Where were you 40 years ago this evening when President Richard M. Nixon resigned?

[Algernon Moncrieff]

I was a kid at home in Maryland. My parents opened Champagne. Many others (including some stalwart Nixon haters) have told me that they wept. If you were around, what did you do , where were you, and what did you think?

27 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I was not yet born
	3 (11%)
	I was too young to have any real memory/understanding of what was going on
	4 (15%)
	I was driving/at work and heard it on radio
	0 (0%)
	I watched at a bar/ party away from my home
	2 (7%)
	I watched at home
	11 (41%)
	Other (please describe)
	7 (26%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Xyzse]

1. I don't even want to think about it...

I wasn't born yet, so I must have been some single celled organism that was swimming around.

[Lugnut]

2. I was celebrating.

He really was a crook.

[femmocrat]

3. At home with an infant.

I can't remember if we celebrated, but I watched every second of the Watergate hearings that I could.

Good riddance.

[monmouth3]

4. I made my repub husband a greater than usual dinner and was quite joyful. This irritated him..LOL..

[Coventina]

5. Nixon's resignation is my first "public events" memory.

I was super excited about it, because I misunderstood my parents saying "Mr. Nixon" for "Mr. Dixon."

"Mr. Dixon" was a member of our church, and I had no idea he was also the president! And he was going to be on TV!!
The idea of someone I knew personally appearing on TV was sooo exciting!! (Keep in mind, I had just barely turned 6!)

Needless to say, I was bitterly disappointed by the whole thing, because the man on TV was not the man I was expecting to see.

Looking back on it, I wonder if my parents were surprised by my enthusiasm for politics at such a young age!

[H2O Man]

6. I was at home .....

my brother and I were recording the evening on a cassette that I mailed to friend Rubin "Hurricane" Carter the following day.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

7. I was a 10-yr old kid who had been riveted by the entire thing. Yes, I was a

dorky 10-yr old kid interested in politics, lol.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

21. The hearings were daily viewing

My first memory of Watergate-as-scnday was the post headline when Dean was fired and Erlchman, Haldemann, and Mitchell resigned. IIRC, that's also when we got the "I am not a crook" speech..

[ChisolmTrailDem]

124. Daily viewing indeed, AM. I think it was the first time

I remember there being something other than soap operas on the TV on weekdays. Everybody was watching, even dorky 10yr old kids (well, at least this one), lol.

[davidpdx]

122. I was too young to remember Nixon resigning

But I do hear you about being a dorky 10 yr old kid interested in politics. I remember sitting and watching the election results in 1980, which would have made me just a little younger than that.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

127. Can you imagine, a little 10yr old kid running around hollerin' "What's on that

18 minutes of missing tape?", lol.

[meaculpa2011]

8. At the beach.

I was working at NBC News and had put in many, many hours during the hearings.

The resignation happened on my day off and I scooted to Jones Beach far, far away from any phones.

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. I was in the Air Force stationed in Weisbaden Germany and the Headquarter was having its annual

picnic that day. I was riding in a car on the way to the picnic when I listened to Nixon resign.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

16. How did the military, generally, feel about Nixon at that point?

At one level, it was the Cold War, and I'm sure the disruption was disturbing. OTOH, by mid-74, even most Nixon supporters were over it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

29. It was the sort of mixed feelings that you would have found anywhere. Some thought Nixon was being

unfairly railroaded. Some thought it was about time. Many thought that it was time to move on and that was only possible if Nixon stepped down. With Gerald Ford becoming President - there was little thought that there would be any significant change in policy.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

34. I remember by '74 the "his only fault was getting caught" meme was rising

"All of 'em do this kind of thing" people would reason, "his only fault was getting caught"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Watching the whole thing on TV with great pleasure.

I even kept the little black and white TV I watched it on as a souvenir (I think it's still out in the garage). And I also remember thinking, we just got rid of the worst possible president. That feeling lasted only until 1980...

[MohRokTah]

11. I was at my parent's home in Indiana.

I remember my mother was quite upset because she believed it was a terrible thing for a president to resign over corruption, even a president she did not like.

[catbyte]

12. I was taking my mom out to a fancy schmancy dinner for her 50th birthday at the

swankiest French restaurant in town. My dad, a cop, was working that night. As my mom enjoyed her escargot & steak au poivre and me my duck a la'orange, we watched Tricky Dick resign. Other customers had brought in a small portable TV & we all watched his speech. I remember there were about 4 tables that night & the owner gave us all free champagne, LOL.

Good times.

[hifiguy]

13. I was almost 18

Watched it with my dad - who before he got hurt and semi-retired had been a union man for decades and the only Republican he spoke well of was Ike. I was a long-hair pot-smoking bass player. We both hated Nixon. A good time was had by all. My dad passed in November of that year.

[Shrike47]

14. At home with an infant and a three year old. I thought it was a good thing, as did my husband.

[TransitJohn]

15. These threads always remind me how old DU's users skew

I'm 42, so was not quite 3 then.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

18. My guess is that many younger DUers see the thread title and skip it

The poll is just a reference point. There's no desire or attempt for accuracy.

[Hekate]

93. These threads remind me of how many decades WE have been working for social justice. You're welcome.

[TransitJohn]

105. Good for you.

[Warren DeMontague]

113. Get theee hence from mine lawne forthwithye, younge whippersnappers!

He snarked, as he tried to get used to reading the computer screen through his new progressive glasses (DONT SAY BIFOCALS), marveling at the idea of an internet "website" where some old (or, at least, middle-aged) smartass like himself might actually end up stuck on the younger side of things.




Edited to add: In short, you're right. DU skews old for the internet. It just does. Explains a lot.

[Warren DeMontague]

111. ..unlike Boomers, a majority of Gen X & Millennials voted for Obama & support LGBT marriage equality

so you know, you're welcome too.

[Hekate]

119. We all have to work together or we'll never get there, and there's been...

...this little thread of snark at DU regarding age that I've noticed just in the past year or two. It's like some of the more recently-arrived DUers don't recognize who was clearing the way through the jungle of society before they showed up. I didn't feel old or out of place until that started happening -- I was just another DUer who joined in 2002. It's always been nice to find so many of my own age-cohort here while welcoming input from members of all ages, so this development has struck me as strange in the extreme.

[Warren DeMontague]

120. Well hell, like I said, I just had to invest in my first pair of bifocals.

So how fucked up is that?

But yes, I hear you.

[Hekate]

121. I feel your pain. I have to use a magnifying glass to read the funny papers, plus my new glasses.

Aggravating as hell, that is.

[GeorgeGist]

97. My wife and watched with our daughter ...

who'll be 42 this year.

[BuelahWitch]

17. Watched at home with Mom and Grandma. I was 11.n/t

[liberal N proud]

19. I was 15 sitting in my parents living room

Old enough to know what was going on.

[Tikki]

20. In the hospital before and after surgery...night before the surgery nixon was president...

When I awoke from anesthesia, Ford was President..

We all kind of knew nixon was in trouble and might resign...We just didn't know when.


Tikki

[gordianot]

22. Celebrating one of the happiest days of my life.

I always hoped the truth of several mysteries would be told it never happened. Reagan was worse and we have now fallen in the pit of perpetual fascism and corruption.

[joeybee12]

23. I was at home, I was watching, I was happy...

Even being pretty young I knew how awful he was...now, if only I could have had a similar experience with george W. Bush!

[Scuba]

24. Andrews Air Force Base, Washington DC.

I was among the airmen surreptiously booing when he boarded a plane (not Air Force One) to depart. Adios mother fucker.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

26. I was about 10 minutes away in New Carrolton

Your planes flew over my house like every 10 minutes.

[HERVEPA]

25. At the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in Petersburg, NY

Went to my car to hear it, then came back and it was announced from the stage "President Nixon is now Citizen Nixon".
To great applause and cheers of course, as this was a liberal folkie crowd.

[etherealtruth]

27. I was ten and watched it at home

I didn't understand the political ramifications, but remember my parents talking excitedly about what it meant

[roamer65]

137. I was 9 and watched it on TV.

What I remember most about Nixon is his perspiration problem. I remember thinking, "Wow that guys sweats a lot".

[el_bryanto]

28. I think I was playing with my blocks and alternately seeing what they tasted like. nt

[moondust]

30. On leave.

Before deploying to Berlin.

Even my staunch Republican grandfather believed Nixon should be held accountable for any wrongdoing.

[hlthe2b]

31. I imagine I was home with my folks... I know my Mom, who had a major crush on Howard Baker,

did not miss a second of the Watergate hearings... Even though I was far younger, the death of JFK, RFK, MLK--all had far more impact on me.

[deutsey]

41. I dimly recall watching RFK's funeral on TV

Unfortunately, it's one of my earliest memories.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

32. Living at home with my folks

I had just turned 17 and was about to start my senior year of high school. Don't remember any specifics about that day other than hearing Tricky Dick's resignation speech.

[onehandle]

33. President Nixon was the last liberal President. nt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

42. Another drive by post

How was Nixon liberal? Were you around then?

[onehandle]

43. Said by that right-wing shill, Noam Chomsky.

He was right. My parents were horrified when Nixon was first elected. The first election I can remember.

I had a McGovern sticker on my notebook in school in 1972.

Little did we know what would follow Nixon...
_________________

Noam Chomsky: Richard Nixon Was 'Last Liberal President'

Three Democrats have held the position of commander-in-chief since the Richard Nixon era, but if you ask philosopher Noam Chomsky, it was the 37th president and infamous Watergate casualty who was truly the last liberal to preside in the Oval Office.

During a discussion on HuffPost Live, Chomsky weighed in on the minimum wage debate, blaming neo-liberals for keeping talk of wage increases off the table until now.

"It's a shame that it's taken so long to even be a discussion," Chomsky said. "As for support, we may recall the last major program for helping families at the level of survival was under Richard Nixon. In many respects Nixon was the last liberal president."

In the 1950s and 1960s, before Nixon took office, minimum wage stayed on track with productivity. However, that pattern fell off in the next decade. After six years of stagnant wages and escalating costs of living, the Nixon administration stepped in -- in 1974, Nixon signed an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. That law raised wages by more than 40 percent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/21/noam-chomsky-richard-nixon_n_4832847.html

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

46. Chomsky's your God

I get it.

Though I agree with Chomsky on a lot of things he also spews his fair share of bullshit.

[hifiguy]

54. This is actually correct, technically.

Nixon, while a domestic criminal and a war criminal who should have lived out his life in prison for treason did not share the trademark outlook of the modern reichwingers, that being an implacable and unquenchable hostility to government in all its forms and the framework of regulation and programs initiated since FDR and the New Deal (and arguably since TR and the Square Deal). Nixon approved OSHA and the EPA.

I have hated Nixon as long as I can remember but facts are facts.

[2naSalit]

107. Nixon approved OSHA and the EPA...and

Clean Air Act; The Wilderness Act; Signed Title IX in 1972; ended the policy of forced assimilation of American Indians, returned sacred lands, and became the first American President to give them the right to tribal self-determination; NEPA; Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972; Endangered Species Act of 1973.

And he vetoed the Clean Water Act of 1972—objecting not to the policy goals of the legislation but to the amount of money to be spent on them, which he deemed excessive. After Congress overrode his veto, Nixon impounded the funds he deemed unjustifiable.

Personally, I despised him and to be fair, he did much of this for political capital as he saw how people hated him for Vietnam, he though this would appease us somewhat.

I was enjoying one of my first legal alcoholic beverages in a tavern with many happy people who cheered for a long time at the announcement of the resignation... many of us had siblings, loved ones an relatives who were sent to the war, many never came all the way home or didn't come back alive.

[Art_from_Ark]

108. The Wilderness Act was signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1964

in the centennial year of the Battle of the Wilderness.

[2naSalit]

136. Doh!!

My error. Thanks for the correction. I was kind of tired when I posted and spaced out looking that up to confirm my claim.

[4dsc]

145. Today marks 50 years

Happy Anniversary Wilderness Act.

[Adsos Letter]

35. Sitting in the Day Room of our barracks at Ft. Lewis

I remember one of the NCOs saying "Well, there it is."

The following year I was stationed in a Cav unit in Germany, and there was a lot more reaction in our unit when Saigon finally fell.

[deutsey]

36. I was 9, we had just moved to Maryland's Eastern Shore

I watched it with my grandmother, who told me what I was seeing was history.

At the time, though, I didn't really understand what the big deal was. It wasn't until I was in high school (when I took it upon myself to research what Watergate was because we didn't learn much about it in history class) that I began to understand what had happened and why it was important.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

39. Your grendmother spoke a great truth

..and thinking of a post upthread, from November of 1963 to August 1974 -- a little more than a decade -- think about how much American history many got to witness. Much of it was horrific, while some of it was breathtaking.

JFK was before my birth, and I don't remember the RFK or MLK assasinations. I don't remember Apollo 11, but I rember Apollos 14-17. I remember the POWs coming home. I remember the Watergate hearings, and I remember Nixon stepping down.

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. That time period was amazing, wasn't it?

During that time frame I got married, got to experience Freedom Summer in Alabama in 1964, followed the Viet Nam war daily because my husband and then my brothers were sent over there, had 2 babies, became very active in the anti-war movement, got a divorce, and was glued to the tv when Nixon resigned.
AND knew immediately that Ford would pardon him.

Never ever once trusted Nixon. Was flat out amazed that ANYONE looking at him could trust him.

[Kath1]

82. Those were amazing times!

I was 14 and in high school. My girlfriends and I were all young hippies with the peace symbols, really long hair, bare feet, bellbottom jeans... the whole thing. We were all political nerds and really into the anti-war movement. We had a Nixon Resigned party soon after. We all hated him.

[razorman]

37. I was in Navy Basic Training at Orlando, FL.

In those days, boot camp was cut off from the rest of the world. So, when rumors started flying around the base that the president had resigned, we all said, "Bullshit. Presidents don't resign." Boy, were we wrong.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

38. Watched it on TV at my boyfriend's house with his family. n/t

[Cleita]

40. I was working as a bartender.

It was on the TV. Everyone was in a party mood, booing and cheering as he spoke. Everyone was happy he was gone.

[Arkansas Granny]

44. I remember thinking that he looked drugged.

I couldn't believe the victory/peace sign he flashed when he entered that helicopter for the last time.

[Hekate]

96. We didn't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more. hahahahahahaha

[MANative]

45. I was celebrating my 14th birthday...

and it was the beginning of my political awareness. I guess you could say that we have Dicky Nixon to thank for me being a lifelong Democrat!

[csziggy]

47. A bunch of friends got together and threw a party

We'd all been watching the hearings in between college classes and heard that Nixon was going to be on that night. Just about everyone expected him to resign so we gathered at someone's house and had a big party to watch his speech.

By the time he actually resigned, we were all wasted. A good time was had by all.

[Jackpine Radical]

48. I was riding with my then-girlfriend in her little red Falcon.

That evening we went to a party at my doctoral adviser's house. We were pretty much all in a state of shock. The long-anticipated event had arrived.

I have a lot of very specific memories of that period--listening to the radio the night of the Saturday Night Massacre in October '73 (half expecting to see tanks on the streets of Madison the next morning); watching the Sam Ervin show all summer on a TV in the UW Madison student union….Those were crazy times. Now, even though the times are objectively much crazier, I think we are all more inured to the craziness, so nutzo feels almost normal.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

50. Somewhere in a box in my house..

...is a white T-shirt with Ervin's face on it in profile and the caption "Uncle Sam."

[hifiguy]

57. I had a sticker on my bass case

saying "IMPEACH!! Dick's pulled his last trick!" Left it on after he resigned.

[BarbaRosa]

49. I was 23, in my apt. in Ruidoso,

watching a crappy almost color TV someone had given me, elbow bending the cold and frosty.

[Historic NY]

51. Couldn't wait until the noon tomorrow part...

[RobinA]

52. Cannot Remember

I was in high school at the time a I cannot remember a thing about Nixon's resignation.

What I do remember is the Saturday Night Massacre as it became known. That was probably the first (and probably the last) time in my life that I saw politicians act in an admirable way - putting what is right above carrying out orders. I was quite impressed at the time with those involved who did the right thing.

Ahhh...it was a different time.

[JustAnotherGen]

53. Probably sleeping in my crib

in West Germany.

But my parents shared with the me the experience of that happening while stationed abroad.

[MiniMe]

55. I was at home with my parents.

It is my birthday today, so I always remember the date he resigned.

[Liberal_in_LA]

56. teacher discussed it with us 12 yr olds. didnt understand the signicance

[LibertyLover]

59. I was in Capetown, South Africa

with my mom. We were on vacation and heading to Kenya and Tanzania but first the tour went to South Africa and (at the time) Rhodesia. The tour split for a couple of days - some people went to Kruger National Park and the rest of us headed to Capetown. Mom figured since we were going to the parks in Kenya and Tanzania on safari, seeing Capetown was a better idea. It was lovely and we got to visit some of the vineyards and sample Cape wine. Very good even back then. Anyway, we'd been following the drama via the BBC on tv and found it very interesting that the news readers were so very dispassionate about the news, that is until after Tricky Dicky resigned. Then the gloves came off and from the way the news readers savaged him, you would have thought that he had been responsible for all the ills of the world instead of only about 50%. We had a couple and her sister on the tour from Pennsylvania. They were rock-ribbed Republicans and let everyone know that Nixon was innocent and a near deity and was going to rise above this witch hunt, etc. That is until he resigned. We watched them drink their dinner that night in the hotel's bar. Meanwhile mom and I had wine with our dinner and toasted Nixon's departure.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

134. Did you have any sense of the apartheid in SA and Rhodesia?

If so, what were your impressions?

[LibertyLover]

139. Yes, it was very uncomfortable

I wasn't prepared for how apartheid would make me feel. To see signs on restrooms that actually said whites only made me ashamed. I had nothing to do with the policy, but as a 20 year old white woman, I was still ashamed. We were only in Rhodesia for 2 days, but flew up from Jo'burg on an Air Rhodesia plane that their president was also in. South Africa was about the only place he could visit. On our way to Kenya, at the Jo 'burg airport, I got into trouble with the South African police. I had a case of, to put it politely, Mummy Tummy, and needed the rest room badly. Our bus stopped at the terminal and I dashed into the building quickly and located a ladies' restroom. I thought nothing of the fact that there were several women of color in it because heck, if you're from New York City, that's perfectly normal. What I didn't get was the odd looks I was getting. I finished and was washing my hands when one of the women dropped something. She had a baby so I picked it up, handed it to her and said something about what a lovely child she had. When they heard my accent, they all relaxed just a bit. As I exited, there were two cops waiting for me. I was stopped and questioned as to why I had gone into the "nie blanc" restroom. I just sort of looked at them like WTF? and asked what that meant. I could read the Afrikaans, but hearing it spoken I was clueless. Again once they heard my accent things cooled a bit. I had to produce my passport and explain that I was on my way out of their country and had simply needed the restroom or have an accident. I was let go with a stern warning to use the proper facilities. On our way through Customs and Immigration, we were asked how we had liked South Africa. It was lovely I said truthfully. I was asked if I would like to immigrate. I said no, that I would not be interested and apartheid was the reason. My passport was stamped quickly and there were no more pleasantries. I was relieved to leave.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

141. That reminds me of my Mother In Law talking about South Carolina in the 50s.

My MIL grew up in DC. Her husband (my FIL) was in the Marines at Camp Lejeune. She got on a city bus in Charleston (I think) and sat down toward the back, not knowing that the busses were segregated. The driver stopped the bus and indicated to her that she needed to come up front. Keep in mind that this was a little over 60 years ago. Times do change.

I find it interesting that they asked if you wanted to immigrate. Thanks for sharing that story.

[LibertyLover]

144. At the time

I was a 21 year old, red-haired, fish-belly-white-with-freckles skinned college educated (well, one year to go) woman. I was prime recruitment material. Gotta breed those blanc babies. I'm happy to have shared - I will say that my mom who was waiting for me to go to the boarding area was very unhappy with the SA police when I told her what had happened. She got asked if she wanted to immigrate when they stamped her exit visa and she was just as emphatic in her refusal as I had been a minute or two before.

[KeepItReal]

60. I probably downed an extra bottle of milk...I was in my terrible 2s

[SteveG]

61. I was a teacher at the time

But being summer, I was working construction so I was on a job site when it actually happened, I watched it on the news that night when I got home. I was glad he was gone.

[JackRiddler]

62. I wish I could say not yet born!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

75. Many of us say that

I remember back then meeting old guys who'd served in "The Great War" -- all gone now.

[Kip Humphrey]

63. on vacation in Nag's Head NC.

[wandy]

64. I and a co worker were taking 'lunch' in the parking lot of a MickeyDees..........

Listening on 'da radio planning our "next adventure".
And then it happened.
Others, with radios blaring, got out of their cars, cheered and applauded.
We did the same.
It was a good day.

Alas, Richard M. Nixon, the last honorable republican president.
It did nothing but go down hill from there.

[wyldwolf]

65. wishing my dad would stop watching the news so he could read to me

... now my kid does the same to me.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

69. That reminds me of Battlestar Galactica

ABC broke in to announce peace between Egypt & Israel. Those of us under 15 were more concerned with the Cylons...

[tblue37]

66. Watching on TV in Barcelona, Spain.nt

[Algernon Moncrieff]

70. In the waning days of Franquist Spain

What did the Spanish think?

[tblue37]

85. Yep. The ones I spoke to about it were completely blown away.

We forget how extraordinary some countries' people find it that we can actually remove people from powerful offices without a bloody revolution.

Of course, with black box voting, legalized bribery, unrestrained surveillance, voter restrictions, and pervasive corporate/MIC control of our government and economy (and of that of the entire world in many ways), our ability to influence our government and to remove the worst actors from power is steadily decreasing.

JFK was right when he warned that making peaceful dissent impossible makes violent revolution inevitable. Thankfully we are not at that point yet, but I fear for the future. The novel 1984 wasn't "wrong"--it was just premature. Now, 30 years later than 1984, we are almost as surveilled by BIG Brothers (not just *one*!) as Orwell feared, and the tools of pervasive and brutal state control are being put in place and used in trial runs.

Eisenhower's warning about the MIC should be continually pushed into public awareness, and books and movies about J. Edgar Hoover's abuse of FBI intelligence should be continually produced and heavily marketed, as should works reminding people about the lies and war crimes of the Iraq invasion and the servile complicity of the MSM.

Unfortunately, though, that won't happen. What Americans will get instead is a steady diet of bread and circuses, interspersed with constant, pervasive war propaganda and jingoistic indoctrination.

[Aristus]

67. I was 5. I have a dim memory of Watergate hearings pre-empting all of my favorite TV shows.

I remember my 3 year-old brother walking into the living room and asking: "Mommy, what's a kissinger?"

And I remember my mother showing me the front page of the newspaper with a photo of Gerald Ford, and telling me: "He is going to be our new President."

[rbrnmw]

68. I was 5 but I remember

My mom was crocheting and my dad was happy He was drinking a beer.

[AngryOldDem]

71. I was 14 and hated Nixon with a passion.

I remember singing "Jail to the Chief"...that would REALLY piss off my mom (a staunch Republican) and make my dad (a Dem) laugh his ass off.

[zappaman]

72. I too was a kid in Maryland!

Severna Park to be exact and even though I didn't quite understand what the big deal was, I knew it was something important!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

77. That was an interesting time in MD

PG County started bussing in '73. By '75 there was massive flight out to Howard County by white families.

[cwydro]

74. I was in Spain with my parents.

August 9 is my birthday, and I still have the Madrid newspaper with the news.

We didn't know until we were on a tour of some place, and the guide made reference to it. We were dumbfounded.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

78. What did the Spaniards think? nt

[tblue37]

86. My (then) husband is a professor of Spanish language and literature.

I was 24 in August of 1974. Each summer, he and another professor would take our university's study-abroad group to Spain for two months, followed by two weeks of travel on their own once classes were over.

Spain is 7 hours ahead of us. I forget the exact time of Nixon's primetime resignation address, but we (Bob, I, the other professor and his wife, all of our students, plus several Spanish acquaintances) all stayed up until the ugly predawn hours of the morning to watch Nixon's televised address. We exploded in cheers when he was done, but our Spanish friends were obviously puzzled and rather subdued over what they had just witnessed. To them it was a momentous, yet almost unbelievable event.

[distantearlywarning]

76. More than a twinkle in my mother's eye

Probably more like a giant bowling ball sitting on her bladder while she watched him on the evening news.

[gateley]

79. I honestly don't remember -- I was probably high.

But most likely with my boyfriend whose degree was in poly-sci and he had hated Nixon from the beginning.

[PDJane]

80. I was 25 with a three year old child,

And at home. I was beginning to recover from a severe head injury that I gained during a pedestrian accident while pregnant.

I remember being quite pleased with the resignation and hoping for better. I had a lot of time to read, and thought then, and still think that the US secret government began then....and has continued.

[likesmountains 52]

81. I was waitressing at a place in Denver. The owner set up a TV in the kitchen

so we could watch. We all thought he was a crook.

[lpbk2713]

83. "Well, you won't have Nixon to kick around any more."

Good. Best news I'd heard in a long time.

[snappyturtle]

84. I was in Zermatt, Switzerland...summer skiing and climbing. I was shocked

to see it in newsprint on a stroll through town.

[HockeyMom]

87. Couple of weeks before my wedding

but I did watch it on TV and thought GOOD at the time. I was still an Independent at the time.

[minivan2]

88. I was still a sprem cell

Waiting to be released into this world.

[mcar]

89. Visiting relatives in New England

I was 15. I vividly recall my same-age cousin saying "that's all folks" whennl the speech ended.

[calimary]

90. Frantically driving home, fighting afternoon traffic, so I could stick my tape recorder

up next to the TV and record the audio! Drove like a maniac - HAD to get there in time! And I did!

And I parked myself in front of that TV in our family room and just watched, mouth-agape and eyes bugging out. I so wanted to be able to witness it. Ahh... nixon. Whoda thunkit - that we'd have to endure later presidents who stunk up the joint so much worse than he did. Funny enough - ALL of them republi-CON. At the time I figured we couldn't get any worse.

It still kinda gives me a thrill, though. We actually got one. We got one to resign and clear outta the White House. We actually got RID of one. Too bad it stopped with him.

[octoberlib]

91. I was in 2nd grade. My mother made me and my

brother watch the address on television. I don't think I really understood the implications , though.

[Hekate]

92. I watched it at my home in Honolulu and I rejoiced. My Senator Inouye was on the Watergate Committee

... which was bipartisan and composed of some truly remarkable public servants. Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas said in her deep deep voice: "The Constitution is whole."

I truly thought we could begin again -- but the poisonous seeds planted by Nixon have grown and now have deep roots. The fight has to go on.

[El Supremo]

94. I was becoming a permanent Democrat and learning about Jimmy Carter.

Whom I campaigned for in 1976.

[kwassa]

95. I don't remember. This moment itself did not leave an impact.

unlike the Kennedy assassination when I was much younger, and which I remember very well.

Nixon's resignation was not a big surprise, it was clearly in sight.

I must have been working some summer job in college. I remember much better the Watergate hearings the summer before, which I watched most of. Great television.

[madokie]

98. I graduated from heavy equipment school

on that day. It was awesome cause we had a lot of heated discussion concerning tricky dick with one of the admins at the school and when he resigned on our last day was priceless. We won without a doubt

[quaker bill]

99. At home, throwing a party

It was a pleasant party as I recall it.

[BainsBane]

100. I don't have a memory of it

I was young, but I do remember earlier events. I have a memory of the withdraw from Vietnam, Watergate, but not Nixon's resignation. We must not have had television at that point. In fact, I'm pretty sure we didn't.

[Warren DeMontague]

114. I read it in the paper the next day.

Did not actually watch the tv. But it was all anyone was talking about.

[cally]

101. Was camping and was told as my family and I walked into a store

I remember being absolutely shocked because we had been away from news for awhile. My parents were Republicans and were very upset.

[dflprincess]

102. Shopping for bridesmaids dresses for my cousin's wedding

This trip had been set up before we knew Nixon would be speaking that night.

I was with several cousins and two of my aunts. We were at Penney's and my one aunt (not the mother of the bride) and I kept escaping to the T.V. displays to watch.

My other aunt (the mother of the bride) came looking for us to try and herd us back to the bridal department but the aunt I was with loudly proclaimed "This is the happiest moment of my life and I'm not going to miss it!"

We rejoined our relatives after the speech.

[cloudbase]

103. I was a midshipman

aboard the S.S. Export Courier in the Port of Philadelphia.

[Delmette]

104. Planning my wedding.

My future husband (now my ex-husband) and I had some earth shaking question about the wedding. We called the priest and he wouldn't talk to us. He was more interested in the President's speech. I can't blame him. I do remember the next day better, when Nixon left and President Ford saying how aware he was of not being elected.

[ancianita]

106. In grad school, I felt a personal relief, a bit hopeful that everything might get better after all.

[Major Hogwash]

109. Nixon resigned on August 9th, not the 8th.

I was at home, watching the news on tv.

My dad was really worried that there wouldn't be an orderly transition of power in this country.
He was worried that the Republicans would "just take over" the federal government, by force, if necessary.

It was obvious that the entire Republican party suffered from a cancer that had grown within the GOP for many years.
Ford claimed at first that he was never interested in being the President.
But, once he was sworn in, woo boy, did he ever begin to like all of the power that office had to offer, and so, then he ran for the office, all the while acting like he was an incumbent during that campaign in 1976 . . . yet, Ford had never even been elected to the job to begin with!!!!!!

He probably would have won that election, too, if he had not been such a stumbling idiot who constantly fell down the stairs that came from Air Force 1 when he was deboarding, or when he fell off of some platform that was set up at a political rally the summer of 1976.

Chevy Chase -- singlehandedly, more than any other American -- made fun of Ford's clumsiness on the new comedy sketch program called Saturday Night Live, and as a result, the majority of voters saw Ford as a complete moron, and this country was spared the humiliation of Ford being elected President of the United States.

Ford was -- and hopefully, gawd willing, he always will be -- the only man in America history to serve as both the Vice President and the President, without ever being elected to either of those positions of high office in the first place!!!

Ford was proof that Nixon was a total crook by issuing that pardon, and also at the same time, Ford became a willing participant in the greatest cover-up of a political scandal in American history by issuing Nixon "a full and unconditional pardon".

[Algernon Moncrieff]

135. He made the announcement on 8/8, which most people consider "the resignation"

But you are correct, he announced that he's resign the Presidency "effective at noon, tomorrow " (i.e. 8/9)

I think Ford, whatever his faults may have been as President, gate the perfect speech upon succeeding to the presidency:

I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many... If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman—my dear wife, Betty—as I begin this very difficult job... My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over... Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.

I'd also assert that the Ford Presidency was worth it if for no other reason than one: Betty Ford was an awesome First Lady during and after her husband's Presidency.

[Motown_Johnny]

110. I was in D.C. and got to watch his helicopter fly off into the distance

from the hotel room window. Our room did not face the White House so I didn't get to see it lift off, just fly away.


I was 11, there on family vacation. We watched everything on TV in the hotel room.

I didn't really understand what was going on at the time, but it still left a lasting memory.

[Ken Burch]

112. It was the summer between seventh and eighth grade...

I watched with my mother and step-father in our home in the West Salem hills in Oregon. I still remember the news anchor reporting that large crowds were outside the White House chanting "Jail To The Chief".

And I still remember the rage we all felt when, days later, Gerald Ford announced the pardon. Ford cost himself the '76 election by doing that(Carter ran a horrible fall campaign and managed to nearly do the impossible and blow a thirty-point lead). If Ford had told everyone, in the pardon announcement, that Nixon had refused to resign UNLESS he was guaranteed a pardon, he probably would have won.

And if he had, the Democrats would likely have won a HUGE victory in 1980, given that it would have been a Republican administration that would have had to deal with the late Seventies recession, the second oil crisis, and the situations in Iran and Nicaragua.

[Ex Lurker]

115. 13 years old, on vacation with my family

we watched it on a little black and white TV in the gift shop of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

[Skittles]

116. home, saying: "OMG THE F***ING PRESIDENT IS RESIGNING"

yup

[jen63]

117. I was nine,

on vacation with my brother and parents in Virginia Beach. The TV in the motel room was on all the time, but I don't remember any particular comments by my parents, who are staunch repubs. At that time they were normal. Since the advent of Fox News, they and my brother have become frothers. No talking to them about anything, unless you agree with the echo chamber. I'm the only liberal in my family. Every time I have contact, they dig me, in order to convert. Really? Using Fox talking points to try to change my political philosophy. Bwaaaaha. It irritates them to death and they get really venomous at times. I don't see them very often now, it just raises my blood pressure.

[TorchTheWitch]

118. Hampton Beach, NH with the family

I was a kid then. I distinctly remember the day though because the adults were glued to the tv and looking somewhat somber yet vaguely embarrassed. I went for a walk with my Aunt Mary along the beach and asked her to explain what was going on and what it all meant. It was really my first introduction to politics. And I understood that the adults (all hard core Dems) were somber and embarrassed as Americans that the Grand Pooh-bah of the country was such a criminal disgrace. Aunt Mary (such a character she was!) explained that a president of a country was like a Grand Pooh-bah since I (being a young and ignorant waif) had really no idea what a president was. President of a company I could understand, but finding out there was a Grand Pooh-bah of the country that held the same title was astonishing and puzzling. I was determined to puzzle it all out while kicking everyone's ass at skee ball the next day (I was the Grand Pooh-bah of skee ball as a youngster whooping everyone's butt... I once played for around three hours on a single quarter).

The biggest reason I probably so clearly remember the day was because while walking on the beach with Aunt Mary explaining what happened and what it all meant I was so engrossed I forgot to watch where I was walking and stepped on a soda can tab nearly slicing my big toe off which horrified me not only because of the blood (and there was buckets of it) but because of what it might mean to my future non-existent ballet career. Aunt Mary got a lifeguard to clean it out and put on a huge bandaid, and later that night just to make me feel better she drew smiley faces on it with a sharpie. I even remember thinking as I admired my unique bandaid that it would be so cool if some company made bandaids with pictures on them like smiley faces. Decades later I was miffed to discover that some company eventually did and was reaping a fortune off of my childhood idea.

For those to young to recall, soda can tabs used to come completely off creating an evil sharp foot cutter to abundantly littler the ground absolutely everywhere. They looked like this...



You could make cool chain jewelry and other stuff with them though like this (ok, back then we thought it was cool... though back then it wasn't called "cool" but "boss&quot ...



So, yeah, that's my Nixon story.

I actually haven't played skee ball since I was far enough into my teens to notice boys and therefore spent beach time away from the game. I probably suck at it now.

And for those that don't know what skee ball is...

[MADem]

123. I was at work and watched it on television with a large crowd--coulda heard a pin drop. nt

[tenderfoot]

125. At my grand parents house...

Too young to get what was going on.

[livetohike]

126. Living with my boyfriend (now husband) in a three room furnished apartment on the west end of Pgh.

Watching a black and white tv and lighting up a joint to celebrate . At that point, I thought Nixon was the worst President ever, but I was just 22 years old and couldn't imagine what was to come.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

133. I love that you mentioned that it was a black & white TV

We didn't get our first color set until '76, so obviously, I too saw the event in monochrome.

[chrisstopher]

128. I was checking out those AMAZING hip huggers the girls in junior high were wearing.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

132. The 70's were a good time to be a young man

When I got to high school, they were transitioning from the hip-huggers to the slit denim skirts.

[shenmue]

129. I was a one-year-old

[MillennialDem]

130. I was negative 6

[Surya Gayatri]

131. On the road from Paris to northern Portugal in my old, red VW Beetle.

Stopped near Angoulême to buy an International Herald Tribune. I and the only other American in our group of four girls did the happy dance on reading the headline.

[oldhippie]

138. I was in Korea ...

... watching the Korean TV in the Officer's Club at a Nike-Herc launch site out in the boonies on the coast of the Yellow Sea.

[nutsnberries]

140. 12 yrs old, rental home on Cape Cod and...

we had no TV.
I'll never forget how we listened to it on the radio while watching it thru the window of the neighbor's house. I was staying on the Cape for a week with my sister, her husband, and their 2 children. I remember the strange vaguely sad/mostly happy feeling.

[treestar]

142. I was almost 14 and had been following it

I was already a Democrat, wore a McGovern button at school around election times, which a lot of kids had done.

I didn't completely understand Watergate, but followed it as best I could.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

143. It's a ridiculously complicated scandal to explain.

Nixon was clearly involved in the cover-up and in obstructing justice. Did he know about the break-in? Who ordered the break -in; Colson? Mitchell? Nixon?

Although somewhat Republican leaning in it's POV, Watergate: A Novel provides an interesting narrative on how in might have happened, and the characters are a who's-who of Washingtonians of the day.