Nixon becomes first US President to step down from office

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Domains

Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

Date of occurrence 1974-08-08

Places

United States (Location)

Resources

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President Nixon’s second term was cut short by scandal, after disclosures relating to a June 1972 burglary of the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate office complex. The courts and Congress sought tapes of Nixon’s office conversations. To this, Nixon claimed executive privilege. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the president, hence undercutting the notion of the ‘imperial presidency’. After protracted congressional hearings and court battles that gripped Americans, the House Judiciary Committee recommended adoption of 3 separate impeachment articles: obstruction of justice, contempt of congress, and abuse of power. On 5 August 1974, Nixon released transcripts of White House conversations that connected him to Watergate cover-up activities. On 9 August,…

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150 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Nixon becomes first US President to step down from office". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3590, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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