NIXON GAVE RESIGNATION SPEECH 40 YEARS AGO TONIGHT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The 37th president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, announced forty years ago tonight, August 8, 1974 that he would resign the next morning.
The President, speaking from the oval office, said:
"I have never been a quitter. 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."
Mr. Nixon, who lost his first bid for the Presidency to John F. Kennedy in 1960 but won in his second attempt vs. Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968, became the first POTUS to resign.
The resignation came as a result of the Watergate scandal which had tarnished Mr. Nixon's second term.
The scandal began with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel complex on June 17, 1972 by members of Nixon's "Committee to Re-elect the President" or CREEP.
According to Jim Malone in his Voice of America article today...
"Much of the Watergate scandal was uncovered and documented by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein."
The Senate Select Committee on Watergate, chaired by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina held hearings which were televised nationally and led to the adoption of three articles of impeachment by the House Judicial Committee.
SOURCE
"Nixon Resignation Still Resonates 40 years After Watergate," by Jim Malone, August 8, 2014, Voice of America, www.voanews.com/
JFK MET WITH BABY'S DOCTORS 51 YEARS AGO TODAY
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) A concerned President John F. Kennedy conferred with doctors at Children's Hospital here in Boston 51 years ago today, August 8, 1963, about the condition of his newly born son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
Baby Patrick was was born 5 and 1/2 weeks premature on August 7 at Otis Air Force Base Hospital where Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy had been rushed by helicopter from Hyannisport.
President Kennedy, who had flown by helicopter to Boston, wore a white cap and gown as he "watched helplessly through a small porthole in the high-pressure chamber" where the baby was fighting for his life.
Antibiotics were not helping so as Ralph G. Martin writes...
"The only hope was that normal body functions would dissolve...a veil-like membrane (which) covered the inside of his walnut-size lungs..."*
*Hyaline membrane disease is caused by the development of an insufficiency of surfactant production and structural immaturity of the lungs. It is the leading cause of death in premature births.
SOURCE
"A Hero For Our Time: An Intimate Story of the Kennedy Years," by Ralph G. Martin, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983.
ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON NAGASAKI
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Just two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, the White House announced a second atomic bomb had been dropped on Nagasaki 69 years ago today, August 8, 1945.
Nagasaki, located in Southern Japan, was one of the nation's largest seaports and was the location of a major industrial production of war material.
The bomb detonated 1,540 feet above the city at 11:01 a.m. local time.
The bomb was dropped from Bockscar, a B-29 Superfortress commanded by Major Charles W. Sweeney. Estimates are that between 60,000 to 75,000 people were killed by the bomb.
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The 37th president of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, announced forty years ago tonight, August 8, 1974 that he would resign the next morning.
The President, speaking from the oval office, said:
"I have never been a quitter. 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."
Mr. Nixon, who lost his first bid for the Presidency to John F. Kennedy in 1960 but won in his second attempt vs. Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968, became the first POTUS to resign.
The resignation came as a result of the Watergate scandal which had tarnished Mr. Nixon's second term.
The scandal began with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel complex on June 17, 1972 by members of Nixon's "Committee to Re-elect the President" or CREEP.
According to Jim Malone in his Voice of America article today...
"Much of the Watergate scandal was uncovered and documented by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein."
The Senate Select Committee on Watergate, chaired by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina held hearings which were televised nationally and led to the adoption of three articles of impeachment by the House Judicial Committee.
SOURCE
"Nixon Resignation Still Resonates 40 years After Watergate," by Jim Malone, August 8, 2014, Voice of America, www.voanews.com/
Nixon Announces Resignation on TV
August 8, 1964
JFK MET WITH BABY'S DOCTORS 51 YEARS AGO TODAY
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) A concerned President John F. Kennedy conferred with doctors at Children's Hospital here in Boston 51 years ago today, August 8, 1963, about the condition of his newly born son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
Baby Patrick was was born 5 and 1/2 weeks premature on August 7 at Otis Air Force Base Hospital where Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy had been rushed by helicopter from Hyannisport.
President Kennedy, who had flown by helicopter to Boston, wore a white cap and gown as he "watched helplessly through a small porthole in the high-pressure chamber" where the baby was fighting for his life.
Antibiotics were not helping so as Ralph G. Martin writes...
"The only hope was that normal body functions would dissolve...a veil-like membrane (which) covered the inside of his walnut-size lungs..."*
*Hyaline membrane disease is caused by the development of an insufficiency of surfactant production and structural immaturity of the lungs. It is the leading cause of death in premature births.
SOURCE
"A Hero For Our Time: An Intimate Story of the Kennedy Years," by Ralph G. Martin, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983.
ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON NAGASAKI
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Just two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, the White House announced a second atomic bomb had been dropped on Nagasaki 69 years ago today, August 8, 1945.
Nagasaki, located in Southern Japan, was one of the nation's largest seaports and was the location of a major industrial production of war material.
The bomb detonated 1,540 feet above the city at 11:01 a.m. local time.
The bomb was dropped from Bockscar, a B-29 Superfortress commanded by Major Charles W. Sweeney. Estimates are that between 60,000 to 75,000 people were killed by the bomb.
Panorama of Nagasaki Monument
At the Hypocenter of the Blast
Photo by Dean S. Pemberton (2008)
