Richard Nixon's resignation speech

At 9:01 p.m. Eastern time on August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon spoke from the Oval Office for 16 minutes, live on radio and television, and announced that he would resign the next day, the only American president ever to leave office that way. Watergate itself is a story of tapes, hearings and documents; this is the one moment of it that has to be seen. Students can judge for themselves how he frames the decision and his record. Pair it with the inaugural and farewell addresses higher on this list to show how differently a presidency can end.