Mike Hainzinger
English 101
12 November 2014
“Resigning the Presidency” In August of 1974, Richard M. Nixon spoke to the American public on national television and announced his decision to resign from his presidency. The collapse of support in the Congress marked the end of Nixon's two-year battle against news media, government agencies, the Senate and House of Representatives and the U.S. Supreme Court - all stemming from a break-in that occurred on the night of June 17, 1972, when five burglars entered the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Investigations revealed the burglars were actually agents hired by the Committee for the re-election of the President. A long chain of events then followed in which the president and top aides became involved in an extensive cover-up of White House-sanctioned illegal activities. Two years later Richard Nixon finds himself giving his “Resigning the Presidency” speech, where he uses logos to appear reasonable and show that he has given this decision a lot of thought, ethos to show that he did what needed to be done, and pathos to talk about his feelings, accomplishments, and regrets regarding his presidency.
Nixon, the man who played the most considerable role in covering up the Watergate scandal, uses logos in his speech to justify resigning early. He points out that he has lost nearly all of his supporters not only in his political following but also in congress. With no support he predicts that nothing will be able to get accomplished and it would only be a waste of time to finish out his term when he would receive no cooperation, and there are more pressing matters for America to worry about. He believes that his constitutional purpose has been served and that he no longer needs to drag the process out. He decides to resign at noon the following day and Vice President Gerald Ford will be taking his place. He points out that he has given a lot of