Classic News: September 8, 1974 President Ford Pardons Richard Nixon

The Watergate scandal had crippled the nation in many ways, on many levels.  The wounds of that event were still fresh and open when the new President of the United States addressed the nation less than a month after assuming the office.

President Gerald Ford would give a full and complete pardon to Richard M. Nixon.

That decision may have cost, or contributed to Ford's defeat in the 1976 Presidential election.  Historians still discuss the ramifications of this historic announcement.