Richard Nixon: “These commitments reaffirm the conviction that private enterprise can and will act in the public interest.”

I have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge.

And as I leave, let me say, that is an example I think all of us should remember.

I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interests of America first. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon…

I invite the Governors of the States and of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and other officials at the local level to issue similar proclamations.