1974
Unusual Succession Makes Ford President
In accordance with his statement of
resignation the previous evening, Richard M. Nixon officially ends his term as
the 37th president of the United States at noon. Before departing with his
family in a helicopter from the White House lawn, he smiled farewell and
enigmatically raised his arms in a victory or peace salute. The helicopter door
was then closed, and the Nixon family began their journey home to San Clemente,
California. Richard Nixon was the first U.S. president to resign from office.
Minutes later, Vice President Gerald R. Ford
was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of the
White House. After taking the oath of office, President Ford spoke to the
nation in a television address, declaring, “My fellow Americans, our long
national nightmare is over.”
Ford, the first president who came to the office
through appointment rather than election, had replaced Spiro Agnew as vice
president only eight months before. In a political scandal independent of the
Nixon administration’s wrongdoings in the Watergate affair, Agnew had been
forced to resign in disgrace after he was charged with income tax evasion and
political corruption. In September 1974, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he
may have committed while in office, explaining that he wanted to end the
national divisions created by the Watergate scandal.