President Nixon Announces Resignation

Aug. 8, 1974: President Richard Nixon announced that he would resign from office, becoming the first and only president to do so.

The announcement, made 50 years ago, came amid the Watergate scandal, which cratered his support with the American public and among members of Congress, who were on the precipice of voting to impeach and remove him from 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 interest of America first," President Nixon said in an address to the nation from the Oval Office.

"To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the president and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow."

One month later, President Gerald Ford issued a full pardon to the former president for any offenses he "has committed or may have committed." He made the announcement in a televised address to the nation, explaining his decision to end what he called an "American tragedy" and allow the country and his predecessor to move on.

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