Richard Nixon #17: Resignation (1973-1974); Topics covered include: Resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, nominates Gerald Ford to replace Agnew as VP, Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, Appeals Court rules Nixon must turn over tapes, the Stennis Plan, the Saturday Night Massacre (firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox), appointment of Leon Jaworski as the new Special Prosecutor, missing tapes, the 18.5 minute gap from the June 20, 1972, tape, charges of excessive use of federal funds to improve Nixon's homes plus tax evasion, more indictments against Nixon staffers, Nixon releases more transcripts but fights additional efforts to the Supreme Court where he loses in a unanimous ruling, trips to the Middle East and the Soviet Union, the Judiciary Committee moves forward with an impeachment inquiry, agrees that the June 23, 1972 tape is impossible to overcome (the "smoking gun"), decides to resign, refuses requests from Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman for pardons for the Watergate defendants, resigns the presidency on August 9, and leaves office that morning
Key people include: John Dean, Alexander Butterfield, Spiro Agnew, Elliott Richardson, John Connally, Nelson Rockefeller, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Golda Meir, James Schlessinger, Henry Kissinger, Anwar Sadat, John Stennis, Archibald Cox, William Ruckelshaus, Robert Bork, John Chancellor, Leon Jaworski, Rose Mary Woods, Edward Morgan, Bob Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, Chuck Colson, John Mitchell, Joseph Alsop, Leonid Brezhnev, Fred Buzhardt, Alexander Haig, Julie Nixon, Tricia Nixon, Pat Nixon, and Betty Ford
Correction at 3:59. Should be "in favor of the Israelis" not "in favor of the Arabs."
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