RICHARD NIXON TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

This is a portion of President Richard Nixon's statement to the American people concerning his feelings about letting the country down through the Watergate scandal during the David Frost interview sessions.  I believe this tells more about the man, the honesty and sincerity of a man who was broken by outside forces beyond his control.  A man who cared for his friends and for people in general.  History has come around to being just a little bit more lenient to the Nixon Administration and I fell as time goes on, it will continue to do so.  He was a statesman.  He was an expert on foreign policy, which as most of you know I think that should be the President's main concern.  After what we have been through with President Clinton, who did commit perjury to a Federal Grand Jury, who did suborn perjury of witnesses, who did point his finger at the American people and lied to them as boldly as any man has ever done, who did think himself above the law and went through a Senate trial that partisanship allowed him to indeed be above the law, Richard Nixon, in this brief quote ending the Watergate section of the interviews, proves how much greater of a President he was then those that followed him, with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.  Read with an open mind, and you will see a small window into Richard Nixon's soul, that he very seldom let people see.

	In one of those moments that you're not thinking, sometimes you say the things that are really in your heart.
	When you're thinking in advance and you say things that, you know, are tailored to the audience.
	I had a lot of difficult meetings those last days before I resigned.
	And the most difficult one, and the only one where I broke into tears.
	Frankly, except for that very brief session with Ehrlichman up at Camp David, it was the first time I cried since Eisenhower died.
	I met with all of my key supporters just a half hour before going on television.
	For 25 minutes we all sat around the oval office: Men that I had come to congress with, democrats and republicans, about half and half, wonderful men.
	And at the very end, after saying, "well, "thank you for all your support "during these tough years.
	"Thank you particularly for what you have done "to help us end the draft, "bring home the P.O.W.s, "And have a chance for building a generation of peace"-- which I could see, the dream that I had possibly being shattered-- "and thank you for your friendship, little acts of friendship " you know, you sort of remember with a birthday card and the rest.
	Then suddenly you haven't got much more to say, and half the people around the table were crying.
	Les Aarons, Illinois, bless him.
	He was just shaking, sobbing.
	And I just can't stand seeing somebody else cry.
	And that ended it for me.
	And I just--well, I must say I sort of cracked up.
	I started to cry, pushed my chair back.
	And then I blurted it out.
	And I said, "I'm sorry.
	I just hope " well, when I said: "I just hope I haven't let you down," that said it all.
	I had.
	I let down my friends.
	..
	The country.
	I let down our system of government and the dreams of all those young people that ought to get into government but will think it's all too corrupt and the rest.
	Most of all, I let down an opportunity that I would have had for 2 1/2 more years to proceed on great projects and programs for building a lasting peace, which has been my dream, as you know from our first interview in 1968 before I had any-- thought I might even win that year.
	I didn't tell you I didn't think I might win, but I wasn't sure.
	Yep, I let the American people down, and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life.
	My political life is over.
	I will never yet, and never again, have an opportunity to serve in any official position.
	Maybe I can give a little advice from time to time.
	And so I can only say that in answer to your question that while technically I did not commit a crime, an impeachable offense-- these are legalisms-- as far as the handling of this matter is concerned, it was so botched up; I made so many bad judgments.
	The worst ones, mistakes of the heart rather than the head, as I pointed out.
	But let me say, a man in that top job, he's got to have a heart, but his head must always rule his heart.  - President Richard M. Nixon