The presidency ends

Watergate brought Nixon further into the impeachment process than the shorthand “he just quit” suggests. In late July 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles recommending impeachment: obstruction of justice, abuse of presidential power and failure to comply with committee subpoenas. These were distinct charges concerning conduct in office, not simply embarrassment about a campaign burglary. [1]

The committee approved Article I on July 27 by 27–11, Article II on July 29 by 28–10 and Article III on July 30 by 21–17. Its proposed resolution uses the language that Nixon “is impeached.” That is the wording submitted for the House to consider, not evidence that the House itself adopted it. [1]

The distinction changes the historical answer. Nixon resigned before the full House voted. He therefore was never formally impeached by the House, never tried for removal by the Senate, and never acquitted in such a trial. The official House account expressly identifies the unfinished full-House vote. Describing him as an “impeached president” skips the required constitutional step. [2]

The process was serious nonetheless. Approval of three articles showed that accusations had passed a prolonged committee inquiry and secured votes across party lines on the first two articles. The absence of a final vote does not erase that finding, just as a committee recommendation cannot substitute for the verdict the Senate never rendered. [1][2]

The recording known as the smoking gun captured Nixon and Haldeman on June 23, 1972, six days after the arrests. Its significance was presidential participation in an effort to obstruct the investigation through the CIA–FBI channel. NARA’s account explains how the Supreme Court’s production order brought this material into the open. The recording undercut Nixon’s earlier distancing of himself from the cover-up. [1]

An important sequence is often reversed in retellings: the Judiciary Committee had already approved its three articles before the August 5 disclosure. The recording did not create the inquiry from nothing. It gave especially direct evidence of early involvement and made continued political defense much harder. Earlier testimony, documents and tapes had already built a substantial case. [1][2]

On August 8, Nixon announced that he would leave the presidency the next day. The Archives notes that his address emphasized accomplishments and the loss of his political base; it did not name impeachment or directly confront abuse of presidential power. A speech explaining resignation is a source for his public explanation, not an independent adjudication of his conduct. [3]

The signed August 9 letter supplied the formal act: it resigned the presidency and was addressed to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The televised address and helicopter departure are the remembered images; the surviving letter is the legal document. Nixon’s departure ended his presidency without either a removal verdict or a criminal trial. [3][4]