Trump’s Nixon redux proves it can happen again
AUG. 8, 1974, 9:01 p.m. EDT, former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon began his resignation speech. At 17 years old, I, along with four other high school students and two adults were three months into a four-month backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. We listened to the historic moment on an AM transistor radio in the mountains while camped at an AT lean-to north of Falls Village, Connecticut. At 9:20 p.m., I made several entries in a journal that I still have in my possession.
Our lead adult was a government, civics and U.S. history instructor. He was very aware of the significance of the impending speech by a U.S. president. Good or bad, he had prepared for the moment, in part, by having a couple bottles of rum on hand. Our collective mindset initially was to celebrate given the criminal complicity committed by Richard M. Nixon. Surprisingly, we all changed our celebratory tune to one of somber reality after his resignation speech. Such an event had never occurred, and naively we could not imagine it would ever happen again. I was amazed in his strength to go in front of the United States and to say he failed. Another student read a Bible quote for Nixon “May God and Father, give you Peace and Grace.”
Our thoughts were wide-ranging such as, how is the world receiving this? We knew Vice President Gerald Ford would be watched how he would pick up after a disgraced president. We could only imagine how many friends and supporters Nixon lost. He knew the fallout would be considerable. None of us imagined anything on this level would occur again in our life.
While not shown to be criminal at this time, former President Donald Trump has proven us tragically wrong. According to published memoirs, after Nixon’s speech, his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, assured Nixon “History is going to record that you were a great president,” with Nixon replying “Henry, that will depend on who writes the history.” Trump’s history is yet to be written.
JAMES ORR
Albuquerque