50 years ago, Richard Nixon destroyed the value of the United States dollar. On August 15, 1971, Nixon removed gold as the backing to the U.S. dollar. History has proven that in every society for the last 2,000 years, fiat currency has bankrupted once gold stopped backing paper money. After Nixon left the Bretton Woods system, gold went from $35 an ounce in 1971 to over $1800 today.