On This Day: September 8th - President Ford Pardons Nixon

On this day, Gerald Ford used his executive power to pardon Richard Nixon for any and all crimes committed during the Watergate scandals. He justified his controversial decision to pardon Nixon by reasoning that it would end national and political divisions caused by the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal happened when Richard Nixon conducted illegal actions in the midst of his re-election campaign. One of these included the break-in of the Democratic Election Headquarters in order to steal information. The Washington Post received information from a top secret mole referred to as "Deep Throat". Watergate would eventually lead Richard Nixon to become the first President to resign from presidency.

He made this decision out of impeachment threats and angry public opinion. The ironic part of this story is that Nixon was estimated to win by a landslide in the upcoming election. Nixon's vice president Gerald Ford replaced him, making Ford's quick decision to pardon his predecessor even more controversial. From a famous line from Gerald Ford's speech addressing the nation about Nixon's resignation, he states that "our long national nightmare is over". This event is historically significant because of the scandals and controversy behind the series of events that led to Richard Nixon's resignation and Ford's pardon of hum. It also made the nation question the powers of U.S. government and in particular the power of the executive branch. Nixon also formed a negative image of the Republican party for many after Watergate. Popular films about the Watergate scandal include "All the President's Men" and "Dick".

"Ford pardons Nixon." 2008. The History Channel website. 13 Sep 2008, 06:55 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5328.