Few presidents have left a legacy as split as Richard Nixon’s. He opened the door to China, negotiated arms control with the Soviet Union, and then became the only U.S. president to resign after the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974.
Born: January 9, 1913 ·
Died: April 22, 1994 ·
Presidency: 1969–1974 ·
Party: Republican ·
Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald Ford (1973–1974) ·
Resignation: August 9, 1974
Quick snapshot
- Richard Nixon was the 37th U.S. president, in office from 1969 until 1974 (White House Archives (official presidential history))
- He is the only U.S. president to have resigned (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- He visited Beijing in February 1972, the first American president to do so (University of Virginia Miller Center (presidential research center))
- Whether Nixon approved the Watergate break-in itself before it happened; no direct evidence in the record shows that
- What exactly Nixon knew in the days immediately after the June 17, 1972 break-in
- How much of the cover-up extended beyond what the White House tapes captured
- June 17, 1972 — break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- August 5, 1974 — release of the “smoking gun” tape showing Nixon ordered the cover-up (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- The National Archives continues to preserve the White House tapes and records at the center of the scandal
- Historians keep debating whether Nixon’s foreign-policy record or his abuse of power defines his legacy
Eight rows, one pattern: the official dates document how quickly Nixon moved from a California law practice to the vice presidency, then to the presidency and its collapse.
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Richard Milhous Nixon |
| Born | January 9, 1913 (Yorba Linda, California) |
| Died | April 22, 1994 (New York City, New York) |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Presidency | January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 (White House Archives (official presidential history)) |
| Vice President | Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald Ford (1973–1974) |
| Spouse | Pat Ryan Nixon (m. 1940) |
| Children | Tricia Nixon Cox, Julie Nixon Eisenhower |
The same skills that produced Nixon’s foreign-policy wins — secrecy, control, strategic calculation — produced the cover-up that ended his presidency. His record is genuinely split, and that split is the story.
What did Richard Nixon do?
Nixon’s career ran longer and harder than almost any modern president’s before it. He entered Congress in 1946, reached the vice presidency in 1953, and lost a presidential election before finally winning the White House in 1968.
Early life and education
- Born January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California, and raised in nearby Whittier (U.S. National Archives (federal record keeper))
- Attended Whittier College and Duke University School of Law, then joined a law firm in his hometown
A bright student from a small California town, Nixon went from Whittier College to Duke, then came home to practice law. Nothing in that start predicted a presidency — except the ambition.
Military service in World War II
- Served as a Navy officer in the Pacific during World War II
After the war, Nixon entered politics immediately. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946, and by 1950 he was in the Senate — a rapid rise built on the anti-communist mood of the early Cold War.
Congressional and vice-presidential career
- Led the investigation of former State Department official Alger Hiss, a case that made him a national figure
- Served as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961
The vice presidency gave Nixon a national platform and a reputation for hard-edged campaigning. It also shaped the political instincts — defensive, secretive, ruthless — that would later surface in Watergate.
1960 presidential loss and 1968 comeback
- Lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy
- Lost the 1962 California governor’s race and announced his political farewell
- Won the 1968 presidential election against Democrat Hubert Humphrey
His comeback was one of the least likely in American politics. After the 1962 defeat, pundits wrote him off; six years later, he was the 37th president of the United States.
The pattern: every stage of Nixon’s rise was engineered — the Hiss investigation, the vice presidency, the comeback — but the same engineering would eventually be aimed at his own survival and destroy him.
The implication: the arc of Nixon’s career shows how strategic skill can turn into a liability.
What is Richard Nixon known for?
Nixon’s presidency changed American foreign policy in ways that outlasted the scandal. He pursued improved relations with both China and the Soviet Union as part of a triangular Cold War strategy (University of Virginia Miller Center (presidential research center)), and he ended U.S. combat in Vietnam while creating much of the modern environmental bureaucracy.
Ending U.S. involvement in Vietnam
- Pursued “Vietnamization” — shifting combat responsibility to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing U.S. troops (U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian (federal foreign-policy archive))
The strategy let Nixon claim he was ending the war with honor. In practice, it shifted the burden to an ally that could not win it.
Opening diplomatic relations with China
- Visited Beijing in February 1972 — the first U.S. president to do so (University of Virginia Miller Center (presidential research center))
- Launched the process of normalizing U.S.–China relations (U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian (federal foreign-policy archive))
The China visit was a geopolitical earthquake. By opening to Beijing, Nixon split the communist world’s strategic front and gave Washington new leverage over Moscow.
Détente with the Soviet Union
- Became the first U.S. president to visit Moscow, in May 1972 (University of Virginia Miller Center (presidential research center))
- Signed the SALT I strategic arms limitation agreement with the Soviet Union (U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian (federal foreign-policy archive))
The Moscow summit produced the first major nuclear arms control treaty of the Cold War. SALT I capped missile arsenals and marked the high point of détente.
Establishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Signed the law creating the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 (White House Archives (official presidential history))
- Signed the Clean Air Act amendments and created OSHA — the regulatory architecture of the modern environmental era
This is the domestic surprise of the Nixon record: a law-and-order Republican built a significant part of the federal regulatory state.
The Watergate scandal and resignation
- Watergate began with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters on June 17, 1972
- The investigation reached senior levels of the Nixon administration and ended with his resignation on August 9, 1974 — the only presidential resignation in U.S. history
Nixon is therefore known for two opposite things at once: the foreign-policy architecture of the Cold War’s turn, and the scandal that redefined presidential accountability.
The pattern: Nixon’s achievements were strategic, his failure was personal. The China opening and SALT I reshaped superpower politics; the cover-up reshaped how Americans understand presidential power.
The implication: Nixon’s two legacies — diplomatic achievement and constitutional abuse — cannot be separated, and that tension defines his presidency.
What was Nixon accused of?
Formally, the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. The accusations centered on the Watergate cover-up and how far Nixon was willing to go to protect it.
Obstruction of justice
- Accused of directing the cover-up of the Watergate break-in
- The “smoking gun” recording from June 23, 1972 showed him approving a plan to obstruct the FBI investigation (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
That recording is the hinge of the entire case. It proved Nixon was not a bystander to the cover-up — he was its chief executive.
The June 23, 1972 tape changes the whole shape of the scandal: a president’s own voice approving a plan to obstruct an FBI investigation. No legal argument survived that recording.
Abuse of power
- Accused of using the CIA and FBI to impede federal investigations
The charge was fundamental: a president deploying federal agencies to hide his own misconduct, turning the machinery of the state against its own investigative functions.
Contempt of Congress
- Defied congressional subpoenas for the White House tapes and documents
The standoff forced the courts to resolve a core constitutional question — and the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to surrender the tapes.
Misuse of federal agencies
- The impeachment articles framed the CIA and FBI actions as a broader pattern of abusing federal power
Together, the articles described a president who treated the law as an obstacle to his own survival rather than a constraint on it.
The pattern: each article of impeachment described a president placing his political survival above the rule of law — which is exactly what the tapes demonstrated.
The implication: the articles of impeachment established a constitutional standard that continues to define accountability for presidential misconduct.
Why did Richard Nixon stop being president?
Nixon stopped being president because the Watergate cover-up collapsed around him. In August 1974, facing near-certain impeachment and removal by the Senate, he chose resignation over removal.
The Watergate hearings and the tapes
- The Senate Watergate hearings in 1973 revealed the White House taping system and a broader effort to obstruct the investigation
- Nixon fought to withhold the recordings until the Supreme Court ordered their release
The taping system was meant to preserve Nixon’s record for history. Instead, it preserved the evidence that ended his presidency.
Impeachment process
- The House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment in July 1974
- The release of the “smoking gun” tape on August 5, 1974 made his removal virtually certain
Support in Congress collapsed after the tape’s release. Nixon could count the votes, and he knew he had lost.
The resignation speech
- Announced his resignation in a televised address on August 8, 1974 (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- Said: “I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body.”
Even in defeat, Nixon framed the resignation as a choice made for the country — a framing that still shapes how the era is remembered.
Aftermath and pardon
- The resignation took effect on August 9, 1974, when Secretary of State Henry Kissinger initialed the letter (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- Gerald Ford became president and issued Nixon a full pardon about a month later
The pardon guaranteed Nixon would never face trial for his role in the cover-up. It also meant Watergate’s legal reckoning fell on officials below the president, not on the president himself.
Resignation was Nixon’s last exercise of presidential control: he chose the exit before the Senate could remove him. It preserved the constitutional machinery, but it left a precedent that still shapes how presidential misconduct is judged.
The implication: the resignation was not a fall from grace — it was the endpoint of an impeachment process that ran exactly as the Constitution designed, with a president removed by his own decision rather than by a Senate trial.
The pattern: Nixon’s resignation preserved the constitutional process at the last possible moment, but it left unresolved questions about the full scope of his involvement.
Did Nixon really know about Watergate?
The evidence says yes, overwhelmingly. By his own later admission and by his own recorded voice, Nixon knew about the cover-up and directed it.
The White House tapes as evidence
- The Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release the White House tape recordings
- The recordings captured him, in his own voice, participating in the cover-up
Nixon’s voice was his own undoing. No reporter, no committee, and no accusation could argue with the president’s own recorded words.
The ‘smoking gun’ conversation (June 23, 1972)
- Six days after the break-in, Nixon approved a plan to have the CIA stop the FBI investigation (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- That conversation, released on August 5, 1974, erased any remaining doubt about his involvement
The timing matters: this is not a president learning about the break-in after the fact. It is a president, within the first week, engineering the obstruction of a federal investigation.
Nixon’s public denials
- For more than two years, Nixon publicly denied any involvement in the cover-up and resisted releasing the tapes
His public position was consistent: he had known nothing, done nothing wrong, and the tapes would prove his innocence. The tapes proved the opposite.
Later admissions and interviews
- In 1977, in interviews with David Frost, Nixon admitted he had known about the cover-up
His defense — that a president’s actions cannot be illegal if the president performs them — remains one of the most quoted lines in presidential history. It convinced few people then, and fewer now.
The pattern: Nixon’s own words, preserved on tape, turned suspicion into proof. The cover-up was not a mystery to be solved — it was a record to be released.
What were Nixon’s last words?
Nixon died on April 22, 1994, at the age of 81, after suffering a stroke. His reported last words were an appeal to the legacy he hoped to leave.
Final quote before death
- Reported last words: “I want to be remembered as a peacemaker” — though accounts vary slightly
For a president whose foreign policy produced arms-control treaties, the peacemaker label fits one part of the record. For a president who resigned over Watergate, it leaves out everything else.
Circumstances of his death
- Died April 22, 1994, in New York City
- Had been in declining health after a pulmonary embolism
The embolism had complicated his health in the years before his death, and the stroke proved fatal at age 81.
Legacy and funeral
- Remembered as a Cold War strategist who opened China and pursued arms control — and as the only president forced from office by scandal
His rehabilitation in the 1980s was real: he wrote, advised presidents, and became an elder statesman of foreign policy. But the word “Watergate” never detached from his name.
Why this matters: Nixon’s last words were a request to be remembered as a peacemaker, but Watergate is the counter-argument history kept. The two records cannot be separated — that is the defining fact of his presidency.
Timeline: Nixon’s life and presidency
Seventeen dates, one arc: from a California birthplace to a wartime Navy commission to Congress, the vice presidency, the White House — and a resignation that remains unique in American history.
- — Born in Yorba Linda, California
- 1937 — Graduated from Duke University School of Law
- 1942–1946 — Served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
- 1947 — Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
- 1950 — Elected to the U.S. Senate
- 1953–1961 — Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower
- 1960 — Lost the presidential election to John F. Kennedy
- 1962 — Lost the California governor’s race
- 1968 — Elected the 37th President of the United States
- 1972 — Visited China and the Soviet Union; reelected in a landslide
- — Watergate break-in
- 1973 — Senate Watergate hearings; Vice President Agnew resigned
- — Supreme Court ordered release of the tapes
- — Release of the “smoking gun” tape
- — Nixon resigned
- — President Ford pardoned Nixon
- — Nixon died in New York City
The pattern: the timeline compresses two decades of achievement into a few lines, then slows to a crawl over the 26 months from the break-in to the resignation — a visual reminder of how quickly a presidency can collapse.
What’s confirmed — and what’s still unclear
The historical record is lopsided: the cover-up is documented on tape, while the decision-making before the break-in remains invisible.
Confirmed facts
- Nixon ordered the cover-up of the Watergate break-in — proven by the June 23, 1972 “smoking gun” tape (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- He resigned to avoid impeachment (U.S. National Archives (presidential records archive))
- Gerald Ford pardoned him about a month after the resignation
What remains unclear
- Whether Nixon approved the break-in itself before it occurred — no direct evidence exists
- The precise degree of his knowledge in the days immediately after June 17, 1972
- How far the cover-up extended beyond what the tapes captured
The asymmetry is the point: the cover-up is documented; the original order to break in is not. That gap leaves room for interpretation — but the case against Nixon rests on what he did after June 17, 1972, not before.
Nixon in his own words
Four moments, one voice: Nixon’s public and reported words span four decades, from a 1962 concession to his final days, and each one reveals how he wanted history to read him.
After losing the 1962 California governor’s race, Nixon told reporters they would not have “Nixon to kick around anymore.”
“I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body.”
Richard Nixon, resignation address, August 8, 1974
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
Richard Nixon, interview with David Frost, 1977
Nixon’s reported last words were that he wanted to be remembered as a peacemaker, according to those present.
The arc in these four quotes is Nixon’s story: defiance, duty, legalism, and a final plea for a peacemaker’s legacy — none of them directly addresses Watergate.
For anyone studying American power, Nixon’s presidency is the case study in how institutional accountability works: the tapes were subpoenaed, the Supreme Court ordered them released, Congress approved impeachment articles, and the president resigned rather than face removal. For voters, the implication is clear — trust the institutions that forced the truth into the open, or accept a president’s self-serving story as the historical record.
archives.gov, history.state.gov, en.wikipedia.org, history.state.gov
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people most often ask about Nixon and Watergate.
Which president cried and quit?
Richard Nixon is the only U.S. president to resign. In a televised address on August 8, 1974, he announced he would leave office the next day rather than face impeachment. The “cried” detail is part of the folklore, not the official record.
Did Nixon regret Watergate?
Nixon never issued a full public apology. In his 1977 interviews with David Frost, he defended his actions, arguing that “when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal” — a defense of presidential power, not an expression of regret.
Why didn’t Nixon destroy the Watergate tapes?
Nixon fought to withhold the tapes after their existence became public, but the Supreme Court ordered their release. The recordings then provided the evidence that placed him at the center of the cover-up.
Why was Nixon pardoned for Watergate?
Gerald Ford, who became president after Nixon’s resignation, issued a full pardon about a month later. The pardon meant Nixon never faced criminal prosecution, and it remains one of the most debated presidential actions in American history.
What made the Watergate scandal so bad?
Watergate was not just a break-in. Nixon used the CIA and FBI to obstruct a federal investigation, defied congressional subpoenas, and faced impeachment articles for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.
Who went to jail for Watergate?
The investigation exposed connections to senior levels of the Nixon administration, and top administration officials were convicted for their roles in the cover-up. Nixon himself never faced trial because Ford’s pardon protected him.
Can you explain Watergate simply?
In June 1972, burglars linked to the Nixon administration broke into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. Nixon helped cover up the operation, and when secret White House tapes proved he had ordered the obstruction, he resigned on August 9, 1974.
The FAQ above covers the most common questions about Nixon’s resignation, the Watergate scandal, and its aftermath.
Related reading
- Joseph Stalin: Life and legacy — the Soviet system Nixon confronted in the Cold War
- Chelsea Clinton: Biography, family, and work — a later chapter in American presidential family history
These articles provide context on the international and personal dimensions of Nixon’s era.
James Mitchell is Editor-in-Chief at Aussie Insightly, overseeing editorial standards, publication decisions and corrections.