Richard Nixon Resignation: President Lost Support of Congress

Once President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal as a candidate last month, Democrats predictably gushed over his public-spirited decision to put country before self-interest. Ezra Klein, who had urged Biden to step aside back in February, wrote that Biden’s choice made him “an actual hero.” In his Oval Office address, Biden said his choice was in service of “the defense of democracy,” which is “more important than any title.” This paper-thin cover story, meant to help Biden transition into a party-unifying mascot, may or may not pass into the history books, but it is utterly untrue. Biden intended to stay in the race and was only persuaded to bow out by threats of open warfare from his partisan allies. He stepped down because he lost his party’s support.

When President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, he was refreshingly straightforward about his reason. He said that he wished to fight through to the end, but “it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify” such an effort. Even so, he framed his resignation as an act of self-sacrificing statesmanship:

About the Author

Philip A. Wallach

Philip A. Wallach is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of Why Congress.

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Once President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal as a candidate last month, Democrats predictably gushed over his public-spirited decision to put country before self-interest. Ezra Klein, who had urged Biden to step aside back in February, wrote that Biden’s choice made him “an actual hero.” In his Oval Office address, Biden said his choice was in service of “the defense of democracy,” which is “more important than any title.” This paper-thin cover story, meant to help Biden transition into a party-unifying mascot, may or may not pass into the history books, but it is utterly untrue. Biden intended to stay in the race and was only persuaded to bow out by threats of open warfare from his partisan allies. He stepped down because he lost his party’s support.

When President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, he was refreshingly straightforward about his reason. He said that he wished to fight through to the end, but “it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify” such an effort. Even so, he framed his resignation as an act of self-sacrificing statesmanship: