who remembers aug. 9, 1974

[Bilge_Rat]

missed it by a few days, august 9, 1974, Nixon resigns.

I was 18 years old, had a summer job as a security guard. The radio was on in our lounge carrying it live and we would all dart in periodically to hear what was going on.

Pretty much everyone was aware of Watergate, although at the time, I was more interested in girls than politics. :ping:

So who remembers where they were that day? The reason I ask is an article came out over the weekend that 50% of the current U.S. population was not born in 1974.

[Wolferz]

I was twenty years old.
I can't say I was sorry to see that crook go... until I realized they parked a Ford in his place.:-?:O:

[Jimbuna]

I don't remember what I was doing that day but I do recall not liking him all that much.

[Dread Knot]

It's difficult to be nostalgic about Nixon.

Ford and his often smashed First Lady on the other hand were a barrel of laughs.

http://www.arts-stew.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/alg_ford_falls1-400x301.jpg

[Aktungbby]

This one improved my poker game considerably-how to lie and keep a straight face!:woot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M)

[Platapus]

That was the only time that Air Force One changed its call sign mid flight other than for OPSEC reasons.

Nixon was airborne when the swearing in was given to Ford.

[Armistead]

I remember later shaking hands with President Ford as a young lad. Didn't even know he was coming, riding my bike at the college where he landed.

[Betonov]

Amateur.

Our former PM was convicted to 2 years for corruption and he's still an MP :O:

[Sailor Steve]

I don't remember exactly, but I was twenty-four, recently married, and living my own dream. I probably just read about it in the newspaper.

[Fr8monkey]

I was 9. I was still figuring out which was my favorite chair at the table...

[fireftr18]

I was 12. I remember watching it on TV. That's about it. I knew there was something going on that he shouldn't been doing.

[Stealhead]

Lesson to take from Mr. Nixon? Do not make recordings of your illegal activities.

[TarJak]

I was asleep in bed as most of it unfolded during my night.

[CCIP]

I was -10 years old :haha:

The impression I have from my family though is that Nixon was hardly the most popular US president with Russians, too, although for somewhat different reasons. His detente with China, arguably, shifted the global balance of power against the Soviets more than many realize.

[Stealhead]

Many people think that improving relations with China was actually Kissinger's idea but really it was Nixon. I think that might be because Kissinger visited China in secret a few months before Nixon's official visit.

I wonder how many people do not realize that Nixon created the EPA?

[Herr-Berbunch]

I was -16 days. :D

[Oberon]

I was...

I wasn't...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t8hpEKb4gk

[u crank]

^^^

:haha: I like Nixon's head. He's such a charmer.

http://i.imgur.com/oMpORu7.jpg?2

[vienna]

I was 23 years old at the time. I was in a bar at the now gone Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, known as the site of the Robert Kennedy assasination. I had stoped by one of the shops in the hotel and went to the bar to watch the resignation speech. I remember one ironic note about the broadcast. It was a pool presentation, meaning the same feed went out to all of the TV networks and stations. Nixon finished his speech; the camera shot cut to an external view of the White House. The mikes were still open and there, in the background, was the sound of a D.C. police siren going by...


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[swamprat69er]

I was a month short of my 28th B'day and was probably stoned and missed it.

[fireftr18]

I was a month short of my 28th B'day and was probably stoned and missed it.

:k_rofl::Kaleun_Cheers:

[Wolferz]

I was a month short of my 28th B'day and was probably stoned and missed it.

I was stoned.:up: No probably to it.:haha:

At least I wasn't drunk.

At the time, I was thinking...

Are they going to charge this crook for his transportation out of DC?

Those Marine helicopters burn a lot of fuel!

[u crank]

I was 24 at that time and living in Toronto Ont. I was probably stoned but had a considerable interest in American politics. I blame Rolling Stone magazine. :O: At that time my girlfriend, now wife, and I were renting a basement apt. from a couple who were from Minnesota. I think they were a little embarrassed by the whole affair. I was wondering how people like this could get into power?

I'm not anywhere near that naive anymore.:D

[Wolferz]

I was 24 at that time and living in Toronto Ont. I was probably stoned but had a considerable interest in American politics. I blame Rolling Stone magazine. :O: At that time my girlfriend, now wife, and I were renting a basement apt. from a couple who were from Minnesota. I think they were a little embarrassed by the whole affair. I was wondering how people like this could get into power?

I'm not anywhere near that naive anymore.:D

He took the only option available to him at the time. If he resigned, he and Pat would still get his gubbermint pension of 180 grand a year for life. If he had been impeached that money would go bye bye.

They didn't call him Tricky Dicky for laughs. :haha:

[Jimbuna]

Money is usually the main consideration.

[Wolferz]

Money is usually the main consideration.


Colbert had John Dean and Pat Buchanan on his show recently. Both have written books about their adventures during that whole fiasco. Dean broke rank in a CYOA movement but, still spent some time in a federal hoosegow for his part in it. :haha: Both of them stated that Nixon didn't want to besmirch the office by allowing an impeachment trial to go forward.
When Ford issued Nixon's unconditional pardon... well Tricky Dicky won again.:-?

[swamprat69er]

i just don't understand why Ford would kiss Nixons' butt.

[Platapus]

When Ford issued Nixon's unconditional pardon... well Tricky Dicky won again.:-?

Which does bring up an interesting legal question.

Under Burdick v. United States (1915) "A pardon carries an "imputation of guilt", and accepting a pardon is "an admission of guilt"."

Why would Nixon, after accepting the Pardon, still be eligible for the pension and other compensation?

Well because the Former Presidents Act of 1958 (3 U.S.C. § 102) states that the benefits can only be withheld if the President is both Impeached and Convicted according to Article 2 section 4 of the Constitution

So Nixon could accept the Pardon, thereby admitting guilt, and still get the bucks. :shifty:

It is good to be a president. :-?

[u crank]

i just don't understand why Ford would kiss Nixons' butt.

Precedent. Who knows what he was going to get into. :haha:

[Wolferz]

i just don't understand why Ford would kiss Nixons' butt.

Because Nixon handed him the oval office on a gold platter.:-?

[Jimbuna]

Precedent. Who knows what he was going to get into. :haha:

Or writing out his own insurance policy in advance.

[fireftr18]

Because Nixon handed him the oval office on a gold platter.:-?

Ford was the only US President not elected by the Electoral College.

[vienna]

Another interesting fact about the post-Nixon fallout: not only was Ford not elected to office, his Vive-President, Nelson Rockefeller, was appointed to fill Ford's old position, thus marking the first time in American history both of the top positions in government were held by appointees and not elected candidates...


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[u crank]

Just finished watching this. Fascinating. Sad but fascinating.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2282662/

[vienna]

The Nixon Presidential Library is nearby here in Yorba Linda, California. For many years after it opened, there was a gap in the Nixon Presidential history timeline. There was only a cursory mention of the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation. It was almost like Nixon got elected in 1972, sat around the White house for a spell and then quit in 1974. This gap became a sore point and a point of contention between the trained historians and curators and the Nixon Library board. The historians and curators sought to be present the whole Watergate/Resignation as accurately and fully as possible. The board, populated by Nixon loyalists didn't want any exhibits showing the full effects of and Nixon's participation in the Watergate crimes. Firings or resignations of curators and historians has been rather commonplace over the years. Just a few months ago, I heard a radio interview with the latest hired curator and he was pledging to give a full and honest presentation of Watergate and Nixon's resignation. I thought to myself, "Yeah, right, good luck with that..." ...


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[Dan D]

Nixon Now Campaign Song Ad- Nixon 1972 Presidential Campaign Commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMO5DfRIv-k)

Hippies run the Country:hmmm::huh: ? Butt-kisser:woot:

[Wolferz]

Thanks Dan.
I threw up in my mouth.... again!

I graduated from high school in 1972, turned 18 and voted for the first time that November. I didn't vote for Nixon that's for ding dang sure!:shucks:

At the time I still harbored the suspicion that Nixon was at the heart of JFK's assassination with the aide of his good buddy at the CIA GHW Bush.
That's when I realized that my one little vote didn't mean squat and all of my civics teachers had been lying through their teeth.:-?

[Sailor Steve]

...turned 18 and voted for the first time that November.
I was 22 that year and voting for the first time, and felt I had been cheated by the new law that lowered the voting age to 18. :O:
:rotfl2:

Do you remember the anti-Nixon slogan that parodied Lincoln's famous "Don't which horses in the middle of a stream"?

"Why switch Dicks in the middle of a screw? Vote for Nixon '72!"

Or the one that parodied the Exxon ads: "Nixxon...Still the Same Old Gas!"

[Platapus]

Ford was the only US President not elected by the Electoral College.

Wanna bet? :D

John Tyler (10th)
Millard Fillmore (13th)
Andrew Johnson (17th)
Chester Arthur (21st)

Were never elected to the office of President by the Electoral College. They were, however, elected to the office of Vice President by the Electoral College. :know:


Then there is the case of the elections of 1800 and 1824 when the Electoral College was unable (unwilling?) to elect a president and the House of Representative voted and elected the president (Jefferson and John Q Adams respectively)


Lyndon Johnson
Harry Truman
Theodore Roosevelt

Also became President without being elected to that office, but since each of them them ran and was later elected President, they really don't count.

But in any case, there have been several men who became the POtUS without being elected by the Electoral College. :smug:

But Ford is the only president who was never elected to either the Presidency nor Vice Presidency.

[Bilge_Rat]

I am old enough to remember 72, as I recall, most observers viewed McGovern as being too left wing. Of course, back then, my main source of news was my Dad's "Time" magazine.

Watergate in 72 was very much in the background although even at 16 I had heard about it. The Vietnam War, the mass anti-war rallies, the "Godfather", Bremer shooting Wallace, "All in the family", Nixon going to China, the Christmas bombings are what stick most in my mind from that year.

[vienna]

I was 22 that year and voting for the first time, and felt I had been cheated by the new law that lowered the voting age to 18. :O:
:rotfl2:

Do you remember the anti-Nixon slogan that parodied Lincoln's famous "Don't which horses in the middle of a stream"?

"Why switch Dicks in the middle of a screw? Vote for Nixon '72!"

Or the one that parodied the Exxon ads: "Nixxon...Still the Same Old Gas!"

I'm with you on the lowered voting age; I was 21 and a bit peeved when they lowered the age. I would have liked to have voted in '68. Maybe if enough of us "disaffected" youth and draft bait had been able to vote, Watergate would have never happened...

Another great source of humor was occasioned by the fact all the TV networks carried the Watergate hearings live in the daytime, preempting daytime fare such as soap operas and game shows, a situation causing a great outcry from those addicted to the shows. Someone, it may have been Johnny Carson, came up with a proposal the networks simply name the hearing segments after the shows they pre-empted: "Truth Or Consequences", "To Tell The Truth", "I've Got A Secret", "Jeopardy", etc. ...


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