targets. fbi surveillance of law-abiding citizens and groups. political abuses of fbi intelligence. and several specific cases of unjustified intelligence operations. >> the 1975 church committee hearings convened to investigate the intelligence activities of the cia, fbi, irs and the nsa. saturday night at 10:00 eastern. the commission questioned former associate counsel and staff assistant to president nixon tom charles huston on a plan he presented to president nixon to collect information about snabt war and radical groups using burglary, electronic surveillance and opening of mail. >> black bag jobs for a number of years up until 1966 that had been successful and valuable again particularly in matters involving espionage, and that they felt this again was something that given the revolutionary climate they thought they needed to have the authority to do. >> and just before 7:00 p.m.

eastern -- >> and one person came and she said, you were chosen. she was from czechoslovakia. she was there for four years already in the concentration camp. she spoke hungarian also. and they ask her, what's happening to -- where are our parents? and our -- and she said, you see that smoke? there are your parents. >> holocaust survivor anna gross recalls her family's experience in the ghettos in nazi-occupied hungary, at auschwitz concentration camp in poland, and forced hard labor. this event was part of the united states holocaust memorial museum's first person series. then at 8:00 on elect yoouz in history -- >> an anarchist named alexander berkman broke into frick's office in nearby pittsburgh, shot him twice, and repeatedly

stabbed him. berkman, however, is one of the great failures in assassination history. not only did he fail to kill frick, he also undermined the strikers for whom he was professing sympathy. because in many ways public opinion saw this outburst of radical violence as a discredit to the union movement. >> the university of maryland's robert chiles on the labor and social unrest at the turn of the 20th century. and then sunday morning at 10:00 on "road to the white house rewind," the 1968 presidential campaign of former democratic governor of alabama george wallace. for the complete american history tv weekend schedule go to c-span.org. now from august 8th, 1974, president richard nixon announces his resignation from office in the aftermath of the watergate scandal. this 20-minute archival recording includes a behind-the-scenes look in the oval office several minutes before his address to the nation.

this is courtesy of the nixon presidential library and museum. you're watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. >> is it -- how's that? is that reading getting anywhere that you can see? i don't think it is. i've got it barn-doored off but it might. >> you're better-looking than i am. why don't you stay here? blonds they say photograph better than brunettes. is that true or not? you are a blond, aren't you? redhead?

we're the same. >> [ inaudible ]. >> i know. have you got an extra camera in case the lights go out? who'd you get it from? is that the nbc? >> this is the camera. this is the primary camera. and this is the backup camera. >> that's an nbc camera i presume. >> standard joke. let me see. are these lights -- my eyes -- you'll find when you get past 60 -- that's enough. thanks. my friend ollie always likes to take a lot of pictures. i'm afraid he'll catch me picking my nose.

you wouldn't print that, woe, would you, ollie? no, you'd take a long shot. i guess i can see it. you want a level, don't you? yes. good evening. this is the 37th time ip i have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of our nation. need any more? each time i have done so to discuss with you some matter that i believe affected the national interest. ollie? only the cbs crew now is to be in this room during this. only the crew. no. there will be no picture.

no. after the broadcast. you've taken your picture. didn't you take one just now? >> yes, sir. >> that's it. because you know, we -- the press is going to take one. so you've taken one -- just take it right now. this is right after the broadcast. you got it? come on. okay. fine. i'm going to make the other photographers mad but it's too many. that's enough. okay? all secret service. are there any secret service in the room? out. you don't have to stay, do you? you're required to? i'm just kidding you. i always try to -- [ inaudible ]

>> two minutes and 15 seconds to air, please. >> 2:15 to air. don't we usually have more -- [ inaudible ] i see it. fine. but it's better for the crew. i think they'll agree to -- [ inaudible ] >> one minute and a half. >> i'd better get in position.

>> mr. president, they'd like you to move the pages away from the microphone. >> well, if i can. i mean, it depends whether i can see them. i'll try to. you mean move them like this. would that help you? >> that's fine. >> am i straight in the back? would you mind checking my collar? is it -- i mean, it's not ruffled up. >> good evening. this is the 37th time i have spoken to you from this office. where so many decisions have been made that shape 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 interests 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 interests 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 ab sosh the ti 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 ten 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 a 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 interests of the nation. to those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, the 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 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've 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 150 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 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 a 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 and 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 not only of 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. suc 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 err and comes short again and again because there is no error in shortcoming but who does actu actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spins

himself in a worthy cause. who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements. and at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring gre 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, senator, vice president and president, the cause of peace not if just for america but 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 five and a half 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've done many very best in all of the days sense 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 caught the presidency. this, more than anything, is what i hoped will be my legacy to you, to our country. as i leave the presidency. to have served in the 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 sound] this year marks the 40th anniversary of the church committee's final report on cia, fbi, irs and nsa intelligence activities. the report unveiled major domestic surveillance operations under the ford and nixon administrations. thursday on american history tv in prime time, a spotlight on the church committee and its work. we'll see the 1975 testimony of then cia director william colby, former senators walter mon dale and gary heart on intelligence oversight and rex bradford of the assassination archives and research center. tune in thursday at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span3. china and their approach to nuclear weapons is the focus of a panel hosted by the car nay gi

endowment for international peace. we'll bring it to you live at 10:30 a.m. eastern here on c-span3. that was president nixon's oval office address to the nation on august 8th, 1974. announcing his resignation from office in the aftermath of the watergate scandal. now from august 9th, his farewell speech to the white house staff. this is courtesy of the nixon presidential library and museum and is about 20 minutes. [ applause ] ♪ ladan