Nixon will resign in disgrace TODAY

IN THE wake of the greatest political scandal in history, Richard Milhous Nixon yesterday was on the brink of resignation as the 37th President of the United states.

Today he is expected to hand over power to Vice-President gerald Ford.

Mr Nixon was going on national television at six o’clock Washington time to tell the nation of his decision.

It was a decision made in the middle of Wednesday night as he sat alone in a small, private room in the White House.

U.s. secretary of state Dr Henry Kissinger — the brilliant diplomatist whose work has ensured that Nixon will go down in history not just a corrupt and failed leader but also as a spectacular international peacemaker — was instrumental in swaying Mr Nixon.

The American constitution required Mr Nixon to write out his resignation and hand it to Dr Kissinger. He is reported to have done it yesterday afternoon. It is to take effect today.

An aide close to the President said that Mr Nixon would not resign without having ‘all his ducks in a row’ — meaning that Mr Nixon would not leave the safety of the Presidential office without knowing for certain that he was to be made financially secure and free from prosecution.

There seems no doubt that he will keep a Presidential pension.

Nixon presided over the end of the war in Vietnam and played a big part in ending fighting in the Middle east.

But for all the extraordinary accomplishments in foreign policy, the most memorable date in the history of the Nixon Presidency remains June 17, 1972, the day five men were arrested inside Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate office building.