I have come to a decision which I felt I should tell you
and all of my fellow American citizens, as soon as I was certain in my own
mind and in my own conscience that it is the right thing to do.
I have learned already in this office that the difficult decisions
always come to this desk.
I must admit that many of them do not look at all the same as the
hypothetical questions that I have answered freely and perhaps too fast
on previous occasions.
My customary policy is to try and get all the facts and to consider the
opinions of my countrymen and to take counsel with my most valued friends.
But these seldom agree, and in the end, the decision is mine.
To procrastinate, to agonize, and to wait for a more favorable turn of
events that may never come or more compelling external pressures that
may as well be wrong as right, is itself a decision of sorts
and a weak and potentially dangerous course for a President to follow.
I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right
as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can
for America.
I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became
President but many times since.
The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions
as citizens.
Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences,
are superior to it.
As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws
with the help of God.
And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with
special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect
to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon,
and his loyal wife and family.
Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part.
It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it.
I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.
There are no historic or legal precedents to which I can turn in this
matter, none that precisely fit the circumstances of a private citizen
who has resigned the presidency of the United States.
But it is common knowledge that serious allegations and accusations
hang like a sword over our former President's head, threatening his
health as he tries to reshape his life, a great part of which was spent
in the service of this country and by the mandate of its people.
After years of bitter controversy and divisive national debate,
I have been advised and I am compelled to conclude that many months and
perhaps more years will have to pass before Richard Nixon could obtain
a fair trial by jury in any jurisdiction of the United States
under governing decisions of the Supreme Court.
I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their
station or former station.
The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons,
but the law is a respecter of reality.
The facts, as I see them, are that a former President of the United States,
instead of enjoying equal treatment with any other citizen accused of
violating the law, would be cruelly and excessively penalized either in
preserving the presumption of his innocence or in obtaining
a speedy determination of his guilt in order to repay a legal debt
to society.
During this long period of delay and potential litigation,
ugly passions would again be aroused.
And our people would again be polarized in their opinions.
And the credibility of our free institutions of government
would again be challenged at home and abroad.
In the end, the courts might well hold that Richard Nixon had been denied
due process, and the verdict of history would even more be
inconclusive with respect to those charges arising out of the period
of his presidency, of which I am presently aware.
But it is not the ultimate fate of Richard Nixon that most concerns me,
though surely it deeply troubles every decent and every compassionate person.
My concern is the immediate future of this great country.
In this, I dare not depend upon my personal sympathy as a
long-time friend of the former president, nor my professional judgment
as a lawyer, and I do not.
As President, my primary concern must always be the greatest good of all
the people of the United States whose servant I am.
As a man, my first consideration is to be true to my own convictions
and my own conscience.
My conscience tells me clearly and certainly that I cannot prolong the
bad dreams that continue to reopen a chapter that is closed.
My conscience tells me that only I, as President,
have the constitutional power to firmly shut and seal this book.
My conscience tells me it is my duty,
not merely to proclaim domestic tranquility,
but to use every means that I have to ensure it.
I do believe that the buck stops here,
that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right.
I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong,
10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
I do believe with all my heart and mind and spirit
that I, not as President, but as a humble servant of God,
will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
Finally, I feel that Richard Nixon and his loved ones have suffered
enough and will continue to suffer, no matter what I do,
no matter what we, as a great and good nation,
can do together to make his goal of peace come true.
Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States,
pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2,
of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant
a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses
against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed
or may have committed or taken part in during the period from
July 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974.
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