Sylvan LaChance Professor Fulsom November 18, 2013 The Final Days Nixons last days in the White

House were marked by an almost suspicious variety of emotion. Regret, nostalgia, sadness and gratefulness were all part of his personal process. Above all, an effort by the President to leave on a more positive note, as if the Watergate scandal never happened, is easy to observe. It was supposed to be a final admission of guilt or betrayal, but Nixon turned it into something else, never fully acknowledging he had failed. Instead of realizing he was wrong or defeated, he offered his achievements. The video of his resignation speech offers valuable insight about the personality of Nixon. He darts between jokes and an uncomfortable sternness, never understanding when to be serious and when to be lighthearted. It is obvious that the event carried too much weight for him to be able to process, and viewers are left with an outpouring of questionable comments. At times it seems as if the President did not realize the gravity of the situation. If I were living at the time and had followed the complexities of Watergate, I dont think that speech would have satisfied me. The best Nixon could do was to say that even though mistakes were made, the interest of the nation was always at heart. He never intentionally threatened the country. That statement in itself seems so ironic in hindsight, knowing what we do now about the Paris Peace Talks, the ongoing Vietnam War, student protests, and even the sheer toll the Constitution took from his presidency. Nixon said that he had lost the support of Congress, but that he held no bitterness, as if he was forgiving

Congress for their mistake. And then, signaling his own pardon, Nixon stated that the nation must band together and help the new president succeed. The national obsession over Watergate was used as an excuse to free Nixon from any responsibility. It was as if Nixon was saying, okay, lets forget about this whole thing because thats the only way the new administration can be successful. The future prosperity of the country rested on his pardon. The resignation speech was vague and jumbled, with a lack of coherence that made me question Nixons understanding of the event. Somewhere in the middle it began to sound like a State of the Union address. Nixon remembered his achievements in China, the Middle East and the Soviet Union. He said the world was a safer place compared to when he first took office. He had built friendships and the foundations for a long-lasting peace. He wanted this to continue on, and urged Americans to stay committed to his goals. He mentioned alleviating poverty and starvation and pursuing prosperity without inflation. He focused on the good. Nixon tried desperately to rebrand himself after the stains of Watergate began to seep in, and this speech is just another example of that. He became the President who was forced to leave office before his time was completed, and Nixon wanted a different legacy. The speech is evidence of that. It was as if his resignation speech was an attempt to rewrite history in his favor, but the irony of each statement rang so loud and clear. Nixon said the world was a safer place. Why? Because he had prolonged the Vietnam War and put thousands of American lives in danger? Because he had sabotaged a real option for peace even before he was elected? Nixon may have

made important foreign policy strides with regards to China and the Soviet Union, but could he really claim that the world was safer, or on a trajectory towards peace that he had initiated? Nixon did almost irrevocable damage to the psychology of American citizens towards the office of the Presidency. Trust in the executive plummeted, and still suffers today. The Constitution was trampled so that Nixon could hide his dirty secrets. Was the American system of government safer? Was America or the world really safer? Although I find it hard to believe Nixon, I am convinced he believed himself. He seemed so confident that his administration had done good work. A thin layer of guilt and wrongdoing was veiled by a Teddy Roosevelt quote. There is not effort without error in shortcoming, Nixon quoted. Whether this was a justification for his crimes or a defense for his administration is unclear. What is clear, is that Nixon was still looking for acceptance, or maybe more ways to convince himself that he was not really guilty. By referencing that quote, Nixon put Watergate and all his other political blemishes in line with the common mistakes of presidents. He put himself in history, right alongside one of our greatest leaders. It was as if Nixon was imagining Teddy Roosevelt consoling him, perhaps saying, everything is alright, you tried your best. Although Nixon continued to work on his legacy for the rest of his life, he could never get rid of the scars of his presidency. History has not judged him with much more understanding or sympathy than the majority of Americans did in the 70s. His resignation may have been a last-ditch effort to save his legacy, but it was not effective.