Sold – Richard M. Nixon Looks Back on His Presidency

All of Nixon’s first term as President had been consumed with the Vietnam War and protests against it. He had taken strong and sometimes provocative positions and had engendered fierce opposition. That war ended in January 1973, as he was sworn in for his second term. However, in March, James McCord wrote a letter to the judge who had presided over the trial of himself and the other men convicted of breaking and entering the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington. He told the judge, John J. Sirica, that there had been a cover up of the crime, and further, that he was under political pressure to plead guilty. He implicated high government officials, including former Attorney General John Mitchell, known as a Nixon confidant. His letter transformed the affair into a political scandal of unprecedented magnitude that essentially took almost all of Nixon’s attention, from then until he became the first President to resign, doing so on August 9, 1974. Nixon quickly found himself persona non grata, and in the following months had plenty of time to reflect on his Presidency.   

Typed Letter Signed on his personal letterhead, San Clemente, January 2, 1975, to Victor DeLuccia in New York. "I want you to know how deeply I appreciate the thoughtful message you sent me after I left office and returned to California. We have passed through a very difficult period, but it is at such times that one learns who his real friends are; I am proud to number you among them. When I recover my health, you can be sure that in the years ahead I shall continue to work for those great goals to which we were dedicated in the years I served as President – peace for all mankind and prosperity and progress for every American."