TLS as president signed “RN,” one page, 6.75 x 8.75, White House letterhead, August 1, 1974. Letter to Senator George Murphy of California, written on the day he decided to resign from the presidency following the Watergate scandal. In full: "As always, it is good to hear from you and I particularly appreciated knowing that you and Bill Stover gave my economic message such high marks. On the other matter, I would be less than candid if I did not say that this has been a difficult period. But through it all I have been sustained by old and dear friends like you, and I just want to say again how deeply grateful I am." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original White House mailing envelope.
In July 1974, Nixon's presidency was quickly collapsing: on July 24th, the Supreme Court ordered him to hand over his tapes to the special prosecutor; on July 27th, 29th, and 30th the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon, for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress, and reported those articles to the House of Representatives. Nixon had returned to Washington from his usual summer retreat in California on July 28th, and spent paranoid nights contemplating his future. According to Nixon's Memoirs, he was up all night into the dawn of July 31st and concluded that he would go down fighting and face impeachment rather than resign. Later that day, physically and emotionally exhausted, Nixon learned from his lawyers and aides that the 'smoking gun' tape of June 23, 1972, would almost certainly cost him what little political and public support remained. Everything he had thought through in the early morning hours had changed.
In his Memoirs, Nixon writes: 'On Thursday, August 1, I told Haig that I had decided to resign.' He discussed options with his chief of staff concerning the scheduling of the announcement. Nixon hoped to break the news to his family over the weekend and announce it on Monday, August 5th. Haig encouraged him to make the announcement on Friday, August 2nd, before the 'smoking gun' tape was publicly released. Nixon decided to think about it, but asked Haig to direct Ray Price to begin drafting a resignation speech and to secretly inform Vice President Ford of his decision.
In Ford's memoirs, A Time to Heal, he recalls a meeting with Haig shortly after 9 AM on August 1st, in which Haig said: 'I want to alert you that things are deteriorating. The whole ball game may be over. You'd better start thinking about a change in your life.' Haig met with Ford again later in the day, raising the possibility of a pardon for Nixon. It was these conversations that gave rise to the speculation of a resignation-for-pardon deal. At the behest of his family, Nixon decided to wait until the 'smoking gun' tape was released so they could gauge the fallout. After its release on August 5th, Nixon soon learned from Republican congressional leaders that impeachment was inevitable. He announced his resignation to the public on August 8th, and just before noon the next day Ford took his place as president.
Within the context of the Watergate affair and Nixon's resignation, this letter of August 1st is certainly remarkable—his brief comment to Murphy reveals a sense of relief and closure: "Through it all I have been sustained by old and dear friends like you, and I just want to say again how deeply grateful I am." The day he initialed this letter, Nixon had already mentally resigned the presidency.
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