After the long, slow death of a thousand cuts that was the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s decision to resign from the Presidency – even in disgrace – must have come as something of a relief to him. Starting with the Watergate break-in, on June 17, 1972, which led to the revelation of the Nixon administration’s dirty tricks squad – and getting worse and worse as the attempted cover-up ballooned and failed.
Nixon fought, though. He fought as hard as could, as long as he could – for more than two years. But in the end, his only remaining choice was to leave on his own terms before he was forced out. The pardon that his hand-picked successor gave him – which was for all crimes including those yet to be discovered – was no doubt also a consideration.
By Ollie Atkins, White House Photographer – https://web.archive.org/web/2/www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/nixon.html (original link)
Direct link: https://web.archive.org/web/2/www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/acsrmn4_3_4f.jpg (original link), Public Domain, Link
As mentioned in:
We Didn’t Start the Fire — Billy Joel
Ego Is Not A Dirty Word — Skyhooks
Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
She is Always Seventeen — Harry Chapin