# WERE YOU ALIVE ON THE DAY RICHARD NIXON RESIGNED 25 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584 "2000-08-08T17:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/1 "2000-08-08T17:32:06Z")
Yes sir, it was August 8, 1975 when Richard nixon resigned from the presidency. Any Comments? Let me state this for the record. I am not … going to go there. I was 18 and ready for the world. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/2 "2000-08-08T17:40:02Z")
I was two and a half. Boy, was I pissed and disillusioned at the whole political process. I don’t think I ever recovered. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/3 "2000-08-08T17:49:19Z")
Actually, it was August 8, 1974. I was ten days shy of my 13th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/4 "2000-08-08T17:50:02Z")
I was born exactly 9 months and one day later, and I’m told I came late, so I guess I was sort of there. Don’t remember much about it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/5 "2000-08-08T17:51:28Z")
Oops, you’re right, it _was_ 1974. Scratch that. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/6 "2000-08-08T18:04:14Z")
yep, I was in college then (Michigan State University. remember it well. My father grousing about Nixon being “hounded out of office” (he STILL believes that). ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/7 "2000-08-08T18:15:08Z")
Yep - I was 8. I have the speech on a cassette at home - my dad taped it. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/8 "2000-08-08T18:18:51Z")
Yes, I was alive. “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” “I told the President there was a cancer growing on the Presidency.” “I told the President it would take alot of money, as much as a million dollars, to cover this up. He said, ‘I know where to get the money. I can get that much.’” Sam Irving, Martha Mitchell, Archibald Cox, Elliot Richardson, and The Saturday Night Massacre (Robert Bork’s first claim to faim), Deep Throat, expletive deleted, Rosemary Wood bending over backwards (literally) to show that it was possible for her to have accidentally erased 18.5 minutes of tape, the pained look on Peter Rodino’s face when he cast his vote on the first article of impeachment, Barbara Jordan’s incredible dignity, Nixon’s incredible hubris. “The American people need to know if their President’s a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.” How very, very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/9 "2000-08-08T18:22:03Z")
Four days shy of being 17. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/10 "2000-08-08T18:25:44Z")
I too was 18. I remember listening to his speech on the radio at work (my very first job). All of our jaws dropped as the news sank in; we all knew that this was a first. Then that ridiculous Gerald Ford took over. That was a first, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/11 "2000-08-08T18:31:50Z")
I was 19 years old, just divorced, living in Boston in utter poverty. I remember the day being hot and very quiet. There was an eerie stillness to it. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/12 "2000-08-08T18:33:55Z")
Ah yes, Gerald Ford: “My fellow Americans, our great national nightmare is over.” ---
**Author:** ![johnboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@johnboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnboy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/13 "2000-08-08T18:55:59Z")
I was 10 yrs old. I was on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach, Sc. I remember my parents were in awe. I still have copies of the Charlotte Observer and the Dayton (OH) Daily News (my hometown paper) from that day. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/14 "2000-08-08T19:03:15Z")
I was 22 and had been working at least part-time as a reporter all through Watergate. My father held his nose and voted for Nixon in 72 because he couldn’t stand McGovern. I think he was happier than the most rabid Nixon-hater. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/15 "2000-08-08T19:58:29Z")
13, heard the resignation on radio while at boy scout camp. Earlier, I remember watching the hearings on t.v. during the summer. It was unusual for my mom to have the t.v. on during the day. Kinda had a thang for that Mo Dean! ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/16 "2000-08-08T20:10:00Z")
I was 17. I remember that day well. I think that was the turn of events that led the American people to hold their president to a moral standard that had not been displayed in the past. And why we hold them to it today. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/17 "2000-08-08T20:16:07Z")
I was 5. Nixon’s resignation was the first non-family/kindergarten related event that I still remember. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/18 "2000-08-08T20:16:32Z")
I was 15, my family was on vacation in Disney World. I remember the sense of history and it finally being over with. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/19 "2000-08-08T21:36:30Z")
1. At home, preparing for college. I remember we had several classrooms at high school devoted to showing the proceedings on TV. You could wander in and watch. Truly electrifying stuff, like Butterfield mentioning a taping system and, yep plnnr, the Saturday Night massacre (firings of various prosecuters). Yoicks! The heartache of Nixon resigning is something I can’t put into words. I couldn’t stand the man and I don’t know if I have ever forgiven him, but the poignancy of his parting words…very sad. I also remember Dad saying something like “the shit’s going to hit the fan” after the Democratic Headquarters break in over two years earlier. We were on vacation, near June Lake in California. The news came through the radio and Dad made a remark about “those dumbasses.” I didn’t think anything about it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584/20 "2000-08-08T21:57:31Z")
I was just a wee bairn… about a month and some change shy of my second birthday. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-alive-on-the-day-richard-nixon-resigned-25-years-ago/28584.md?page=2)