Half a century ago, Nixon became the only president to resign

It was no longer a surprise, but it was still a shock.

On a Thursday night in August 50 years ago, Americans turned on the evening news to be told the president of the United States would resign the next day.

Nothing remotely like this had ever happened before; but for those who had been paying attention, it was increasingly difficult to imagine any other outcome.

The resignation of Richard Nixon was the culmination of two years of swirling controversy that began with a burglary at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in June 1972.

While initially viewed as a minor event, burglary was connected to Nixon’s reelection campaign and the White House was involved in the subsequent cover-up. There had been two years of persistent probes and damning reports, mounting evidence and a steady erosion of Nixon’s support in his party and from the public at large.

A Harris Poll published the week of the resignation found two-thirds of Americans thought it was time for Nixon to be impeached and tried.

But could this man reading a farewell statement straight to camera from the Oval Office on August 8 be the same Nixon who had carried 49 states in winning a second term as president just 21 months earlier?

“I have never been a quitter,” said the familiar voice. “To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interest of America first.”

He told the nation he had concluded that he “might not have the support of the Congress” to make the decisions he had to make as the leader of the Free World.

The following morning, Nixon bid goodbye to his staff at the White House and boarded a helicopter for the first leg of his long journey back to