I shall resign the presidency…
On this date in 1968, Richard Nixon receives the Republican nomination for the presidency.
Six years later, on the very same date (and after a land-slide re-election victory over Democratic nominee George McGovern – winning 23.2% of the popular vote over McGovern), Richard Nixon resigns the office of the presidency of the United States:
I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
Despite far reaching achievements in international affairs and environmental policy, Nixon turned out to be bankrupt in the ethics department and was impeached for abuse of the power as well as gross misconduct.
Here’s more irony involving the eighth day of the eighth month:
In 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee tries to resign on this day given his defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Believing he had mishandled the battle, Lee also believed resigning his post was the only honorable thing to do. In his letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Lee wrote:
I have been prompted by these reflections more than once since my return from Pennsylvania to propose to Your Excellency the propriety of selecting another commander for this army…. No one is more aware than myself of my inability for the duties of my position. I cannot even accomplish what I myself desire…. I, therefore, in all sincerity, request your Excellency to take measure to supply my place.
President Davis’ reply was a flat refusal:
To ask me to substitute you by someone … more fit to command, or who would possess more of the confidence of the army … is to demand an impossibility.
