On this day in 1974, Richard Nixon resigned as President of the U.S., to be replaced by Gerald Ford, who had replaced Spiro Agnew as Vice President after Agnew resigned amid criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering. Thus Ford became the only U.S. President who was elected neither President nor Vice President, while Nixon, who was (and remains) the only person to be elected twice to both offices, became (and remains) the only President to resign! But at least one of Nixon’s greatest achievements has born wonderful fruit. When Sino-Soviet relations began to deteriorate, Nixon saw the...
