on the high court.

The ABA's rejection played
conveniently into his hands

in escaping the much anticipated
historic appointment.

Let me say that

at least we have made a beginning.

And there will be a woman
on the Supreme Court

in time.

Daddy, do you want to go

out to dinner tonight?

- Trader Vic's or something?
- Well, I'll tell you,

if Mommy would like to go,
I think it'd be a nice idea.

Okay. So you explore it with her.
And is Trish around?

Yeah, and I think she'd like to go.
All right, honey.

Okay, Daddy. Swell. And everything's fine?

- Okay. Fine.
- Everything's great. Okay, bye.

Yeah, bye.

The traditional high ladies'
job in government

today was filled in a conventional way.

The president nominated
Mrs. Romana Banuelos

to the post of Treasurer
of the United States.

The Romana Food
Company in Gardena, California,

is owned by Mrs. Romana Banuelos,

President Nixon's nominee to be
Treasurer of the United States.

Yesterday,
federal immigration agents raided the company

for the sixth time,
seeking illegal aliens working in the plant.

All I can say is that this company

has consistently...

been found to employ illegal aliens.

- At least six times.
- John?

I want you to direct

the most trusted person you
have in the immigration service

that they are to look over
all of the activities

of the "Los Angeles Times."
All, underlined.

We're going after everyone
individually, collectively...

their income tax.
They're starting this week.

Every one of those sons of bitches.

And they are to send their teams in

to see whether they are
violating the wetback thing.

Now let me explain,
because as a Californian I know.

Everybody in California hires them.

- Do it. Give me a report.
- Very well, sir.

John, there's got to be discipline.

Hello? The Secretary of the
Treasury was just in my office

and told me the good news that you
were confirmed and unanimously.

Oh, Mr. President,
thank you very much for calling me.

Yeah.

I suppose everyone
would like to be remembered

particularly for his major achievements.

We are here today
for the purpose of signing

the Cancer Act of 1971.

If the cancer initiative, which we began,

could save lives, that would be
worth all the rest put together.

One subject that Henry brought up

was that Reston was in to see him.

- You're kidding!
- Yeah.

And I want the goddamn staff to understand,

and he must not have understood this,

that the blackout on the "Times" is total.

Well, he understood it.
He stood in your office

when we talked about this and you made the
point to him that he was not to see Reston,

- that you would not see Reston.
- That's right, that's right.

I want you to tell Henry
he should not talk to Reston.

I invite the press in
because I feel very honored

The president's relations with the press

are more restricted
and controlled in his behalf

than those of any other
modern-day president.

If you already have one, that makes two.

We just give you little
trinkets for coming in.

Mr. Colson, sir. Yeah.

Daniel Schorr is a correspondent for CBS News

in Washington, who is, like many reporters,

occasionally at odds with the White House.

It was disclosed today
that the White House ordered

an FBI investigation of Schorr just after

he had written a story
unflattering to the president.

To a great many citizens of this country

it is no longer an honorable
thing to be a news broadcaster.

The administration has
set the country against us,

apparently by some design.

Because if you can discredit the press

then it doesn't matter
much more what they say.

Mr. President, as you
enter this election year,

public-opinion polls indicated
that the American people...

about 50%... said that you lacked

personal warmth and compassion.

Why do you suppose that is?

Without trying to psychoanalyze myself,
because that's your job,

I would simply answer
the question by saying that...

my strong point

is not rhetoric,

it isn't showmanship,

it isn't big promises.

My strong point,
if I have a strong point, is performance.

Rather is just a son of a bitch,
don't you think?

He's going to always be a son of a bitch.

He's just a bastard period.

Be sure Rather gets a few
nasty notes on his reporting.

I don't know whether it helps or not.

Yeah, he's very sensitive to that.

Well, have you... have you arranged that?

- Yes, sir. And...
- I'd hit him hard.

I have a temper.

I control it publicly rather well.

He's a very complicated man.

His confidence results from an
intellectual analysis of himself

in relation to all the factors of his life.

This explains his ability
to make quick accommodations

and dramatic changes in his policies,
which is good.

But it also explains the sometime periods

of brooding retreat and dissociation,

when the image of self apparently becomes

an image of a strong man
beleaguered by fools.

Most of our media "friends"

just can't resist psychoanalyzing

because they think I'm a very complex

and therefore interesting person.

Vital to the President's
hopes for re-election

are the events now taking place in Vietnam.

General Haig, sir.

- Yeah.
- Yes sir.

Al, I wanted to ask you, how about that...

B-3 strike? Is it going to get off?

Or did we hear yet? Or what?

Yes sir. As of now, it's on schedule

and the weather is favorable. And that
would be the only thing that would...

- Stop it. Right.
- ...cause it to be postponed.

And that would be starting
tonight then, or today? Yes sir.

6:00 our time.

We have as our special guests tonight

the very famous choral group,
the Ray Conniff singers.

And if the music is square,
it's because I like it square.

President Nixon,

stop bombing human beings,
animals and vegetation.

You go to church on Sundays
and pray to Jesus Christ.

If Jesus Christ were here tonight,

you would not dare drop another bomb.

Bless the Berrigans,
and bless Daniel Ellsberg.

Two three four.

♪ Mom! ♪
♪ Doo-doo-doo doo ♪

♪ He's making eyes at me... ♪

Wasn't that the
goddamnedest thing you ever saw?

Without secrecy,

we would not have had the opening to China.

It was gloomy and cold,
with snow threatening.

But an arctic blizzard couldn't have dampened
President Nixons high spirits on this morning.

And, shunning a topcoat, he said goodbye

to the notables who had come
to see him off to China.

China was an unknown land.
I'd read about it all my life.

It was a land of mystery,
and the fact that we

hadn't had communication
with them for 25 years

built up that mystery.

My problem is that I don't want to be

too close to that many newsmen.

I've seen Jarriel. I didn't see you.

- Good morning.
- Are you working without a hat?

Jarriel work for you, work for him?

Uh, we are all equal workers in America.

ABC, American Broadcasting Company...

Mr. Reasoner and Mr. Jarriel.

NBC, Mr. Kaplow,

National Broadcasting.
CBS, they only have a cameraman.

A year ago the possibility

that we'd ever see
anything like this picture

seemed more remote than Neil Armstrong's

first footstep on the moon.

Mr. Nixon deserves credit
for a masterstroke

that is both opportune and statesmanlike.

We knew that we were at a watershed event

in human history.
If it had not been undertaken

and if China had been forced
back under the Soviet umbrella,

the geopolitical relationship
and balance in the world

would be almost hopelessly
against us at this time.

The question of what
city gets the gift panda bears

from mainland China has been settled.

President and Mrs. Nixon decided today

they should be displayed
in the Washington Zoo.

Just checking to see
how the panda thing went.

I've been in a meeting
and so I wasn't able to check.

Oh, they were just darling.

Yeah, did they...
Everybody raved about 'em.

How did it... how did it work?

Were you able to get up to them?
Do you pet them

or anything like that?
Or they don't allow that or how does it work?

No, they're glass-caged. Yeah, mm-hmm.

But did they get a good
picture of it, I hope?

Boy, it was well-covered. Good good.

She was called "Plastic Pat"
because she was my wife.

The people that give that kind of image

are basically the women reporters.

You know, we talk about men reporters,

but the women reporters are
more bitchy than the men.

You're very hard on female reporters,
Mr. President.

Oh, I'm hard on all reporters,
but only in a friendly way.

I would like to broaden
the subject, Mr. President.

There are the problems of drugs,

of disaffection with the war,
of a general alienation.

What do you see as the greatest problem

facing the American family today?

Well, you've put your finger,
of course, on two problems.

But I think they tend to be more

symptoms than causes.

I think the fundamental cause
must be a sense of insecurity.

A sense of insecurity that comes

from the old values being torn away.

The United States is assembling
one of the largest

naval strike forces in the history
of the war off the Vietnamese coast.

Officials say the president will not

withdraw American air power
until he gets a deal he likes.

Mr. Mitchell, sir.

Within the past week there have been reports

of eyewitnesses claiming
to have seen American planes

hit dikes and dams.

And the question is
has such bombing occurred?

Mr. Rather, we have had
orders out not to hit dikes

because the result

in terms of civilian casualties
would be extraordinary.

American jets and destroyers got

the green light today and
struck back with a vengeance

against targets in North Vietnam.

The principal enemy the past few days

has been the weather. It is miserable.

Mr. Kissinger.

I wondered if you'd had
any report on the weather.

Goddamn bastards can't go.

If we ever get these goddamned
Air Force guys to fly. Yeah.

We know that thousands of soldiers
of North and South Vietnam,

and tens of thousands
of innocent men and women,

and children will die in Indochina in 1972

for the simple reason that President Nixon

will not allow the Saigon government

to falter until he is secure at home

for another term of office.

Teddy is a typical
Irish extrovert politician,

but Jack was more
withdrawn and more private.

The thing I remember about
Kennedy more than anything else

was when we debated.

I sensed that he was very shy,

frankly as I was.

Don Hewi Let me see the tight
shot on camera one, please.

Let me see one wider than that.

Uh... I think I'd better shave.

I resisted the attempt of my own advisers

to have the lighting tests,

the makeup tests and so forth that
they wanted before the debate.

That was a mistake.
It's the picture that counts,

far more than what the candidate says,

when television is concerned.

If the present trend continues,

if Mr. Kennedy... Senator Kennedy will be

the next President of the United States.

It's the Kennedy mystique.

It's still there. It's going to last

as long as one of them is living.

President Nixon's Air Force One touched down

at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport and rolled up

to the isolated VIP reception building

at a remote side of the field.

The President in his toast
indirectly chided the Russians

for helping North Vietnam.

But his major point, it seemed, was that

great powers have great responsibility.

With great power goes great responsibility.

I thought it was vitally
important in my presidency

to make some move toward negotiation,

rather than a confrontation,
with the Russians.

I would hope that a hundred years from now

that the world would be a safer place.

We were negotiating
an arms-control agreement,

we were trying to end the war in Vietnam

and I decided, "Well, this is one time

I'm not going to get
involved in the campaign.

I'm going to delegate it all."
That was a mistake.

There's no excuse for what happened.

Five men were arrested early Saturday

while trying to install
eavesdropping equipment

at the Democratic National Committee.

And it turns out that
one of them has an office

in the headquarters of the Committee

for the Re-election of the President.

A White House consultant
was implicated today

in that apparent attempt
to bug, or burglarize,

or do something to the offices of
the Democratic National Committee.

The aide is Howard E. Hunt.

Just before 3:00 this morning in Miami Beach,

the democrats' nominee
was George McGovern...

the unconventional Senator
from South Dakota.

Never underestimate
the power of Richard Nixon

to bring harmony to democratic ranks.

Four years ago,

I proudly accepted your nomination
for President of the United States.

Tonight, I again proudly accept

your nomination for President
of the United States.

A federal grand jury has returned

the first indictments
in the Watergate bugging case.

We shall under no circumstances

abandon our POWs

and our MIAs, wherever they are.

The White House said today

"peace is at hand" in Vietnam.

We believe that peace

is at hand.

The President said today
that he will not allow

the American election
to influence his policy

of bombing North Vietnam.

The Nixon campaign rolled through

the wealthy northern suburbs
of New York City.

It all gets down to...
it gets down to character...

the national character.
McGovern is for softening

the character and I'm for toughening it up.

The sun was just up when the Nixon's arrived

at their polling place, the Concordia
Elementary School in San Clemente.

Three hours later the White House entourage

boarded their plane for the
flight back to Washington.

President Nixon appears
to have won re-election

by the largest absolute majority
ever in American history.

We can see the dimensions

of Mr. Nixon's landslide tonight.

President Nixon with 63%...

it's a stunning performance.

I simply want to say
from the bottom of my heart,

thanks for making our last campaign

the very best one of all. Thank you.

Four more years, four more years!

- Mr. President?
- Well, Henry, how are you?

I just wanted to extend my really

warmest congratulations.

- Well...
- This is...

We all knew it was going to happen and...

But we... we got... we got our 60%.

Well, you came up against their issue

and turned it into an asset. That's right.

You made Vietnam your issue. That's right.

It's a tremendous triumph. Yeah yeah.

Henry Kissinger, when he said

"peace is at hand" before the election,

the North Vietnamese said, "Well,

now they have to have peace."

And so they got

more intransigent as a result.

Right.

The White House today
strongly denied speculation

that President Nixon
and Henry Kissinger disagree

on Vietnam negotiating policy.

White House spokesmen Ron Ziegler

said such reports are totally untrue.

"Time" Magazine said
the administration ordered

the FBI to tap the phones of both reporters

and White House staff members

in an attempt to prevent news leaks.

Mr. President, I...

after we started keeping
the log on Henry's calls...

What'd you find out?

- Was Joe Kraft on the list?
- Oh, yes.

So he called up Joe Kraft on Tuesday?

Yep.
It's an outgoing call, he called Kraft.

And Joe Kraft then
writes an article yesterday

that just knocks the bejesus of it.

I'll be goddamned. He called Kraft.

I'll be a son of a bitch.

Now they're going to keep
the log on people and phones

so we'll... Right.
And incidentally I want...

I want it on his private phone too.

We can get that, can't we? I think we can.

Sure, God damn it.
We get it through the FBI.

Oh yes, sorry, yeah.

Reporters for "The Washington Post"

were not invited to cover
three White House Parties

given this weekend.

Press secretary Ronald Ziegler

denies that there is
any vendetta against the paper.

The most difficult military
decision of my whole presidency

was the so-called
Christmas bombing of 1972.

I decided it was time to get it over with.

President Nixon today took off the kid gloves

and once again flexed America's air muscle.

I was convinced that it would break

the deadlock in the negotiations.

Henry Kissinger agreed that
that was the case.

Mr. President. I just wanted to tell you

that the third wave of B-52s got out

and no... no planes shot down.

Good. So...

did they hit anything? They...

Well, Radio Hanoi has
been off the air for 10 hours.

All right, good.

And that is bound to create havoc up there.

The administration contends

that the raids are not terror bombing.

The shift to the larger B-52s
would seem to indicate

that the raids have been
designed for psychological

as well as military gain.

Mr. Colson, sir.

Tomorrow, Richard Nixon
will drive up Pennsylvania Avenue

to the Capitol.
He will place one hand on a Bible,

raise the other and be sworn in again
as President of the United States.

A very powerful president.

...I, Richard Nixon, do solemnly swear...

An inauguration is a celebration

of our whole process as much as it is
a celebration for a partisan victor.

In some men self-confidence
and an ease with life

seem to come with the suit. In others of us,
it is a more fragile, conscious thing.

And Mr. Nixon is very much of this group.

So we wish this intelligent
and complex president

the very best, for all our sakes.

- Hello?
- Hi, Dick.

Oh, I thought you'd like to know,
and tell the girls,

that we... Kissinger's on his way back

and we got the agreement. Oh, great!

So, you tell them. Isn't that marvelous!

Okay? It's wonderful.

Okay. Bye. Yeah, good. Thanks.

Dr. Kissinger arrived
at Andrews Air Force Base

outside Washington in the early evening.

He was carrying with him a ceasefire
agreement initialed in Paris.

Now do you think we should have a picture

with you and Henry tonight
when he arrives back?

No.

- Hmm-mm.
- Okay.

I don't think so. I think we don't want

to build the Henry thing up all that much.

I don't think we should have a picture. No.

We, today, have concluded an agreement

to end the war

and bring peace with honor in Vietnam

and in Southeast Asia.

That had to be not
only the greatest experience

as president, but also I think,
of all my public life.

...January 23, 1973.

The agreement on ending the war...

We finally have achieved
a peace with honor.

I know it gags some of you
to write that phrase,

but that is true.

I think there's some guys over there

doing a little gagging this morning.

Oh yeah, I said that was going to gag you

to write "with peace with honor."

Yeah, I was stunned there was

no Watergate thing
even mentioned, you know?

What the hell?
Why do people want to write about subject B?

Right right.
They want to write about subject A.

The president said that
no one presently employed

in the government was connected
with the Watergate bugging case.

That would certainly include you.

I don't know anything about
the Watergate incident.

President Nixon and his counsel John Dean

now appear to be at odds
over the Watergate scandal.

Miss Julie's calling.

Really?

There is evidence that
the president's Chief of Staff

HR Haldeman was involved, along with
John Ehrlichman of the White House.

There really wasn't a happy time

in the White House after April 30th

when Haldeman and Ehrlichman left.

The resignations came from men

so closely associated with Mr. Nixon,

they hit almost with the
impact of a resignation

from the chief executive himself.

Today...

in one of the most difficult
decisions of my presidency,

I accepted the resignations of two

of my closest associates
in the White House.

Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman...

two of the finest public servants

it has been my privilege to know.

Well, it's a tough thing,
Bob, for you and for John

and the rest, but God damn it,
I'm never going to discuss

this son-of-a-bitching Watergate thing again.
Never never never never.

But let me say, you're a strong man,

God damn it, and I love ya.

And I... you know,

I love John. God bless you, boy.

Okay. God bless you.
I love you, as you know.

Okay. You're like my brother.

The president has asked
me to announce that he has

today requested and accepted
the resignation of John Dean

from his position
of the White House counsel.

FBI agents were sent
into the White House today,

normally the preserve
of the Secret Service,

to stand guard over the papers
of HR Haldeman,

John Ehrlichman and John Dean.

No one can remember the FBI
being used that way before.

The Pulitzer Prize committee today awarded
its distinguished Public Service Prize

to "The Washington Post"
for its coverage of the Watergate scandal.

"Post" reporters Carl Bernstein

and Robert Woodward were also
singled out in the citation

for their dominant role in the inquiry.

...nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do, so help me God.

John Dean,
the ex-White House Counsel, testified today

that President Nixon knew
about the Watergate cover-up.

Dean read through a 245-page statement:

a president too easily upset
by anti-war demonstrators;

wire-tapping of newsmen;
a proposal to firebomb

and burglarize the Brookings Institution;

spying on Senator Kennedy
and other democrats;

efforts to involve the CIA in the cover-up;

Haldeman-Ehrlichman orders
to set up a payoff fund;

perjury plans; the fictitious
Dean investigation.

Coming right down to it, Al,

when you look at it, you know,
and all this crap we're taking,

wouldn't it really be better for the country,
you know, to just check out?

And... no no, seriously.

I mean that. And...

because I... you see, I'm not at my best.

I've got to be at my best and that means

fighting this damn battle.
Fighting it all-out.

There was a surprise witness
at the Watergate hearings today

and he made a dramatic disclosure.

Are you aware of the installation

of any listening devices in the
Oval Office of the president?

I was aware of listening devices,

- yes sir.
- Alexander Butterfield,

former aide to HR Haldeman,
said that President Nixon

ordered secret electronic listening devices

installed in his offices
and on his telephones.

But so far as you know, all telephone calls

were also recorded?

- From the president's office telephone...
- Yes.

- ...on his desk, in the Oval Office.
- Yes.

And his regular office phone in
the Executive Office building,

and the desk telephone
in his study at Camp David,

and his telephone in the Lincoln
Sitting Room. Those four phones.

The White House today confirmed

that the president no longer
secretly records conversations.

Deputy News Secretary
Gerald Warren said, quote,

"The system has been deactivated."

When asked why, he answered,

quote, "The system has been compromised."

The Secret Service says
it guards the Nixon tapes,

but the tapes are in the control
and custody of the White House.

The pressure is on the president
to produce those tapes,

or run the grave risk that public
opinion will decide he can't

because of what is on them.

The White House made it clear today

that President Nixon has
decided not to release

tapes of his conversations to
the Senate Watergate Committee.

Let others wallow in Watergate.
We're gonna do our job.

The president then has drawn a firm line,

a line around the White House.

He will not release the tape recordings,

not even under threat of subpoena.

That set the stage for what may well be

the biggest Constitutional
confrontation in our history.

It may be some time
before the Supreme Court

makes the final decision.

If I were to make public these tapes,

containing as they do
blunt and candid remarks

on many different subjects,

the confidentiality
of the Office of the President

would always be suspect from now on.

The President has fired

the Special Watergate
Prosecutor Archibald Cox

and the Attorney General has resigned.

Elliot Richardson has quit,

saying he cannot carry out
Mr. Nixon's instructions.

The president knew he faced
a movement toward impeachment

by some members of the House
of Representatives.

What is it about
the television coverage of you

in these past weeks and months
that has so aroused your anger?

Don't get the impression
that you arouse my anger.

I'm afraid, sir,
that I have that impression.

You see, one can only be
angry with those he respects.

About 9:00, I woke up. I called the office

and asked Al Haig how things were going.

This is really the first time
in this whole period

that he sounded really down.
He said, "Well, not good."

He said the Supreme Court has
just come down with a decisio.

When the decision came,
it came with maximum impact...

one decision, unanimous,
delivered by the Chief Justice Warren Burger.

President Nixon has not yet responded

to the sledgehammer decision
of the Supreme Court today,

which ruled that he must
immediately turn over tapes

of 64 presidential conversations.

I said to...

to General Haig that...

that I would resign,

but it would be

with dignity and with no rancor.

And then I thought a minute and I said,

"Well, Al, I really
screwed it up, didn't I?"

He didn't have to answer.

...this momentous, tragic,

sad evening, because it looks as though

President Nixon is going to resign tonight.

Mr. Nixon, at this hour,
is at the White House,

preparing for a talk
he will give on television

later this evening.

I don't know how I got
myself together, but I did.

Have you got an extra camera
in case the lights go out?

I'm just kidding you.

Let me see the...
did you get these lights properly...?

My eyes always have...

you'll find if you get past 60...

That's enough. You've taken your picture.

- Did you take one just now?
- Yes sir.

That's it.

Good evening.

This is the 37th time

I have spoken to you from this office.

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 interests

of America first.

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.

May God's grace be with you...

in all the days ahead.

Richard Milhous Nixon has resigned

as the 37th President of the United States.

What is history going to say?

How is it going to judge Richard Nixon?

On China, on Russia, on Vietnam,

the Supreme Court?
These things all made a difference.

All set?

I initiated programs

in the field of the environment
and hunger and cancer and drugs

that I think are very sound
building blocks for the future.

These are positive achievements.

Yes, there was Watergate,

the first president ever
to resign the office.

That's part of history.

Always remember, others may hate you...

but those who hate you don't win

unless you hate them,

and then you destroy yourself.

I think perhaps the best description

of how I felt then

was of a little couplet that read...

"I am hurt, but I am not slain,

I shall lay me down and bleed awhile.

And I shall rise

and fight again."

That's the story of my life.