Richard Nixon on Principles & Values President of the U.S., 1968-1974

Sub-sections under Principles & Values:
• Congressional Career
• Vice Presidency
• Watergate
• Other issues under Principles & Values

Nixon abused powers to improperly influence election

Taped 3,700 hours in Oval Office, more than all others

What Kennedy did--taping moments of crisis--struck him as window- dressing history "I thought that recording only selected conversations would completely undercut the purpose of having the taping system," Nixon said. "If our tapes were going to be an objective record of my presidency, they could not have such an obviously self-serving bias. I did not want to have to calculate whom or what or when I would tape."

Tapes of his meetings, he believed, would help set his administration record straight and allow him to maintain the upper hand on history.

Soon after the system's initiation, Nixon liked it enough that he expanded its reach. The fact that everything he said was being saved appealed to his narcissistic sense of grandeur. He believed himself a world leader of great geopolitical insight.

OpEd: Makes reasonable assertions as if controversial

Having said that, Nixon employed a weirdly vivid metaphor: "I've heard people say, 'They're a bunch of rats. What we ought to do is go out and shoot 'em.' Well, I'll agree they're a bunch of rats, but just remember this: when you go out to shoot rats, you have to shoot straight," making the point that if one is out to get rid of Communists, it is important to get rid of them in proper, legal fashion.

1960: Candidacy supported by Eisenhower, but not on hustings

Eisenhower said a week later, [when asked for] an example of a major idea of Nixon's that had been adopted, "If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember." That remark at the end of a desultory press conference and accompanied by laughter from reporters was a particularly unfortunate moment for Nixon.

1965: Encouraged young graduates to run for Congress

At about midnight, Nixon said, "Get your wife on the phone," and Riegle did as he was told, waking her with the words, "Honey, Richard Nixon would like to talk to you." Nixon's encouragement of Riegle was probably not part of a political master plan, but by early 1966, his attention was ever more focused on the dozens of upcoming contests--races that let him look over the next hill, toward 1968, and to once more view the presidency [Riegle ran & won].

1962: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore"

Eisenhower could not think of a major idea by V.P. Nixon

8 years later, when Nixon himself reached the Oval Office, he kept his vice president, Spiro Agnew, V.P. Nixon remained essentially an outsider in the Eisenhower administration. When a reporter asked Eisenhower at a news conference for an example of "a major idea of his you had adopted" during Nixon's years as his vice president, the president replied, some quarters as a sort of insurance policy for Nixon's presidency, with Nixon himself facing impeachment in the Watergate scandal and cover-up. The thinking was that Congress would not impeach the president & put the tainted Agnew in the Oval Office. similarly in the dark, never informing him in advance of Nixon's heralded "opening to China" secret trip to what was then called Peking. Eventually, with Agnew facing the loss of the vice presidency in an investigation of bribe-taking, he was seen in

1971: "Enemies list" tallied 47,000 people

OpEd:1971 Pentagon Papers drove Nixon to secrecy & Watergate

Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in financial scandal

Silent with family; limited relationship with wife

Nixon often spent time with Abplanalp on his friend's island in the Bahamas. A former agent says, "He'd fish from the back of Abplanalp's 55-foot yacht. But Abplanalp's staff would hook Nixon's hook and throw the hook out. If he'd catch something, the staff would reel it in for him, take the fish off, put it in the bucket. Nixon wouldn't do anything but watch."

Didn't know whom to trust during Watergate; became paranoid

One afternoon, Nixon walked into the barbershop [where the TV news was showing]; "He pushed the button, and the TV went off," the barber says. "He said, 'Well, what are they saying about us today?' I said, 'Mr. President, I haven't heard much news today, sir.' "

As the Watergate scandal progressed, "Nixon got very paranoid," a Secret Service agent says. "He didn't know what to believe or whom to trust. He did think people were lying to him. He thought at the end everyone was lying." While Nixon rarely drank before the Watergate scandal, he began drinking more heavily as the pressure took its toll. He would down a Martini or a Manhattan. In contrast to the blustering in his taped conversations, Nixon in private seemed passive and often out of it, although he did have a sense of humor.

First President to keep permanent political operation

Too muc of the permanent campaign mentality can cripple an administration. It brought down the Nixon presidency and nearly ended Clinton's. It severely damaged the Bush White House, which arguably embraced and institutionalized the permanent campaign even more deeply than its predecessors.

A second force shaping today's political environment is the perpetual scandal culture, which was born as the permanent campaign was growing deep roots in Washington. This is a lasting legacy of the Nixon presidency.

1968: Endorsed by only one college president, from OSU

OpEd: Problem of Watergate wasn't cover-up, but lying

"The problem is not Watergate or the cover-up," Buchanan continued. "It's that he hasn't been telling the truth to the American people." 5 days later Nixon resigned.

1952 Checkers speech: a "respectable Republican cloth coat"

He said the money was used solely for campaign expenses. In laying out his meager financial status, Nixon said that his wife could not afford a mink coat, only "a respectable Republican cloth coat." He denied accepting gifts of any kind, except for a black-and-white puppy from a campaign supporter in Texas. His daughter Tricia had named the puppy Checkers, and Nixon said he would not send it back. He asked viewers to support him by sending telegrams to the Republican National Committee. The RNC was soon flooded with over 1 million calls.

1974: Watergate tapes had deliberate 18-minute gap

Experts determined one of the tapes in Nixon's possession had been deliberately erased 5 times, showing an 18 minute gap. On July 24, the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that the President [must] turn over the tapes. Among the shocking revelations on the transcripts was the "smoking gun" tape--a conversation recorded on June 23, 1972, in which Nixon told Haldeman to block the FBI's investigation of the Watergate break-in, which had occurred 6 days earlier.

At that point Senator Barry Goldwater reported that the President did not have the votes in the Senate to survive an impeachment. By then almost everyone had accepted the inevitable. On August 8 the President went on television to announce his resignation.

Offered deal to Ford on resignation, but Ford declined

Why had so much time been spent in the discussion on options dealing with Nixon's future and not the momentous transition problems facing Ford? Ford recalled later, "When Al Haig comes with those six terms, I just didn't visualize him as one making a proposition to make a deal. It never went through my mind." Ford stated, "I did not agree to consummate [Haig's deal]. Yes, on paper, it was a deal, but it never became a deal because I never accepted."

And so there it was. He had finally acknowledged, on the record, that he had been offered a deal. It was something many had suspected all along, but it had been a long, roundabout road to finally getting there.

Words can't describe my regret at my mistakes over Watergate

Why didn't you make sure that Nixon's statement accepting the pardon went further? Nixon's statement said, "No words can describe the depth of my regret and pain at the anguish my mistakes over Watergate had caused."

Why didn't he press Nixon harder for an admission of guilt? A forthright acknowledgement by Nixon could have ended the historical debate on that question. [Ford cited the] 1915 Burdick Supreme Court decision: "a pardon 'carries an imputation of guilt, acceptance, a confession of it.'"

Sought possession of White House tapes after resignation

Significantly, it was Ford who decided that the Nixon tapes had to be preserved. After resigning, Nixon wanted all his papers and tapes shipped to his home in California. Traditionally, a former president owned all his papers. But returning all the tapes and papers to Nixon would make Ford a co-conspirator in concealing the truth of what had gone on in the Nixon White House. A complicated arrangement [resulted], in which Nixon and the government had joint custody of the tapes for 10 years. Congress and the courts eventually saw that the tapes were preserved. A plan for gradual public release is still being carried out today.

Accepting pardon carries an imputation of guilt & confession

"You make sure that Richard Nixon understand that case too," Ford told his attorney. "That he understands that our position, the White House position, will be his acceptance is an acknowledgment of guilt."

Ford decided to send his attorney to meet with Nixon to see what could be worked out on a possible statement from Nixon if Ford granted a pardon. "I can tell you right now," [Nixon's advisor responded], "that Nixon will make NO statement of admission or complicity in return for a pardon from Jerry Ford."

Nixon accepted the pardon and said, "I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate."

Conserve concessions; get something in exchange for each one

When Nixon was practicing law in the 1960s, he gave me this practical counsel concerning some negotiations in which O was involved:
1. Get something for every concession. Don’t think you have to give tit for tat. Don’t feel you have to split 50-50. If he gives 60, give him 40.
2. Make concessions that give nothing away.
3. Conserve your concessions.

Doggedly pursued Alger Hiss; made his name in House

The fame Nixon garnered for his role in Hiss’ conviction for perjury led first to his Senate victory in 1950, and then to his selection as Eisenhower’s running mate in 1952. Eisenhower saw Nixon as an internationalist with the anti-Communist credentials to appeal to the Taft wing of the Republican Party.

Presidents should avoid "never" and "always"

This "11th Commandment" is more of an addendum than an axiom. Nixon wrote it not so much as a rule but as an exception to the 10 rules.

Earned nickname "Tricky Dicky" in 1950 Senate race

Nixon called his opponent worse than a bad risk for the task of fighting communism: Far from being the solution, she was part of the problem. "In Congress, she consistently supported appeasing Communists in Asia, which finally resulted in the Korean War." Then his attacks took an intimate turn: "She's pink right down to her underwear." Responding in kind, Mrs. Douglas threw one nickname after another at her rival--"Pipsqueak," "Peewee"--finally finding one that stuck: "Tricky Dicky!"

Nixon won by 600,000 votes but in the process incurred a brutal reputation and a legion of enduring enemies.

Founded "The Orthogonians" to fight college elitism

The Franklins wore black ties for their yearbook photo; the contrarians wore shirts with open collars. The Franklins held formal dinners; the new crowd got together over beans and hot dogs.

Even Nixon's name for the new club, the Orthogonians, poked fun at the social caste system the Franklins had imposed. Denied admission to the Franklins for lacking requisite sophistication, his band took defiant pride in being the "straight shooters." Within weeks, its ranks outnumbered those of the established club, and Dick Nixon went on to defeat a Franklin to become Whittier's student-body president.

Radio debate listeners say Nixon won; TV viewers say JFK

Incredibly, Nixon was agreeing with his challenger. His only concern was that Kennedy's statistics made the situation appear bleaker than it was. "Our disagreement is not about the goals for America but only about the means to reach those goals." Only? The race for the presidency is "only" about "means"?

He committed a 2nd tactical error. Nixon seemed intent on getting Kennedy himself to agree that when it came to goals, there really wasn't much difference between them.

Yet at least one important listener thought the Nixon approach was working. Lyndon Johnson, following the proceedings on his car radio, gave most of the points to the Republican; so did the millions of others who followed the sound not the picture.

Ran for CA governor in 1962 instead of President in 1964

Nixon would explain his decision years later: "My own political judgment at that point told me that Kennedy would be almost unbeatable in 1964. If I ran for governor, that would leave someone else to square off in 1964 against Kennedy."

Nixon made his announcement: He would not seek the presidency in 1964 but would run instead for governor, committing himself to serve a full 4 year term.

At 17, offered scholarship to Harvard, but could not afford

Inspired formation of Conservative Opportunity Society

Some trace the idea for the Conservative Opportunity Society to a meeting Gingrich had in 1982 with former President Nixon about the need for a more idea-oriented party.

"Marianne and I went to see Dick Nixon late in 1982," Gingrich told me. "He said, 'You can't change the House yourself. You have to go back and form a group.' You could say that the idea for the COS came from Nixon. He was responsible for a great deal of political change in this country."

The idea had been germinating well before Nixon offered his advice. Gingrich had spent four years seeing his fellow Republicans in the House react instead of act. The group met weekly and planned.

America represents freedom, opportunity, and individuality

Watergate was wrong; I should have set moral tone

What happened in Watergate--the facts, not the myths--was wrong. In retrospect, while I was not involved in the decision to conduct the break-in, I should have set a higher standard for the conduct of the people who participated in my campaign and administration. I should have established a moral tone that would have made such actions unthinkable. I did not.

I did not deliberately lie at Watergate press conferences

As far as the June 23 conversation [the "smoking gun"] was concerned, it was an error of recollection, not a deliberate falsehood. I recalled on July 12 [giving the] go ahead with an investigation. My fatal mistake was that I simply did not recall the details of the earlier conversation on June 23.

The myths of Watergate brought me down, not the facts

The most blatant false myth was that I ordered the break-in at the Democratic headquarters.
• The most politically damaging myth was that I personally ordered the payment of money to the original Watergate defendants to keep them silent.
• The most serious myth--and one that ultimately forced me to resign--was that, on my specific orders, the CIA obstructed the FBI from pursuing its criminal investigation of the Watergate break-in.
• The most preposterous myth was that I or members of the White House staff erased 18-1/2 minutes of incriminating conversation from one of the White House tapes.

Watergate was a crime as well as a political blunder

No one in the Nixon administration profited from Watergate

Intensely religious, but also intensely private about faith

It should have been easy for me to follow his advice. No one could have had a more intensely religious upbringing. My mother was a devout Quaker. My father was a devout Methodist. After they married, they compromised, and he became a Quaker, too. We regularly went to church on Sunday. We never had a meal without grace. Usually it was silent. On a few special occasions my mother or father might say a prayer. I read the Bible regularly and still do. I still believe that God is the creator, the first cause of all that exists.

With this background, why has it been so difficult for me to follow Eisenhower's advice? Because mine is a different kind of religious faith, intensely personal & intensely private. My mother prayed regularly but always privately. I followed her example.

Ministers should change people, not change government

I treasure the friendship and wise counsel Billy Graham has extended to me over the years. In 1960, 1968 and 1972 I advised him not to endorse me. I also urged him not to join the Moral Majority, because I believe a minister cannot carry out his major mission in life as effectively if he dabbles in politics.

A minister's mission is to change the lives of men and women, not change governments. The great need to the US and throughout the world is not just to change governments but to change the people who run and who live under those governments.

Government cannot reach into people's hearts and change them for the better. Only religion can. As I told Billy Graham, he would weaken his ability to change people if he moved over the line and engaged in activities designed to change government.

United States is not just one nation among equals

If the choice is godless capitalism, which rewards greed, or godless communism, which insists on rigorous egalitarianism, we are in deep trouble. In the end, it all comes down to whether the individual believes in something greater than himself.

Focus on goals outside of yourself

1. Put the past behind you. Analyze & understand the reasons for your defeat, but do not become obsessed with what was lost. Think instead about what is left to do.
2. Don't let your critics get to you. Remember that they win only if they divert you into fighting them rather than driving toward your goals.
3. Devote your time to a goal larger than yourself. Avoid the temptation of living simply for pleasure or striving only to leave a larger estate.

Nixon's opponents wanted revenge; Ford sought healing

What I had intended to convince my fellow citizens was necessary surgery--essential if we were to heal our wounded nation--was being attacked as a "secret deal" that I had worked out with Nixon before he had resigned. And the timing of the announcement--11:00 on Sunday morning--was being touted as "proof" of the conspiracy.

"Jail Ford, jail Ford," some demonstrators shouted, and a workman standing by the airport fence told reporters, "Oh, it was all fixed. He said to Nixon, 'You give me the job, I'll give you the pardon.'" I began to wonder whether, instead of healing the wounds, my decision had only rubbed salt in them.

I was wrong: accepted Ford's pardon on Watergate

"I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy. No words can describe the depths of my regret and pain at the anguish my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and the Presidency--a nation I so deeply love and an institution I so greatly respect."

The pardon was granted on September 8. The predictable occurred. Ford went down in the polls, and I was subjected to a whole new round of attacks in the media.

Resignation from NY Bar not accepted, so they could disbar

I resigned from the Supreme Court, California, and NY bars. The Supreme Court and California accepted my resignation. The NY Bar Association refused to do so and instituted disbarment proceedings.

Scores of lawsuits were filed against individuals who were seeking damages for assorted government actions. Few involved Presidential decisions. Most were dismissed, but all had to be defended. The cost for attorneys' fees was staggering. In the 15 years since I resigned the Presidency, I have spent over $1.8 million in attorneys' fees.

The pounding in the newspapers and on television continued unrelentingly. I was the favorite butt of jokes on the talk shows. Hundreds of columns attacked me. A number of Anti-Nixon books were published. Those by critics I understood. Those by friends I found a bit hard to take.

Those that hate you don't win unless you hate them

The critics panned my remarks, not surprisingly, as being too emotional. They overlooked the fact that it was an emotional moment. Finally, it was all over. We said goodbye to the Fords and went home to California, where we thought, mistakenly, we would at long last find peace and quiet.

Only from deepest valley can you know the highest mountain

After Haig left, I had only an hour left to get my thoughts together for my farewell to the staff.

I knew that the decision I had made was best for the country. Two years of Watergate was enough. The nation could not stand the trauma of a President on trial before the Senate for months.

We think sometimes when things don't go the right way, when we suffer a defeat, that all has ended. Not true. It is only a beginning, always. Greatness comes not when things always go good for you, but the greatness comes when you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

Resigned on grounds that his Congressional base disappeared

As long as there was a such a base, I felt strongly that is was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion; that to do otherwise would be a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future.

But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.

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 interest of America first. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency, effective at noon tomorrow.

1974: Claimed that tapes showed no Nixon involvement in plot

Its tone was that of a lawyer's brief, strongly arguing that the public disclosure will establish, once and for all, the President's innocence. "In all of the thousands of words spoken," the White House summary said, "even though they often are unclear and ambiguous, not once does it appear that the President of the US was engaged in a criminal plot to obstruct justice."

Nixon knew of Watergate in 1972, but lied and said 1973

On Sept. 15, 1972, the transcript shows Dean telling Nixon: "3 months ago I would have had trouble predicting there would be a day when this would be forgotten, but I think I can say that 54 days from now [election day] nothing is going to come crashing down to our surprise."

Tapes: Nixon lied about ordering a full investigation

What the transcripts show instead is that the President & senior White House officials tried to gather information primarily for internal strategy purposes, rather than to turn over new information to the prosecutors, and to put together the semblance of a record, for later Nixon's assertion that he began "intensive new inquiries" into the Watergate affair on March 21, 1973, personally ordering "to get all the facts" is not supported by the edited transcripts of recorded White House conversations.

What the transcripts use, if necessary, to show that they had attempted to learn what happened.

In his televised speech of April 30, 1973, Nixon said, "On March 21, I personally assumed the responsibility for coordinating intensive new inquiries into the matter, and I

1973: Agreed to pay blackmail to "keep cap on Watergate"

Nixon repeatedly has said that he believed payment of hush money would be wrong. But at no point in the 103-minute meeting did Nixon suggest that his aides simply testify fully before the then-existing Federal Watergate grand jury, tell the whole truth and accept the consequences.

Tapes: never considered telling whole truth on Watergate

The President's response to Dean's information about Strachan on March 13 is consistent with other instances recorded in the transcripts in which Nixon received or discussed the possible criminal involvement of his aides.

At no time in the conversations before March 21--and rarely in those after that critical date--did the President or his advisers even discuss telling the whole truth to either the public or law enforcement authorities.

Instead, the tapes reveal discussions of alternatives ranging from public relations offensives to total silence to the possibility of extending executive clemency to the Watergate burglars.

A book called "1972" would be a helluva good book

Haldeman: There are a lot of good stories from the first term.

Nixon: A book should be written, called 1972.

Haldeman: Yeah.

Nixon: That would be a helluva good book. And somebody should have thought of it. You get in China, you get in Russia, you get in May 8 [his dramatic decision to bomb Hanoi and mine Haiphong just before his summit in Moscow], and you get in the election. That's what I would write as a book: 1972, period.

It is often forgotten that prior to the eruption of the Watergate scandal in 1973, Nixon was on a stunning political roll. The war in Vietnam was winding down. The public approved. In November, Nixon won re-election with 61% of the popular vote, carrying 49 states. Only after the election, in 1973, would the Watergate scandal change everything for Nixon. In 1972, he was on top of the world.

Attempted to portray mythology of "courage and guts"

Nixon: Kennedy was cold, impersonal, he treated his staff like dogs. His staff created the impression of warm, sweet, a philosopher--that was a pure creation of mythology. We have created no mythology. For Christ's sakes, can't we get across the courage more? Courage, boldness, guts? Goddamn it! That is the thing. What is the most important single factor that should come across out of the first two years? Guts! Absolutely. Guts! Don't you agree, Henry?

Kissinger: Totally. Complexity and guts.

Nixon: Well, complexity. But a president is expected to be intelligent, so wash that out. I mean, I may have a little more than most, but not as much as some. But on the other hand, just sheer unadulterated guts and boldness stand alone. And coolness under fire.

Understand your weaknesses to be strong during adversity

1. Defeat is never fatal unless you give up.
2. When you go through defeat, you are able to put your weaknesses in perspective and to develop an immune system to deal with them in the future.
3. You never know how strong you are when things go smoothly. You tap strength you didn't know you had when you have to cope with adversity.

1950 Senate election: bright young star of Republican party

As a new congressman he was assigned to the then relatively unimportant House Committee on Un-American Activities. He quickly attained national prominence by playing a central role in the committee's investigation of Alger Hiss, a State Department official accused of espionage.

In 1950 he ran for the Senate, defeating Democratic Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, against whom he leveled charges like those he had used to unseat Voorhis four years earlier. When he entered the Senate, he was regarded as one of the brightest young stars of the Republican party. His youth, his oratorical skills, and his indefatigable speechmaking at Republican fund-raising dinners around the country won him favor among local party organizers.

1946: Permanent campaign & anti-Communism won 1st House seat

Nixon was tutored by Murray Chotiner, a chubby, cigar smoking, Jewish and a veteran of California politics. Chotiner had helped to elect Earl Warren as governor in 1942 and would one day get credit for the idea that a successful politician needed to run a " permanent campaign" and for some nasty modern campaign practices, including the dictum that to be successful you need to deflate the opposition candidate before your own campaign gets started." Nixon won 56% of the vote.

1945: Answered "want ad" to run for Congress

The "want ad" was actually a hand-out mailed in the late summer of 1945 to newspapers in California's 12th Congressional district; it invited prospective candidates to apply to a Republican fact-finding committee ,whose goal was to defeat the five term Democratic incumbent.

By age 43, elected to House, Senate, and Vice-Presidency

During the early years, Nixon was the man to beat. He was the best politician of his time, articulating more ably than anyone else the nervous mood of post-WWII America. By the age of 43, he had been elected to the House, the Senate, and twice to the vice presidency of the US. Even the respected liberal columnist Murray Kempton called the 1950s the "Nixon decade." Kennedy was the late bloomer.

1950s: As VP, frontrunner for 1960 presidential nomination

Just as 2 freshman congressmen were thrown together in the same committee back in 1947, they now faced each other across the same hallway. For the next 8 years, the 2 men would work and plot their ambitions within a few feet of each other.

One reason for the across-the-hall cordiality was that the vice president had little reason to suspect Kennedy as a rival. Just turned 40, Nixon was now the dynamic national figure of his generation. Thanks to the Hiss case and the Checkers melodrama, he was one of the few public figures known by every voter in the country. Kennedy, on the other hand, was a bachelor navy hero enjoying what seemed to be an indefinite shore leave.

1955: Outflanked Ike to keep V.P. post instead of Cabinet

In April, asked in a press conference if his vice president had charted his course, Ike decreed, "I will never answer another question on this subject until after August." With that command decision, he ordered any further scuttlebutt about Nixon's fate off-limits until the Republican convention that August in San Francisco.

Or so he hoped. Nixon entered the Oval Office with the upbeat news that he had carried out the assigned orders. The Supreme Commander had told him to "chart his course." He had charted it: The right thing for him was to run for reelection as vice president. It was a bold move, and it worked. Eisenhower, realizing that he'd been outflanked, sent aides out to announce how DELIGHTED the boss was with his young vice president's decision.

JFK created a mythology; we should too

Nixon: Kennedy was cold, impersonal; he treated his staff like dogs, particularly his secretaries and the others. His staff created the impression of warm, sweet, and nice to people, reads a lot of books, a philosopher. That was a pure creation of mythology. We have created no mythology. Can't we get across the courage more? Courage, boldness, guts? What is the most important single factor that should come across out of the first 2 years? Guts! Absolutely. Guts! Don't you agree, Henry?

Kissinger: Totally. Complexity and guts.

Nixon: Well, complexity. But a president is expected to be intelligent, so wash that out. I mean, I may have a little more than most, but not as much as some. But on the other hand, just sheer unadulterated guts and boldness stand alone. And coolness under fire

1973: Resignation would be hammer-blow to future presidents

The Republican senators were in shock. Obstruction of justice and abuse of power were impeachable offenses, and in light of the smoking-gun tape proving Nixon's guilt, there was no doubt that he would be impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate. Was he really going to drag the country through the months it would take for the process to reach its inevitable conclusion?

1972: Bugged offices of Democratic Party in Watergate hotel

The group took two full 36-exposure rolls of film and numerous Polaroid shots. The attempt to bug the Democratic headquarters was not as successful. When the device placed on Larry O'Brien's phone somehow failed to work, the decision was made for the burglars to go back and repeat the job.

But it was Richard Nixon who converted a "3rd-rate burglary" into a personal and partisan catastrophe. Fearful that a disclosure of campaign tricks would cost him a 2nd term, he moved to conceal his people's involvement in the Watergate matter. Nixon now gave orders that would fatally mar his career.

1973: Existence of tapes was fatal blow to presidency

Ted Kennedy warned that if President Nixon dared to defy a Supreme Court order to turn over the tapes, "a responsible Congress would be left with no recourse but to exercise its power of impeachment." The N.Y. Times called Kennedy's words "about as strong a statement on the substantive question of impeachment as any leading Democrat has been willing to make." The problem lay in Kennedy's own past. "The real crunch would come if Nixon, in fact, did defy a clear ruling of the Supreme Court, and the question implicit in Kennedy's statement is how the country would react to the man of Chappaquiddick leading an impeachment battle against the man of Watergate."

1973 Saturday Night Massacre: Fired special prosecutor

Thus began the bloodbath. With Richardson's resignation in hand, Nixon told Haig to order Richardson's deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox. When Ruckelshaus tried to resign, Nixon fired him. Nixon next asked the Justice Department's 3rd ranking official, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork, a strict believer in constitutional authority, did as ordered. An attorney general had resigned. The deputy attorney general and the Watergate prosecutor had been fired. "The Saturday Night Massacre" was complete.

The massacre [resulted in the filing of] 21 resolutions of impeachment.

Smoking Gun: "national security" to hide Watergate burglary

June 23, 1972: Nixon and Chief of Staff H. R. "Bob" Haldeman discuss the progress of the FBI's investigation, in particular the tracing of the source of the money found on the burglars. They propose having the CIA order the FBI to halt its investigation of the Watergate break-in by claiming that the break-in was a matter of national security. This conversation would become known as the "smoking gun."

August 1, 1972: A $25,000 cashier's check designated for Nixon's Committee to Reelect the President is found in the bank account of a Watergate burglar. However, Watergate is not a major issue of the 1972 presidential campaign.