I was forty-five years ago whis week when the unthinkable happened: President Richard M. Nixon announced that he had resigned the presidency.   He made his announcement on TV the night before and formally resigned at noon on this day in 1974.

As I recall, I rushed home to watch President Nixon's departure from the White House and President Gerald Ford's inauguration.  I kept telling myself that I was a witness to history -- a new president who was not part of the 1972 election day ticket.

Later my dad came home with a business friend visiting from Venezuela.  We sat down for dinner and the friend commented that it was impressive to watch a transfer of power without tanks or shots.

After the speech and his departure from Washington, President Nixon went into political exile but made a comeback in the 1980s with some great books, one of  them his memoirs, RN.  He became one of the premier foreign-policy statesmen in the world.  

President Nixon died in 1994 and was given a full presidential funeral.  

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