Transition of Power: The Presidency Page #7

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may yet be discovered

in connection with

this whole sordid affair,

justice will be pursued fairly,

fully and impartially,

no matter who is involved.

NARRATOR:

Although Nixon swears

he knew nothing about

the Watergate cover-up,

Senate hearings

probe for evidence

linking the president

to the conspiracy.

January 21, 1969...

NARRATOR:
Then White House

aide Alexander Butterfield

shocks everyone

as he testifies under oath.

I don't have

the technical knowledge

but I will tell you

what I know about...

NARRATOR:

In the best-case scenario,

the transition

of presidential power

takes place

after a fair election

with a definitive result.

But the Constitution also

covers the unexpected.

In July of 1973,

after more than a year

of investigations and hearings

into the Watergate scandal,

Richard Nixon's administration

is in shambles.

But he still manages

to cling to power...

until the testimony

of a White House aide

seals the president's fate.

THOMPSON:
Mr. Butterfield, 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.

NARRATOR:

The revelation that Nixon

has been secretly recording

his Oval Office conversations

ignites a political firestorm.

The Senate wants Nixon

to turn over his tapes.

He refuses,

claiming executive privilege.

BRANDS:
Presidents

can basically stonewall

demands by Congress

to show them stuff.

Executive privilege

is very powerful.

And this is... this worked

for Richard Nixon.

CROWD (chanting):

We love Nixon! We love Nixon!

BRANDS:
Presidents don't

think of themselves

explicitly as above the law,

but they often act

as though they are,

and, in practice,

they often are.

NARRATOR:

As Nixon stalls Congress,

another major scandal erupts

inside his administration.

This time, involving his

vice president, Spiro Agnew,

who pleads no contest

to federal tax evasion

and resigns from office.

Now, previously,

when there was a vacancy

in the vice presidency,

it stayed vacant.

When J.F. Kennedy was killed

and Johnson became president,

there was no vice president,

but under

the new 25th Amendment,

a president now appoints

a vice president

with the approval

of both houses of Congress.

And Richard Nixon

appoints Gerald Ford,

a member of the House.

He had been

House minority leader.

So, Gerald Ford becomes

the first appointed

vice president in U.S. history.

NARRATOR:
Agnew's resignation

is yet another blow

to Nixon's

crumbling presidency.

DOYLE:
Nixon was almost

not a president anymore.

His support was collapsing

in Congress

and among the American people

so dramatically

that he was in effect

a lame duck president.

NARRATOR:

In July of 1974,

the Supreme Court orders

President Nixon

to release all the tapes

recorded in the Oval Office.

NIXON (on tape):
I'm never gonna

discuss this son-of-a-b*tch...

NARRATOR:
The more than

3,000 hours of recordings

surrendered to Congress

are the direct product

of a seemingly small technical

decision Nixon made

three years earlier.

DOYLE:
Nixon had the tremendous

bad judgment to install

a noise-activated system

that kicked on every time

somebody bumped into a table

or started talking.

So as a result, he forgot that

the tapes were even running.

What's the matter

with these clowns?

As soon as they were released

in detail,

the American people

were horrified.

You can hear the president

of the United States

ordering break-ins,

obstructing justice,

masterminding

a conspiracy of payoffs.

It was something completely new

to the American people,

the idea that the president

of the United States

would be masterminding

a criminal conspiracy from

behind the Oval Office desk.

NARRATOR:
Within days, the House

begins impeachment proceedings,

and the transition of power

takes yet another

historic turn.

LICHTMAN:

On the one hand,

Nixon didn't want to be

impeached and convicted,

to become the first president

to be so disgraced.

On the other hand he didn't

really want to resign either,

but he had to.

Resignation was a less awful

alternative to being impeached

and thrown out of office.

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.

UPDEGROVE:

August 9, 1974

is an incredibly dramatic day

in American history.

It's the first time

a president

of the United States

has resigned the office.

And Nixon, that day,

goes in the East Room

and says good-bye to his staff

in one of the most revealing

speeches Nixon ever makes

during the course

of his political life.

You are here

to say good-bye to us.

And we don't have a good...

word for it in English.

The best is au revoir.

We'll see you again.

(applause)

UPDEGROVE:
He then goes out

to the South Lawn,

boards Marine One,

incongruously flashes

the victory sign

and then is whirled away

to political obscurity.

Soon thereafter,

Gerald Ford goes

into that same room,

the East Room,

where the chairs

have been rearranged

to symbolize a new direction.

If you will raise your right

hand and repeat after me:

I, Gerald R. Ford,

-do solemnly swear... -I, Gerald

R. Ford, do solemnly swear...

UPDEGROVE:
And Gerald Ford

becomes the first president

not elected

by a national electorate.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the President

of the United States.

(applause)

My fellow Americans,

our long national nightmare

is over.

Our Constitution works.

Our great republic

is a government of laws

and not of men.

UPDEGROVE:
It's a remarkable

moment, which shows

the presidency does not begin

and end with one man.

FORD:
I will not let you down.

Thank you.

NARRATOR:

It's less than a week

until the official transition

of power,

and for an outgoing president,

it's a time for reflection,

humility and sometimes

a little fun.

-Let's light this candle.

-I want to see eBay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just like that.

You're riding the wave

of the future, my man.

Now, what do you

feel like buying?

NARRATOR:

This White House gag reel

shows Bill Clinton at the end

of his eight-year term.

A man with nothing to do.

B-9.

-You sunk my battleship.

-Yes!

NARRATOR:
But not every

president's last days

-are so carefree.

-(phone rings)

Hello.

NARRATOR:

At the end of his term,

Jimmy Carter

still needs more time.

In 12 hours, he'll hand over

the keys to Ronald Reagan.

But he's in the middle

of an urgent negotiation

that he's determined to finish.

(shouting)

52 Americans

have been held hostage

by Iranian militants

for 444 days.

UPDEGROVE:
Carter desperately

wants to resolve

the hostage issue in Iran

that has crippled his presidency

and has resulted in his being

overwhelmingly defeated

by Ronald Reagan,

and he wants to leave

the presidency

having put that issue to rest.

(phone rings)

NARRATOR:
Early on the morning

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