PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON - QUOTATION SIGNED - HFSID 268878

RICHARD NIXON
Richard Nixon signs a quotation in black ink.
Printed Quotation signed in ink: "Richard Nixon", 1p, 5¾x6. Printed quotation, excerpted from his televised speech of August 8, 1974, announcing to the American people his decision to resign office of President: "To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interests of America first ...[ellipses as printed] Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency at noon tomorrow." Below signature is a printed photo (color, 4½x3, same surface) of President and Mrs. Nixon leaving the White House with soon to be President Gerald Ford and Mrs. Ford on the morning of August 9, 1974. Nixon (1913-1994) was elected 37th President of the United States in 1968 after representing California in the U.S. House of Representatives (1947-1951) and Senate (1951-53) and serving two terms as Dwight D. Eisenhower's Vice President. He lost (1960), then won, extremely close Presidential elections (facing John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, respectively), then won re-election by a landslide against George McGovern in 1972. His re-election triumph rapidly turned sour, however, as the burgeoning Watergate scandal claimed more and more of his key aides and finally compelled his own. On September 8, 1974, he received a blanket pardon from President Ford for any crimes he may have committed against the United States while President. A pragmatic conservative who gained an early reputation as an anti-communist but achieved diplomatic triumphs in relations with China and the Soviet Union, Nixon was a prolific writer in retirement, repairing his reputation and hastening his emergence as an elder statesman. Fine condition.