Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words Page #6

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."

Rather:
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.

Reasoner:

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.

Schumacher:

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.

Nixon:

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.

Chancellor:

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.

Pierpoint:
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.

Nixon:
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.

Carl Stern:
When the decision came,

it came with maximum impact...

one decision, unanimous,

delivered by the Chief Justice Warren Burger.

Chancellor:

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.

Nixon:

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.

Chancellor:

...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.

Nixon:
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?

Man:
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.

Announcer:

Richard Milhous Nixon has resigned

as the 37th President

of the United States.

Nixon:

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?

Nixon:

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.

Nixon:
Always remember,

others may hate you...

but those who hate you

don't win

unless you hate them,

and then you

destroy yourself.

Nixon:

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.

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