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Nixon  

poles538 80M
253 posts
9/8/2015 7:51 am

Last Read:
9/14/2015 7:01 am

Nixon


In a controversial executive action, President Gerald Ford pardons his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed or participated in while in office. Ford later defended this action before the House Judiciary Committee, explaining that he wanted to end the national divisions created by the Watergate scandal.

The Watergate scandal erupted after it was revealed that Nixon and his aides had engaged in illegal activities during his reelection campaign–and then attempted to cover up evidence of wrongdoing. With impeachment proceedings underway against him in Congress, Nixon bowed to public pressure and became the first American president to resign. At noon on August 9, Nixon officially ended his term, departing with his family in a helicopter from the White House lawn. Minutes later, Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of the White House. After taking the oath of office, President Ford spoke to the nation in a television address, declaring, “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”

Ford, the first president who came to the office through appointment rather than election, had replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president only eight months before. In a political scandal independent of the Nixon administration’s wrongdoings in the Watergate affair, Agnew had been forced to resign in disgrace after he was charged with income tax evasion and political corruption. Exactly one month after Nixon announced his resignation, Ford issued the former president a “full, free and absolute” pardon for any crimes he committed while in office. The pardon was widely condemned at the time.

Decades later, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation presented its 2001 Profile in Courage Award to Gerald Ford for his 1974 pardon of Nixon. In pardoning Nixon, said the foundation, Ford placed his love of country ahead of his own political future and brought needed closure to the divisive Watergate affair. Ford left politics after losing the 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Ford died on December 26, 2006, at the age of 93.

nightsoul1962 61F
17828 posts
9/8/2015 2:06 pm

Nixon was in the habit of recording everything that was said in person and over the phone at the White House, including personal family affairs, and especially private conversations. HBO (Home Box Office) exclusively bought those tapes, and presented them to the public thru a documentary shown on their channel. It's long, but I watched it, and listened to all of it, and by the time it was over, I had a whole new attitude toward the ex president, now that I've heard the truth coming out directly from his mouth and the one of those involved during his political career. I wish that everybody would take the time to watch it, you'll be surprised to find out that he truly cared for the well being of this Country, and did what was necessary to protect it!!!

WITHOUT PASSION LIFE IS NOTHING


Stay_In_Reality 56M  
2209 posts
9/8/2015 8:48 am

Interesting read. The pardon, in my opinion, was an brazen insult to the American people, the rule of law and the democratic process.

We've had similar scandals in the UK and on the whole, the political classes look after each other here too.


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