On August 9, 1974, Richard Milhous Nixon became the first President of the United States to resign from office. His presidency, which reigned from 1971 to 1973, was marred by the secret recording of his conversations, initially intended to preserve a historical record. However, following the explosive Watergate scandal, the disclosure of these tapes ultimately led to his political demise.
Fearing the impact of his raw and unfiltered commentary on the tapes, Nixon aimed to keep their contents hidden for the duration of his life post-presidency. Yet, following his death in 1994, the government initiated the release of the 3,700 hours of recordings, with the final installments made public on August 20, 2013.
In 1982, John Ehrlichman, Nixon's former chief domestic advisor, expressed apprehensions about the tapes' implications. He remarked, > “The problem is that historians are going to grab an hour of tape... and if you listen to a snippet of tape, you’re going to form an impression of this man that’s going to be wrong.” He envisioned that a future group of historians would evaluate the entirety of the tapes and archives, ultimately revealing Nixon as “the strangest paradoxical combination of any man I ever heard of.”
Only a select few, including Chief of Staff H.R. Bob Haldeman, Deputy Assistant Alexander Butterfield, and Special Assistant Stephen Bull, were aware of the recordings. Notably, others—such as John Ehrlichman, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, and Attorney General John Mitchell—were kept in the dark. Nixon himself reflected in 1983 on the tapes being "voice activated, everything was taped which was probably stupid."
The declassified content of these recordings disclosed Nixon’s perspectives on various critical issues, including the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers leak, and his Supreme Court nominations. In private discussions with Henry Kissinger, Nixon voiced frustration at anti-war demonstrators, stating, > “It really burns me up. We have no pride do we anymore, Henry?” He also expressed contempt for Vietnam veteran [John Kerry], denoting him as “quite a phony.” Despite the growing anti-war sentiment around him, Nixon was adamant that “that was not the voice of America. The voice of America was the silent majority.”
His bitter response to the New York Times' publication of classified Pentagon documents underscored his increasing animosity towards the media. He declared to Henry Kissinger, > “This is treasonable action on the part of the bastards that put it out.” This hostility extended to Daniel Ellsberg, the culprit behind the Times publication, whom Nixon targeted with anti-Semitic remarks, suggesting that "the Jews are born spies."
As pressure mounted for him to nominate a female Supreme Court Justice, Nixon publicly put forth candidates such as Mildred Lillie and Sylvia Bacon, but confided to John Mitchell his wish to veer away from that “woman kick.” He would later consider his Supreme Court nominations as one of the significant domestic successes of his presidency. Internationally, he marked his groundbreaking trip to China in 1972 and his arms negotiation efforts in Moscow as major policy victories.
Nixon’s disdain for the media was palpable as he reiterated to Henry Kissinger that > “The press is the enemy,” insisting on the necessity to undermine their credibility. He encouraged [Charles Colson], his Special Counsel, to “keep up the attack on the media,” displaying a raw contempt that became evident both in public interviews and private discussions.
When the Watergate break-in occurred, Nixon contemplated with Bob Haldeman the possibility of providing financial support to the arrested individuals, noting, > “Well, they took a hell of a risk. And they have to be paid.” He downplayed the event's significance, sharing with speechwriter Pat Buchanan his belief that “the Watergate thing... is going to pass. That’ll be over.”
Despite winning a landslide re-election and proclaiming what he called "peace with honor" in Vietnam, the Watergate issue persisted. During Senate hearings on July 16, 1973, the existence of secret recording devices in his office came to light, culminating in his resignation as impeachment loomed on the horizon.
