尼克松辞职演说

Nixon Watergate Scandal

Watergate scandal，或译水门丑闻是美国历史上最不光彩的政治丑闻之一。其对美国本国历史以及整个国际新闻界都有着长远的影响。水门事件之后，每当国家领导人遭遇执政危机或执政丑闻，便通常会被国际新闻界冠之以“门”（gate）的名称，如“伊朗门”、“拉链门”、“虐囚门”等。
　　在1972年的总统大选中，为了取得民主党内部竞选策略的情报，1972年6月17日，以美国共和党尼克松竞选班子的首席安全问题顾问詹姆斯·麦科德（James W. McCord, Jr.）为首的5人闯入位于华盛顿水门大厦的民主党全国委员会办公室，在安装窃听器并偷拍有关文件时，当场被捕。
　　事件发生后尼克松曾一度竭力掩盖开脱，但在随后对这一案件的继续调查中，尼克松政府里的许多人被陆续揭发出来，并直接涉及到尼克松本人，从而引发了严重的宪法危机。1973年10月20日尼克松为了要罢免要求他交出证据的特别检察官，迫使拒绝解任特别检察官的司法部长辞职，司法次长继任司法部长後，又因为拒绝罢免这位特别检察官而辞职，最後司法部的三号人物才答应罢免特别检察官，尼克松更动员FBI封锁特别检察官及司法长官、次长的办公室，宣布废除特别联邦检察局，把此案的调查权移回司法部。面对尼克松滥用行政权力来维护自己，招来国民严重指责。因结束越战有功而连任的尼克松因此事垮台
　　10月31日，美国众议院决定由该院司法委员会负责调查、搜集尼克松的罪证，为弹劾尼克松作准备。1974年6月25日，司法委员会决定公布与弹劾尼克松有关的全部证据。7月底，司法委员会陆续通过了三项弹劾尼克松的条款。尼克松于8月8日宣布将于次日辞职，从而成为美国历史上首位辞职的总统。
　　从1972年6月17日詹姆斯·麦科德等5人闯入位于水门大厦的民主党全国总部开始，一直到1974年8月9日尼克松总统辞职，《华盛顿邮报》的两位记者鲍勃·伍德沃德（Bob Woodward）和卡尔·伯恩斯坦（Carl Bernstein）对整个事件进行了一系列的跟踪报道，正是由于他们报道的内幕消息揭露了白宫与水门事件之间的联系，从而最终促使了尼克松的辞职。在水门事件的大部分案情被揭露之后，鲍勃·伍德沃德和卡尔·伯恩斯坦于1974年和1976年先后出版了两本关于水门事件内幕的书《总统班底》（All the President's Men，又译《惊天大阴谋》）和《最后的日子》（The Final Days），两位记者在书中详细记录了采访、报道以及挖掘整个事件的全部过程。
　　影视作品1977年，根据《总统班底》一书改编拍摄的同名电影在第49届奥斯卡颁奖典礼上，获得包括最佳改编剧本奖、最佳艺术指导等在内的共计四项大奖。向两位记者提供情报的人，代号为深喉，在2005年5月31日揭晓，是前联邦调查局副局长马克·费尔特（W. Mark Felt）。
　　电影《阿甘正传》（Forrest Gump）中也对水门事件进行了影射。
　　但最终，水门事件的卸任总统尼克松因继任总统福特对其无条件赦免而免受宪法制裁
　　1972年6月17日晚上，美国民主党总部的一位工作人员离开水门大厦后，偶然回头看了看自己的办公室，他惊异地发现，已经熄了灯的办公室里有几条光柱在晃动。不对呀，同事们都已经走了，谁又进了办公室，不开灯，却打着手电筒到处乱照。他马上回到水门大厦，把疑点告诉了保安人员。保安人员立即搜查了有关的房间，抓到五个戴着医用外科手套、形迹可疑的男子，其中一人名字叫詹姆斯·麦科德，自称是前中央情报局雇员。其实，他是尼克松总统竞选连任委员会负责安全工作的头头，奉命到水门大厦民主党总部安装窃听设备。第二天，《华盛顿邮报》在头版显著位置报道了这一事件。正在佛罗里达州比斯坎岛度假的尼克松总统闻讯后，心里不由咯噔一下：如果民主党抓住水门事件追查下去，他不但连任无望，而且马上就会名声扫地，有可能立即下台。他哪里还有心情度假，第二天就返回了华盛顿。白宫，总统办公室。已经是深夜了，尼克松还在与几个最亲密的助手们紧急商讨应对措施。经过长时间的讨论，大家都沉默了下来，有的猛抽着雪茄，有的端着咖啡杯却久久不送到嘴边，目光都集中到尼克松身上。尼克松思考再三，终于发话了：“不是有三个古巴人吗，麦科德以前也参与过‘猪湾事件’，那么就把水门事件解释成古巴人为了自己的民族利益而进行的窃听活动。霍尔德曼，你去见一见中央情报局局长，叫他出面，以国家安全为理由，不要让联邦调查局插手。叫那几个被抓的人不要开口，多花一点钱没关系。还有，白宫里的人在大陪审团那里不要再胡言乱语了，这事由迪安负责。”
　　助手们分头行动，尼克松自己也赤膊上阵，在第一次竞选连任的记者招待会上，信誓旦旦地向美国公众表示：“白宫班子和本届政府中，没有一个现在受雇用的人卷入这一荒唐事件。”他还故作镇定地表示，“令人痛心的不在于发生了这类事，因为在竞选中一些过于热心的人总会做些错事。如果你企图把这类事掩盖起来，那才是令人痛心的。”
　　一系列的活动，特别是总统的表演，暂时欺骗了公众。大选结果，尼克松以少有的压倒性优势击败了民主党候选人麦戈文，获得连任。正当尼克松和助手们弹冠相庆、得意忘形的时候，一封又一封匿名信寄到法院，密告水门事件还有隐情。
　　民主党占优势的国会，决定成立一个特别调查委员会，对总统竞选活动进行彻底调查。果然，1973年3月23日，麦科德在法庭上将白宫法律顾问迪安暴露了出来。尼克松决定弃车保帅，让迪安当替罪羊。
　　迪安可不是任人宰割的角色，他不甘心束手就擒。在得知他的罪行可判四十年徒刑时，他主动向检察官做了三小时的交待和揭露，想将功赎罪，换取赦免。
　　为了挽回局面，尼克松再次发表声明，表示事先不知道水门事件，事后也没有任何阻挠调查的行为，并为窃听活动辩护，说这些都是为了国家安全，是合法的、必要的，从罗斯福总统时开始，每一个总统都这么干。他企图再次利用美国人民对他的信任来蒙混过关。
　　不幸的是，一枚更大的定时炸弹爆炸了。水门事件委员会掌握了一个新的情况：尼克松从1971年年初起，为了记录与手下的谈话和电话内容，下令在白宫办公室里安装窃听系统。委员会要求尼克松交出有关的录音带和文件资料。尼克松以行政特权为理由拒绝交出，并将事情闹到上诉法院。不料，在经过三星期的考虑后，多数法官认为总统也要受法律的约束，必须交出录音带和文件资料。
　　尼克松恼羞成怒，下令免去调查水门事件的特别检察官考克斯的职务。这一下可捅了马蜂窝，美国各电视网立即中断正常节目，向美国公众报告这一爆炸性新闻。公众的反应就像火山开始喷发，抗议电报像雪片一样铺天盖地，舆论将尼克松与希特勒相提并论。连宗教界和原先支持尼克松的出版物，都愤怒地指责尼克松。血气方刚的大学生则组织了大规模的示威游行。整个美国像开了锅一样，群情激愤。在民意的推动下，众议院决定对总统进行弹劾。 尼克松决心顽抗到底，他一面销毁录音带上对他不利的内容，一面继续强调行政特权，表示“将遵循从华盛顿到约翰逊历届总统所遵循与捍卫的先例，决不做任何削弱美国总统职位的事情”。他交出的电话记录千疮百孔，大量重要的内容被诸如听不见、无情报价值等字眼代替。尼克松的行为进一步激怒了公众，最高法院首席大法官裁决尼克松必须交出有关的录音带。
　　新任命的特别检察官在白宫被迫交出的录音带中找到了新证据，有一盘录音带上清楚地记录着水门事件发生后六天，尼克松指示他的助手，让中央情报局阻挠联邦调查局调查水门事件，这是尼克松掩盖事实真相的铁证。整个白宫被惊得目瞪口呆，他们一直相信总统的清白，一直超出自己的职权范围来保护总统，而总统却从一开始就掩盖真相，并欺骗他的顾问、公众、国会甚至自己的家庭达两年之久，每个人都感到被出卖了，就连共和党的一批参议员、众议员也建议他辞职，尼克松终于到了众叛亲离的地步。
　　1974年8月8日晚上，尼克松不得不向全国发表电视演说，宣布辞去总统职务，成为美国历史上第一位，也是迄今惟一一位因丑闻而中途下台的总统。

 Richard M. Nixon: Resignation Speech
delivered 8 August 1974
Good evening:
This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shape the history of this nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest. In all the decisions I have made in my public life I have always tried to do what was best for the nation.
Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere -- to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion; that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process, and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served. And there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interests of the nation must always come before any personal considerations. From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation will require.
I have never been a quitter.
To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interests of America first.
America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad. To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
As I recall the high hopes for America with which we began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those hopes in the next two and a half years. But in turning over direction of the Government to Vice President Ford I know, as I told the nation when I nominated him for that office ten months ago, that the leadership of America would be in good hands.
In passing this office to the Vice President, I also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow, and therefore of the understanding, the patience, the cooperation he will need from all Americans. As he assumes that responsibility he will deserve the help and the support of all of us. As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this nation. To put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us and to rediscover those shared ideals that lie at the heart of our strength and unity as a great and as a free people.
By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my judgments were wrong -- and some were wrong -- they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interests of the nation.
To those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, the many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, I will be eternally grateful for your support. And to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me, because all of us in the final analysis have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ.
So let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new President succeed for the benefit of all Americans. I shall leave this office with regret at not completing my term but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your President for the past five and a half years. These years have been a momentous time in the history of our nation and the world. They have been a time of achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that represent the shared efforts of the administration, the Congress and the people. But the challenges ahead are equally great. And they, too, will require the support and the efforts of the Congress and the people, working in cooperation with the new Administration.
We have ended America's longest war. But in the work of securing a lasting peace in the world, the goals ahead are even more far-reaching and more difficult. We must complete a structure of peace, so that it will be said of this generation -- our generation of Americans -- by the people of all nations, not only that we ended one war but that we prevented future wars.
We have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People's Republic of China. We must now insure that the one-quarter of the world's people who live in the People's Republic of China will be and remain, not our enemies, but our friends.
In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy for nearly 20 years, now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that peace can settle at last over the Middle East and so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave. Together with the Soviet Union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. But, we must set as our goal, not just limiting, but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons, so that they cannot destroy civilization. And so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people. We have opened a new relation with the Soviet Union. We must continue to develop and expand  that new relationship, so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation.
Around the world -- in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East -- there are millions of people who live in terrible poverty, even starvation. We must keep as our goal turning away from production for war and expanding production for peace so that people everywhere on this earth can at last look forward, in their children's time, if not in our own time, to having the necessities for a decent life. Here, in America, we are fortunate that most of our people have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good, and by the world's standards even abundant lives.
We must press on, however, toward a goal not only of more and better jobs but of full opportunity for every American, and of what we are striving so hard right now to achieve -- prosperity without inflation.
For more than a quarter of a century in public life, I have shared in the turbulent history of this evening. I have fought for what I believe in. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me. Sometimes I have succeeded. And sometimes I have failed. But always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and with the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
I pledge to you tonight that as long as I have a breath of life in my body, I shall continue in that spirit. I shall continue to work for the great causes to which I have been dedicated throughout my years as a Congressman, a Senator, Vice President and President, the cause of peace -- not just for America but among all nations -- prosperity, justice and opportunity for all of our people.
There is one cause above all to which I have been devoted and to which I shall always be devoted for as long as I live.
When I first took the oath of office as President five and a half years ago, I made this sacred commitment: to consecrate my office, my energies, and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace among nations. I've done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge. As a result of these efforts, I am confident that the world is a safer place today, not only for the people of America but for the people of all nations, and that all of our children have a better chance than before of living in peace rather than dying in war.
This, more than anything, is what I hoped to achieve when I sought the Presidency.
This, more than anything, is what I hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as I leave the Presidency.
To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American.
In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead.