It was a week to remember. Following the announcement of his intention to resign on August 8 – the official announcement came on August 9th.
For the remainder of the week everything that followed had everything to do with Nixon, Watergate, the Resignation, Gerald Ford, the future of America and a cautious exhale when now-President Ford announced “Our Long National Nightmare is over”.
Maybe the nightmare – but for the following week and for many weeks to come, the side-affects of the story and the drama remained on just about everyone’s mind.
After Nixon resigned in August 1974, Gerald Ford became president and soon pardoned Nixon, sparking controversy and damaging Ford’s popularity. Public trust in government collapsed, leading to major reforms in campaign finance, ethics, and presidential powers. Republicans suffered big losses in the 1974 midterms, and investigative journalism gained new prominence. Nixon avoided trial but spent years out of the spotlight, with his legacy permanently tied to Watergate.
Watergate left a lasting scar on public trust and political culture. Even decades later, skepticism about government honesty and transparency runs deep. The fallout reshaped how Americans view power and accountability, and the shadow of that era still influences on politics today.
But 51 years ago we were in uncharted territory and this episode of the CBS News series Washington Week In Review from August 11,. 1974 give you some idea of what the atmosphere was like on Capitol Hill.
Okay – now for the begging and pleading part:
You know we’ve been weathering storms, hysteria, lock-outs, shutdowns and malfunctions since 2012 and in all that time we’ve never stopped making Past Daily a place where you come and discover things – old things and new things you may have missed. Past Daily is a huge endeavor and it normally would take a bunch of people handling different chores to pull off the day-to-day that we do. But it’s just me and my archive – this batch of sounds that I refer to every day is what I do because I don’t want to be part of the problem. Knowing things, especially History makes you an informed person – someone who can look at the world objectively and make up your own mind. We don’t do click-bait, come-ons, phishing expeditions or thirst traps – what you see is what you get – and hopefully what you get is a different perspective on things that can only help and not hurt you.
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Now back to what this week was all about in 1974.
