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President Gerald R. Ford's Speech Upon Granting A Pardon to Richard Nixon (September 8, 1974) |
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President
Gerald R. Ford's Speech Upon Granting A
Pardon to Richard Nixon (September
8, 1974) NOTE: The President spoke at
11:05 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House, where he signed Proclamation 4311
granting the pardon.
President Gerald R. Ford: Ladies and
gentlemen: I have come to a decision which I
felt I should tell you and all of my
fellow American citizens, as soon as I was
certain in my own mind and in my own
conscience that it is the right thing to
do. I have learned already in this
office that the difficult decisions always
come to this desk. I must admit that many
of them do not look at all the same as the
hypothetical questions that I have
answered freely and perhaps too fast on
previous occasions. My customary policy is to try
and get all the facts and to consider the
opinions of my countrymen and to take
counsel with my most valued friends. But
these seldom agree, and in the end, the
decision is mine. To procrastinate, to
agonize, and to wait for a more favorable
turn of events that may never come or more
compelling external pressures that may as
well be wrong as right, is itself a
decision of sorts and a weak and
potentially dangerous course for a
President to follow. I have promised to uphold the
Constitution, to do what is right as God
gives me to see the right, and to do the
very best that I can for America. I have asked your help and
your prayers, not only when I became
President but many times since. The
Constitution is the supreme law of our
land and it governs our actions as
citizens. Only the laws of God, which
govern our consciences, are superior to
it. As we are a nation under God,
so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the
help of God. And I have sought such
guidance and searched my own conscience
with special diligence to determine the
right thing for me to do with respect to
my predecessor in this place, Richard
Nixon, and his loyal wife and
family. Theirs is an American tragedy
in which we all have played a part. It
could go on and on and on, or someone must
write the end to it. I have concluded that
only I can do that, and if I can, I
must. There are no historic or legal
precedents to which I can turn in this
matter, none that precisely fit the
circumstances of a private citizen who has
resigned the Presidency of the United
States. But it is common knowledge that
serious allegations and accusations hang
like a sword over our former President's
head, threatening his health as he tries
to reshape his life, a great part of which
was spent in the service of this country
and by the mandate of its people. After years of bitter
controversy and divisive national debate,
I have been advised, and I am compelled to
conclude that many months and perhaps more
years will have to pass before Richard
Nixon could obtain a fair trial by jury in
any jurisdiction of the United States
under governing decisions of the Supreme
Court. I deeply believe in equal
justice for all Americans, whatever their
station or former station. The law,
whether human or divine, is no respecter
of persons; but the law is a respecter of
reality. The facts, as I see them, are
that a former President of the United
States, instead of enjoying equal
treatment with any other citizen accused
of violating the law, would be cruelly and
excessively penalized either in preserving
the presumption of his innocence or in
obtaining a speedy determination of his
guilt in order to repay a legal debt to
society. During this long period of
delay and potential litigation, ugly
passions would again be aroused. And our
people would again be polarized in their
opinions. And the credibility of our free
institutions of government would again be
challenged at home and abroad. In the end, the courts might
well hold that Richard Nixon had been
denied due process, and the verdict of
history would even more be inconclusive
with respect to those charges arising out
of the period of his Presidency, of which
I am presently aware. But it is not the ultimate
fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns
me, though surely it deeply troubles every
decent and every compassionate person. My
concern is the immediate future of this
great country. In this, I dare not depend
upon my personal sympathy as a long-time
friend of the former President, nor my
professional judgment as a lawyer, and I
do not. As President, my primary
concern must always be the greatest good
of all the people of the United States
whose servant I am. As a man, my first
consideration is to be true to my own
convictions and my own conscience. My conscience tells me clearly
and certainly that I cannot prolong the
bad dreams that continue to reopen a
chapter that is closed. My conscience
tells me that only I, as President, have
the constitutional power to firmly shut
and seal this book. My conscience tells me
it is my duty, not merely to proclaim
domestic tranquillity but to use every
means that I have to insure it. I do believe that the buck
stops here, that I cannot rely upon public
opinion polls to tell me what is
right. I do believe that right makes
might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels
swearing I was right would make no
difference. I do believe, with all my
heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as
President but as a humble servant of God,
will receive justice without mercy if I
fail to show mercy. Finally, I feel that Richard
Nixon and his loved ones have suffered
enough and will continue to suffer, no
matter what I do, no matter what we, as a
great and good nation, can do together to
make his goal of peace come true. [At this point, the President
began reading from the proclamation
granting the pardon.] "Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford,
President of the United States, pursuant
to the pardon power conferred upon me by
Article II, Section 2, of the
Constitution, have granted and by these
presents do grant a full, free, and
absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all
offenses against the United States which
he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may
have committed or taken part in during the
period from July (January) 20, 1969
through August 9, 1974." [The President signed the
proclamation and then resumed
reading.] "In witness whereof, I have hereunto
set my hand this eighth day of September,
in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred
and seventy-four, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the one
hundred and ninety-ninth."
Lee,
R. "World Biography:
Gerald R.
Ford's Speech Upon Granting A Pardon to
Richard Nixon (September 8,
1974)" http://www.worldbiography/ford_speech_nixon_pardon.html
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