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.

i am a fan of him. law and theut the rule of law as a lawyer. it is absolutely stunning to me he could be so flawed. >> john, do you think the system worked 40 years ago? >> do i think what? >> do you think the system worked, the constitutional balanceshe checks and of the legislative and judicial branch with different responsibilities during the watergate era? >> i think sam ervin and all the witnesses helped the system to work. but the system did not really work in the long run because nixon should have been impeached taskried and brought to for this incredible amount of

illegality and cover-up. i mean, you listen to the tapes of richard nixon. bigot, but he a is a liar. >> thank you for your recollections from 40 years ago. next is fred joining us from connecticut. say'm calling and wanted to i wonder how much the loss in 1960 played into richard nixon's mindset. he always believed kennedy st ole in 1960 election. wons wondering if he had the election in 1960, of course you cannot go back and read ifds, but i am wondering this would have ever been in his mind. heust think he had so many, thought he had so many enemies

that in 1972 he had to do something to make sure he stopped his enemies. i am just wondering how much the 1960 election loss late into his played into972 -- his actions in 1972. >> one of the questions we will ask john farrell at the top of the hour. fred, do you remember watching? we have been giving the chance to watch cbs' covered from 40 years ago. there was no cable news. broadcast news was wall-to-wall on august 9 as we watched what some call a shakespearean tragedy unfold. do you remember watching all of this? >> i was 15 and we were at our summer cottage. we had a big house. everybody was there watching. this such distinctly a big part of history. it is something i will never forget where i was and how tragic the whole situation was

for the country. now with wondering boehner's lawsuit against obama if we are close to that type of situation now. i don't know. i thought we learned our lessons after nixon resigned. our presidents would have learned their lessons, but i don't believe that is so. >> thank you for the call. one of the most paramedics beaches from that period was his farewell speech midmorning before he left, on the south lawn and at noon, gerald ford became our 38th president. we will have a chance for you to watch that speech as he spoke to staff and cabinet members before departing the white house. richard is joining us from california. do you remember all of this?

>> i was born in 1972 so i did not catch it live. i am in the sports and entertainment industry. on a different angle, i was interested to see how nixon handled the whole speech. before the speech in the floor direction, he made a comment about how cbs was the only one covering the actual shooting of the speech and how he was directing people. fast-forward 40 years later, so many people have their eye on politics. there is so much information out there today. it is funny how it has evolved. i have studied it for the past 20 years myself. not a political science, but the actual media of television. to you at showed it few minutes ago. were you surprised he seemed more relaxed than you would have expected? >> absolutely.

it seemed almost like it was another day at the ballpark and he was down there to talk to some of his friends. he looked directly in the camera. back in those days, there were only three major networks. he is friends with cbs. there was the democrats and republicans. in thedon't think general public people grasp that how much the media steers information. it is what it is. bad news is good news. it sells newspapers. it was interested to see how nixon was so cool and collected. it was, see you guys later. politics are so powerful. the media is so powerful. it steers a lot of our ways and how we think sometimes were good or bad. it is information. >> richard, thanks for the call. richard nixon, our 37th president.

his resignation address was his 37th from the oval office. from new york, steve is on the phone. >> good morning. i remember exactly where i was and what i was doing when president nixon announced his resignation. i was in the family room with my mother and my siblings in front of a black-and-white t.v. set in our family room. i have to tell you, as i was watching the president speak, i kind of looked around inside the house. i was looking at everyone else's expressions. the look of anguish on my mom's face. my siblings were quiet and solemn. i think after the speech was i had touess i was -- go outside and walk on the road in front of our house because what i witnessed, history was being made.

we had not even quite celebrated our bicentennial yet. this was the first time in u.s. history a president resigned. it was definitely a traumatic moment. personally, i felt let down because i liked richard nixon. i thought he accomplished a lot with not only ending the vietnam war, but opening up relations which and nine at, securing an arms agreement with the soviet union, those types of things. >> you look at the 10 years ,etween the assassination vietnam, and lyndon johnson not seeking another term, and the nixon resignation. turmoil atbsolute that time. ithink when president ford -- did watch him getting sworn in. when he said,