Today is the day the Nixon resigned from the office of President of the United States of America in a televisied public address in the evening of August 8th, 1974.Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. He is the only American President to have resigned from office. His resignation came in the face of imminent impeachment related to the Watergate scandal, which encompassed numerous crimes and misconduct beginning especially with the Watergate first break-in, the follow-up burglary, and the cover-up. He was also the 36th Vice President (1953–1961) serving under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon is the only American to have been elected twice to the Vice Presidency and twice to the Presidency, and is given credit for redefining the office of Vice President, making it for the first time a high visibility platform and base for a presidential candidacy.
Nixon is noted for his diplomatic accomplishments in foreign policy, especially détente with the Soviet Union and China, and ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. He is also noted for his middle-of-the-road domestic policy that combined conservative rhetoric and, in many cases, liberal action, as in his civil rights, environmental and price control policies
As President, Nixon imposed wage and price controls, indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program, and dramatically improved salaries for U.S. federal employees worldwide. As a party leader, Nixon helped build the Republican Party (GOP), but he ran his 1972 campaign separately from the party, which perhaps helped the GOP escape some of the damage from Watergate. The Nixon White House was the first to organize a daily press event and daily message for the media, a practice that all subsequent staffs have performed.
Nixon is also noted to be a firm supporter of the NRA, he hunted on occasion but preferred target shooting as a favorite hobby. He spoke very criticaly of the gun control laws supported by president Bill Clinton and vice-president Al Gore. He has stated in many private conversations (taped while president) and in many public speeches that "guns are inanimate objects, people make them lethal. You could have a fully automatic rifle in the middle of a room and it would do nothing deadly unless interfered with by an irresponsible person."
