he announced his decision to resign. coming up next, the president's speech. we go behind the scenes in the oval office as the president prepares to deliver his remarks. this is about 20 minutes. >> how is that? reading hitting anywhere that you can see? it might. >> ok. you are better looking than i am. why don't you stay here? they say, photograph better than brunettes. aren't a blonde,

you? redhead? >> [indiscernible] >> i know. have you gotten it to cameron case the lights go out -- have you got an extra camera in case the lights go out? amera, ian nbc c presume? [laughter] standard joke. [laughter] see -- get these lights eyes always -- when you get past 60, that is enough. my friend always likes to take a lot of pictures. i am afraid he would catch me

picking my nose. he would not print that, would you? he would take a long shot. it.ess i can see you want a level, don't you? >> good evening. this is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this nation. need any more? each time i have done so to discuss with you some matter that i believe affected the national interest. >> that is fine. >> ok. ollie? crew is to be in this room during this. only the crew.

there will be no picture. no. after the broadcast. you have taken your pictures. did and you take one just now -- dindn't you take one just now? that is it. we did not let the press. take it right now. you got it? come on. ok. >> [indiscernible] >> ok, fine. all right. fine. i'm going to make the other photographers mad by giving you two minutes. that is enough. any secret service in the room? out. you don't have to stay, do you? you are required to? i am just kidding you. [indiscernible]

>> [indiscernible] two minutes and 15 seconds to air. don't we usually have more time? >> [indiscernible] i see. that is fine. crew.better for the [indiscernible] is that right? >> [indiscernible] >> i had better get in position.

what? >> they would like to move -- like you to move closer to the microphones. >> i can't. i will try to. you mean move them like this? would that help you? would you mind checking my collar? it is not ruffled up? throat]g good evening. this is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this nation. each time i have done so to discuss with you some matter that i believe affected the national interest. in all the decisions i have made

in my public life, i have always tried to do what was best for the nation. throughout the long and difficult period of watergate, i have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. in the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that i no longer have a strong enough political base in the congress to justify continuing that effort. as long as there was such a base, i felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. but with the disappearance of

that base, i now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged. i would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. but the interest of the nation must always come before any personal considerations. from the discussions i have had with congressional and other leaders, i have concluded that because of the watergate matter i might not have the support of the congress that i would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation would require.

i have never been a quitter. to leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. but as president, i must put the interest of america first. america needs a full-time president and a full-time congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. to continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the president and the congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon

tomorrow. vice president ford will be sworn in as president at that hour in this office. as i recall the high hopes for america with which we began this second term, i feel a great sadness that i will not be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those hopes in the next 2 1/2 years. but in turning over direction of the government to vice president ford, i know, as i told the nation when i nominated him for that office 10 months ago, that the leadership of america will be in good hands. in passing this office to the vice president, i also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow and, therefore, of the

understanding, the patience, the cooperation he will need from all americans. as he assumes that responsibility, he will deserve the help and the support of all of us. as we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us, and to rediscover those shared ideals that lie at the heart of our strength and unity as a great and as a free people. by taking this action, i hope that i will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in america. i regret deeply any injuries

that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. i would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what i believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation. to those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, to many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, i will be eternally grateful for your support. and to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say i leave with no bitterness toward those who have

opposed me, because all of us, in the final analysis, have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ. so, let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new president succeed for the benefit of all americans. i shall leave this office with regret at not completing my term, but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your president for the past 5 1/2 years. these years have been a momentous time in the history of our nation and the world. they have been a time of achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that represent the shared efforts of the administration, the congress, and the people. but the challenges ahead are equally great, and they, too,

will require the support and the efforts of the congress and the people working in cooperation with the new administration. we have ended america's longest war, but in the work of securing a lasting peace in the world, the goals ahead are even more far-reaching and more difficult. we must complete a structure of peace so that it will be said of this generation, our generation of americans, by the people of all nations, not only that we ended one war but that we prevented future wars. we have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the united states and the people's republic of china. we must now ensure that the one quarter of the world's people who live in the people's republic of china will be and remain not our enemies but our

friends. in the middle east, 100 million people in the arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy for nearly 20 years, now look on us as their friends. we must continue to build on that friendship so that peace can settle at last over the middle east and so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave. together with the soviet union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. but we must set as our goal not just limiting but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons so that they cannot destroy civilization and

so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people. we have opened the new relation with the soviet union. we must continue to develop and expand that new relationship so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation. around the world, in asia, in africa, in latin america, in the middle east, there are millions of people who live in terrible poverty, even starvation. we must keep as our goal turning away from production for war and expanding production for peace so that people everywhere on this earth can at last look forward in their children's

time, if not in our own time, to having the necessities for a decent life. here in america, we are fortunate that most of our people have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good and, by the world's standards, even abundant lives. we must press on, however, toward a goal of not only more and better jobs but of full opportunity for every american and of what we are striving so hard right now to achieve, prosperity without inflation. for more than a quarter of a century in public life i have shared in the turbulent history of this era. i have fought for what i believed in. i have tried to the best of my

ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me. sometimes i have succeeded and sometimes i have failed, but always i have taken heart from what theodore roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, "whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best

knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." i pledge to you tonight that as long as i have a breath of life in my body, i shall continue in that spirit. i shall continue to work for the great causes to which i have been dedicated throughout my years as a congressman, a senator, a vice president, and president, the cause of peace not just for america but among all nations, prosperity, justice, and opportunity for all of our people. there is one cause above all to which i have been devoted and to which i shall always be devoted for as long as i live. when i first took the oath of office as president 51/2 years

ago, i made this sacred commitment, to "consecrate my office, my energies, and all the wisdom i can summon to the cause of peace among nations." i have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge. as a result of these efforts, i am confident that the world is a safer place today, not only for the people of america but for the people of all nations, and that all of our children have a better chance than before of living in peace rather than dying in war. this, more than anything, is

what i hoped to achieve when i sought the presidency. this, more than anything, is what i hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as i leave the presidency. to have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every american. in leaving it, i do so with this prayer. may god's grace be with you in all the days ahead.

>> [siren in the background] an estimated 60 million americans watched that speech 40 years ago yesterday as our 37th president became the first to resign his presidency. we are live on american history on c-span3.n -- we want to hear from you. what do you remember about the resignation of richard nixon? our phone lines are open. you can begin calling. it was 40 years ago today on august 9, 1974, when americans watched as one presidency ended and another began. in the next 10 minutes, your phone calls. we will take you live at noon

eastern with john farrell who will offer his perspectives. he is working on a new book on richard nixon. we will first year from john from new hampshire. go ahead. , iwhen i was 10 years old went to the white house and capitol with my parents. i still don't know to this day, my parents are long gone, i don't know whether my parents voted for nixon and kennedy -- nixon or kennedy. i was in my mid-20's, i guess i was 27 during the watergate hearings. congress and by their investigation of nixon.