Ford, the Pardon, and RN's Last Campaign

For next Tuesday, Schoen, ch. 7-8, and afterword.

Thursday class next week will be brief.

Ford coins a phrase.



Footnote #1091 of the Mueller report (p. 178):

A possible remedy through impeachment for abuses of power would not substitute for potential criminal liability after a President leaves office. Impeachment would remove a President from office, but would not address the underlying culpability of the conduct or serve the usual purposes of the criminal law. Indeed, the Impeachment Judgment Clause recognizes that criminal law plays an independent role in addressing an official's conduct, distinct from the political remedy of impeachment. See U.S. CONST. ART.l, § 3, cl. 7. Impeachment is also a drastic and rarely invoked remedy, and Congress is not restricted to relying only on impeachment, rather than making criminal law applicable to a former President, as OLC has recognized. A Sitting President's Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution, 24 Op. O.L.C. at 255 ("Recognizing an immunity from prosecution for a sitting President would not preclude such prosecution once the President 's term is over or he is otherwise removed from office by resignation or impeachment.").

Ford pardons Nixon.  The proclamation:

I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.

Ford takes the extraordinary step of testifying:


The people disapprove

Fast forward to 2001:  Ford receives the JFK Profile in Courage Award for the pardon.  He says:

President Kennedy understood that courage is not something to be gauged in a poll or located in a focus group. No advisor can spin it. No historian can backdate it. For, in the age-old contest between popularity and principle, only those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of posterity's approval.

Ted Kennedy(!!) says:

I was one of those who spoke out against his action then. But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us. He eminently deserves this award, and we are proud of his achievement.

After the pardon,  phlebitis nearly killed RN, then it nearly bankrupted him.

 The 1974 election and the recession of 1973-1975

Watergate babies

Nixon Goes to China (again) in 1976.  (Schoen 304)

Frost/Nixon (see Schoen 305-307)






RN  -- the book -- was ... controversial (Schoen 307-308)




From Leaders (1982):

At first glance, it may seem surprising that so many of the great leader during this period were so old. And yet on reflection it is not surprising. Many had a "wilderness" period. The insights and wisdom they gained during that period, and the strength they developed in fighting back from it, were key elements in the greatness they demonstrated later.

• Nixon meets Churchill
• Nixon meets de Gaulle

Newsweek 1986 (Schoen 315)

Meet the Press in 1988



1988:  Work starts on the Nixon Library  Two years later, it opens -- amid controversy, of course.

Nixon advises Bush 41 on the Gulf War


Nixon returns (by video) to a GOP convention:



But the campaign was not entirely successful:

Downfall

 

FOR THURSDAY, SCHOEN CH. 10.

REVIEW FROM LAST TIME:

Nixon Checks Out

February 6, 1974 House of Representatives authorizes House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether grounds exist for the impeachment of President Nixon.

February 22, 1974:  The House Judiciary Committee issues a report on constitutional grounds for impeachment.  One of the writers of the report is Hillary Rodham.

March 1, 1974:  The Watergate Road Map -- “Grand Jury Report and Recommendation Concerning Transmission of Evidence to the House of Representatives” -- goes to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia under seal. Chief Judge John Sirica then provides it to the House Judiciary Committee.  It does not become public until October 11, 2018.

April 16, 1974 Special Prosecutor issues subpoena for 64 White House tapes.

April 30, 1974 President Nixon submits tape transcripts to House Judiciary Committee.

July 24, 1974 Supreme Court unanimously upholds Special Prosecutor's subpoena for tapes for Watergate trial.

July 27, 1974 House Judiciary Committee adopts article I of impeachment resolution charging President with obstruction of investigation of Watergate break‑in.

July 29, 1974 House Judiciary Committee adopts article II of impeachment resolution charging President with misuse of powers and violation of his oath of office.

July 30, 1974 House Judiciary Committee adopts article III of impeachment resolution, charging the President with failure to comply with House subpoenas.

The articles of impeachment

Garrett Graff in Politico:

Moreover, Defense Secretary James Schlesinger recalled years later that in the final days of the Nixon presidency he had issued an unprecedented set of orders: If the president gave any nuclear launch order, military commanders should check with either him or Secretary of State Henry Kissinger before executing them. Schlesinger feared that the president, who seemed depressed and was drinking heavily, might order Armageddon. Nixon himself had stoked official fears during a meeting with congressmen during which he reportedly said, “I can go in my office and pick up a telephone, and in 25 minutes, millions of people will be dead.” Senator Alan Cranston had phoned Schlesinger, warning about “the need for keeping a berserk president from plunging us into a holocaust.”

August 5, 1974:  Rep. Charles Wiggins (R-CA), Nixon's ablest defender on the House Judiciary Committee, says that the smoking gun tape has convinced him to support impeachment.

August 6, 1974: At the regular Senate Republican Conference lunch, Goldwater says: "There are only so many lies you can take, and now there has been one too many. Nixon should get his ass out of the White House -- today!"

August 7, 1974, Goldwater goes to the White House with House GOP Leader John Rhodes and Senate GOP Leader Hugh Scott. (Start around 4:00)

<br />

August 9, 1974 President Richard Nixon resigns.




The farewell:  watch from 11:00 to 9:30



September 8, 1974 President Gerald Ford pardons former President Nixon.

Watergate and the Fall, Part II

FOR NEXT TUESDAY:  

• Hoff, ch. 9-10
• Matthew N. Beckmann, "Did Nixon Quit Before He Resigned?" Research and Politics April-June 2017, 1-7, at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2053168017704800 and at Sakai.

Review

Theories about the Break-in (Hoff ch. 10) -- including a lurid theory about John Dean.

Antisemitism and Mark Felt (Hoff, p. 321)

The role of the Kennedy family

• Fear of Teddy
• Archibald Cox and the special prosecutor "charter" (Matthews p. 327)

October 1973 Yom Kippur War  Airlift and Defcon 3

October 12, 1973:  Nixon announces his intention to nominate Gerald Ford as vice president.

October 19, 1973 President Nixon offers Stennis a compromise on the tapes; that is, Senator John Stennis (D‑Miss.) would review tapes and present the Special Prosecutor with summaries.

October 20, 1973 Archibald Cox refuses to accept the Stennis compromise. President Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox, but Richardson refuses and resigns in protest. Acting Attorney GeneralRobert Bork fires Cox. These events come to be known as the "SaturdayNight Massacre."  And once again, everything circles back to the Cold War:

Mr. Richardson recalls that the first thing Mr. Nixon said when he entered the Oval Office to resign was a reference to Leonid I. Brezhnev, the Soviet leader.

 

“Brezhnev would never understand it if I let Cox defy my instructions,” the President declared.

 

“I'm sorry that you insist on putting your personal commitments ahead of the public interest,” he quoted Mr. Nixon as saying.

          

October 23, 1973 President Nixon agrees to hand over tapes to comply with subpoena

October 26, 1973 press conference

November 1, 1973 Leon Jaworski named Special Prosecutor.

November 17, 1973  Nixon speaks to AP managing editors

November 21, 1973 Senate Committee announces discovery of 18 1/2 minute gap on tape of Nixon‑Haldeman conversation of June 20,1972.

December 6, 1973 White House chief of staff Alexander M. Haig Jr. testifies that he and White House lawyers had discussed fears that "some sinister force" erased one of President Nixon's subpoenaed Watergate tapes.

December 6, 1973:  Ford takes the oath as vice president.

And RN checks out

Final Days (more on Tuesday)

• Kissinger & Schlesinger
• Smoking gun aftermath
• Resignation
• Farewell
• Coda: Ford Pardon

Watergate and the Fall, Part I

Domestic Intelligence Origins

Hoover

• J. Edgar Hoover had bugged King aide Stanley Levison.  In October 63, RFK approves wiretaps on MLK's home and SCLC office.  Couldn't say no to Hoover.    
• Hoover dies on May 5, 1972.  L. Patrick Gray succeeds him.  Mark Felt does not

Intelligence Abuses

• E. Howard Hunt spied on Goldwater's headquarters for CIA
• LBJ had FBI bug Goldwater's campaign plane.
• How did LBJ know of RN's Chennault connection?
• IRS audited Nixon in 63, FBI bugged him in 68.
• The Pentagon Papers and the Plumbers

 The 1972 campaign

• From last time:  Nixon did not have a commanding lead at first.
• Nixon holds RNC at arm's length; tries to distance himself. CREEP runs the campaign.
• Old campaign finance rules allow a lot of money to come in: slack resources lead to mischief

"Follow the Money" -- Something that Deep Throat Did Not Actually Say

Prelude 1967:  States complete ratification of the 25th Amendment

May 28, 1972 Electronic surveillance ("bugging") equipment is installed at Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building.

June 17, 1972 Five men are arrested while attempting to repair the surveillance equipment at Democratic National Committee headquarters.

June 23, 1972:  Nixon and Haldeman discuss how to obstruct justice.  This conversation will end Nixon's presidency.

  

August 1, 1972;  The Post reports that a $25k check made out to CREEP Midwest Finance Chair Ken Dahlberg ended up in a bank account of Watergate burglar Bernard Barker.

August 30, 1972 President Nixon announces that John Dean has completed an investigation into the Watergate buggings and that no one from the White House is involved.

September 15, 1972 Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, E. Howard Hunt, G. Gordon Liddy, Eugenio Martinez, James W. McCord, Jr., and Frank Sturgis are indicted for their roles in the June break‑in.

October 10, 1972: According to the Post, FBI agents have established that the Watergate bugging incident stemmed  from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage directed by officials of the White House and CREEP

January 8, 1973 Watergate break‑in trial opens. Hunt pleads guilty (January 11); Barker, Sturgis, Martinez, and Gonzalez plead guilty (January 15); Liddy and McCord are convicted on all counts of break‑in indictment (January 30).

February 7, 1973 U.S. Senate creates Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.

March 17, 1973: Watergate burglar McCord writes a letter to Judge John Sirica, claiming that some of his testimony was perjured under pressure and that the burglary was not a CIA operation, but had involved other government officials, thereby leading the investigation to the White House.

April 17, 1973 President Nixon announces that members of the White House staff will appear before the Senate Committee and promises major new developments in investigation and real progress toward finding truth.

April 23, 1973 White House issues statement denying President had prior knowledge of Watergate affair.

April 30, 1973 White House staff members H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, and John Dean resign.  Nixon then gets hammered, calls Haldeman.

May 17, 1973 Senate Committee begins public hearings.

May 25, 1973 Archibald Cox sworn in as Special Prosecutor. 

July 7, 1973 President Nixon informs Senate Committee that he will not appear to testify nor grant access to Presidential files.

July 16, 1973 Alexander Butterfield informs Senate Committeeof White House taping system.

July 23, 1973 Senate Committee and Special Prosecutor Cox subpoena White House tapes and documents to investigate cover‑up.

July 25, 1973 President Nixon refuses to comply with Cox subpoena.

August 9, 1973 Senate Committee files suit against Nixon for failure to comply with subpoena.

September 29, 1973:  Vice President Agnew proclaims: "I will not resign if indicted!  I will not resigned if indicted!"

October 10, 1973:  Agnew resigns.

Final Essay, Spring 2021

 Pick one:

1. Compare and contrast Watergate with either the first or second impeachment of Trump. What are the factual, legal, and political similarities and differences? 
2. Choose any substantial post-presidential speech, article, or book chapter by Nixon.  What was he trying to accomplish?  Did he accurately portray the record?  In your answer, give careful consideration to his long effort at rehabilitation.
3. Go to The American Presidency Project and search what one of Nixon's successors said about him in public.  (You may find that Democrats tended to say more.)  Explain this president's discussions of Nixon.  In your answer, consider the president's political environment.
4. Analyze a dramatic (not documentary) movie or TV show in which Nixon was a substantial character or subject.  What was the point of the characterization?  How accurate was it?  Did it offer insight into Nixon, make a misleading impression, or both?

• Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than four pages long. I will not read past the fourth page. 
• Submit papers as Word documents, not pdfs.
• Cite your sources. Use Turabian/Chicago endnotes. 
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays to the Sakai dropbox by 11:59 PM, Friday, May 7. I reserve the right to dock papers one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.  

Nixon and Baseball

 This article talks about how Nixon used baseball as a tool to push his policy agenda. Nixon and the MLB commissioner maintained an ongoing partnership to fight drug use. The MLB produced brochures and videos denouncing drugs which aimed to “alert our young people to the drug menace.” 

Nixon also used baseball to build support for the military. He had POWs and servicemen throw out the ceremonial first pitch at numerous games to highlight the "White House’s determination to bring [soldiers] home as quickly as possible."

The article shows that sports and politics have always been linked and that Nixon knew the power that sports have.

https://www.pinstripealley.com/2021/4/19/22391030/baseball-history-richard-nixon-mlb-kuhn-yankees-patriotism-sports-politics-vietnam-war-on-drugs

Nixon and Prince Philip

 An article about a Nixon and Prince Philip connection: 

Throughout his decades in public life, Prince Philip was known for putting his royal foot in his mouth with occasional off-the-cuff remarks that could be embarrassing. But his faux pas at a White House dinner with President Richard Nixon in 1969 was enough for Philip to actually lose sleep.

In a handwritten note to the president uncovered by archivists at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote to “humbly apologize” for failing to toast the president’s health as dictated by protocol during a “stag” dinner in his honor.

The dinner came a day after Nixon delivered his famous “silent majority” speech in which he implored a national audience to unite behind the continuing war in Vietnam until his administration could achieve “peace with honor.” Byron said top aide H.R. Haldeman, who later went to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, noted in his diary how absolutely joyful the president was that night, given that his address had been positively received.

 https://apnews.com/article/politics-prince-philip-health-richard-nixon-coronavirus-pandemic-5157a606fd9711a81ab7de77ba5577e0