I shall continue to oppose efforts which would set a precedent that would cripple all future Presidents by inhibiting conversations between them and those they look to for advice.

My consistent position from the beginning has been to get out the facts about Watergate, not to cover them up.

Let me state the common sense of the matter.

I stated categorically that I had no prior knowledge of the Watergate operation and that I neither knew of nor took part in any subsequent efforts to cover it up.

This principle of confidentiality in Presidential communications is what is at stake in the question of the tapes.

I believed that then, and certainly the experience of this last year has proved that to be true.

The time has come to turn Watergate over to the courts, where the questions of guilt or innocence belong.

I also invite the people of the United States to honor the memory of Leif Erikson on that day by holding appropriate exercises and ceremonies in suitable places across our land.

Rather, it lies in a commitment by all of us to show a renewed respect for the mutual restraints that are the mark of a free and a civilized society.

I recognize that this statement does not answer many of the questions and contentions raised during the Watergate hearings.

I had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in; I neither took part in nor knew about any of the subsequent coverup activities.

Not a single witness has testified that I had any knowledge of the planning for the Watergate break-in.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Tuesday, October 9, 1973, as Leif Erikson Day; and I direct the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings that day.

If we learn the important lessons of Watergate, if we do what is necessary to prevent such abuses in the future--on both sides--we can emerge from this experience a better and a stronger nation.

I accept full responsibility for them.

Practices of that kind do not represent what I believe government should be, or what I believe politics should be.

On May 22 I said that at no time did I authorize any offer of executive clemency for the Watergate defendants, nor did I know of any such offer.

It is also true, as I said on May 22, that I took no part in, and was not aware of, any subsequent efforts to cover up the illegal acts associated with the Watergate break-in.