理查德·尼克松辭職演講
1974年8月8日，時任美國總統的理查德·尼克松在位於華盛頓哥倫比亞特區白宮的橢圓形辦公室向美國民眾發表了全國電視講話。在電視講話中，尼克松總統表示由於「水門事件」所造成的政治醜聞而在次日（8月9日）辭去美國總統職務。
 尼克松總統準備發表辭職演講 | |
| 日期 | 1974年8月8日 |
|---|---|
| 時間 | 21:01（美國東部時間） |
| 會場 | 白宮橢圓形辦公室 |
| 地點 |  美國華盛頓哥倫比亞特區西北區賓夕法尼亞大道1600號 |
| 座標 | 38°53′51″N 77°02′15″W / 38.8974°N 77.0374°W |
| 起因 | 水門事件 |
| 參與者 | 理查德·尼克松 |
尼克松的辭職是他演講中所提及「漫長而艱難的水門事件」的高潮。水門事件是美國1970年代所發生的聯邦層級的政治醜聞，起因是在1972年美國總統選舉期間，有五人因闖入民主黨全國委員會位於水門大廈的總部辦公室而被捕，尼克松政府隨後試圖掩蓋他們參與這次罪行的證據。由於水門事件，尼克松總統失去了大部分的民眾和政治支持。而在次日辭職時，他幾乎肯定將面臨美國國會的彈劾和免職。[1]
根據他的演講內容，尼克松總統說他的辭職是因為「我已經得出結論，由於水門事件而使得我可能得不到國會的必要支持；我認為國會將無法支持我做出非常困難的決定，也無法以國家利益所需要的方式來履行總統職責。」尼克松也表示，他希望通過辭職，「我將加速美國迫切需要的癒合過程開始」。尼克松承認他的一些判斷是「錯誤的」並表示懺悔，他說「我對導致這一決定的事件過程中可能造成的任何傷害深感遺憾。」不過他並沒有在他的辭職演說中明確提及針對他的彈劾案。[2]
8月9日造成，尼克松向時任美國國務卿的亨利·基辛格遞交了一封由他簽名的辭職信，這使得他成為美國歷史上迄今唯一一位主動辭職的美國總統。尼克松辭職後，時任美國副總統的傑拉爾德·福特立即繼任美國總統。[3]
演講背景
1974年8月5日，時任美國總統的理查德·尼克松在白宮橢圓形辦公室的幾段錄音被公開。其中一份被稱為「鐵證」，因為該錄音帶於水門事件發生後不久錄製，該錄音帶表明尼克松總統在那時就被告知了白宮與該事件的聯繫並批准了一項旨在阻止調查的計劃。錄音帶被公佈後，尼克松的民眾和政治支持率大幅度下降。[4]
錄音帶公開兩天後，也就是8月7日，尼克松在白宮會見了美國國會的共和黨領袖。他被告知他在眾議院必將被彈劾，隨後他將被參議院解職。當晚，尼克松在得知自己的總統任期在實際上已經結束，他最後決定宣佈辭職。[5][6]
總統的演講稿撰稿人雷·普萊斯負責撰寫這份辭職演講。[5]它於1974年8月8日從橢圓形辦公室發出並通過廣播電台和電視台直播。[6]
影響評論
《洛杉磯時報》的傑克·尼爾森寫道，尼克森的演講「選擇展望未來」而不是專注於他自己的任期。[7]尼克松演講的屬性與約翰·波拉科斯在其論文《論修辭學的詭辯定義（Towards a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric）》中對詭辯的修辭學定義不謀而合，即尼克松的演講符合「（尋求）捕捉可能」的標準，[8]而並不是反思他的任期。
英國的《泰晤士報》刊登了弗雷德·埃默里所撰文的《這一日，尼克松先生辭去總統職務（Mr. Nixon resigns as President; On this day）》；他在文章中對尼克松的演講持更消極的批評的態度。他將尼克松的道歉描述為「草率」，同時抨擊他對總統任期的定義。埃默里表示尼克松將總統的任期定義為「直至總統失去國會支持」；這意味著尼克松已經知道他無法再接下來的彈劾審判中獲得勝利，因此他正在利用這個定義好加速逃離他的辦公室。[9]
史蒂芬·安布羅斯在其著作《尼克松：1973年—1990年的毀滅與復興（Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990）》中發現當時的大部分美國媒體對於尼克松的辭職演講是持積極態度的。安布羅斯在書中引用了CBS新聞羅傑·穆德的評論，而他剛好是美國媒體中不喜歡尼克松辭職演講的人之一。穆德指出，尼克松重新設計了他的辭職演講，以強調他的成就而不是為水門醜聞道歉。[10]
1999年，137名美國演講學者被要求以「社會和政治影響以及修辭藝術」為標準推薦入選「20世紀美國100篇最佳政治演講」的名單，而尼克松的辭職演講列為第39名。[11]
全文內容
英文原文
Good evening.
This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest.
In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the Nation. Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future.
But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.
I would have preferred to carry through to the finish whatever the personal agony it would have involved, and my family unanimously urged me to do so. But the interest of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations.
From the discussions I have had with Congressional and other leaders, I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the Nation would require.
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 interest of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad.
To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
As I recall the high hopes for America with which we began this second term, I feel a great sadness that I will not be here in this office working on your behalf to achieve those hopes in the next 21/2 years. But in turning over direction of the Government to Vice President Ford, I know, as I told the Nation when I nominated him for that office 10 months ago, that the leadership of America will be in good hands.
In passing this office to the Vice President, I also do so with the profound sense of the weight of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders tomorrow and, therefore, of the understanding, the patience, the cooperation he will need from all Americans.
As he assumes that responsibility, he will deserve the help and the support of all of us. As we look to the future, the first essential is to begin healing the wounds of this Nation, to put the bitterness and divisions of the recent past behind us, and to rediscover those shared ideals that lie at the heart of our strength and unity as a great and as a free people.
By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.
I regret deeply any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. I would say only that if some of my Judgments were wrong, and some were wrong, they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the Nation.
To those who have stood with me during these past difficult months, to my family, my friends, to many others who joined in supporting my cause because they believed it was right, I will be eternally grateful for your support.
And to those who have not felt able to give me your support, let me say I leave with no bitterness toward those who have opposed me, because all of us, in the final analysis, have been concerned with the good of the country, however our judgments might differ.
So, let us all now join together in affirming that common commitment and in helping our new President succeed for the benefit of all Americans.
I shall leave this office with regret at not completing my term, but with gratitude for the privilege of serving as your President for the past 51/2 years. These years have been a momentous time in the history of our Nation and the world. They have been a time of achievement in which we can all be proud, achievements that represent the shared efforts of the Administration, the Congress, and the people.
But the challenges ahead are equally great, and they, too, will require the support and the efforts of the Congress and the people working in cooperation with the new Administration.
We have ended America's longest war, but in the work of securing a lasting peace in the world, the goals ahead are even more far-reaching and more difficult. We must complete a structure of peace so that it will be said of this generation, our generation of Americans, by the people of all nations, not only that we ended one war but that we prevented future wars.
We have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People's Republic of China.
We must now ensure that the one quarter of the world's people who live in the People's Republic of China will be and remain not our enemies but our friends.
In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy for nearly 20 years, now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that peace can settle at last over the Middle East and so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave.
Together with the Soviet Union we have made the crucial breakthroughs that have begun the process of limiting nuclear arms. But we must set as our goal not just limiting but reducing and finally destroying these terrible weapons so that they cannot destroy civilization and so that the threat of nuclear war will no longer hang over the world and the people.
We have opened the new relation with the Soviet Union. We must continue to develop and expand that new relationship so that the two strongest nations of the world will live together in cooperation rather than confrontation.
Around the world, in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America, in the Middle East, there are millions of people who live in terrible poverty, even starvation. We must keep as our goal turning away from production for war and expanding production for peace so that people everywhere on this earth can at last look forward in their children's time, if not in our own time, to having the necessities for a decent life.
Here in America, we are fortunate that most of our people have not only the blessings of liberty but also the means to live full and good and, by the world's standards, even abundant lives. We must press on, however, toward a goal of not only more and better jobs but of full opportunity for every American and of what we are striving so hard right now to achieve, prosperity without inflation.
For more than a quarter of a century in public life I have shared in the turbulent history of this era. I have fought for what I believed in. I have tried to the best of my ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me.
Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, "whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."
I pledge to you tonight that as long as I have a breath of life in my body, I shall continue in that spirit. I shall continue to work for the great causes to which I have been dedicated throughout my years as a Congressman, a Senator, a Vice President, and President, the cause of peace not just for America but among all nations, prosperity, justice, and opportunity for all of our people.
There is one cause above all to which I have been devoted and to which I shall always be devoted for as long as I live.
When I first took the oath of office as President 51/2 years ago, I made this sacred commitment, to "consecrate my office, my energies, and all the wisdom I can summon to the cause of peace among nations."
I have done my very best in all the days since to be true to that pledge. As a result of these efforts, I am confident that the world is a safer place today, not only for the people of America but for the people of all nations, and that all of our children have a better chance than before of living in peace rather than dying in war.
This, more than anything, is what I hoped to achieve when I sought the Presidency. This, more than anything, is what I hope will be my legacy to you, to our country, as I leave the Presidency.
To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead.
中文譯文
後續發展
參考資料
- ^ Linda Wertheimer. Remembering The Emotional Fallout From Nixon's Resignation. 全國公共廣播電台. 2015-08-08 [2024-07-31]. （原始內容存檔於2024-09-21）.
- ^ Nixon resigns. 華盛頓郵報. [2024-07-31]. （原始內容存檔於2016-11-25）.
- ^ News Summary and Index SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1974. 紐約時報 (紐約時報公司). 1974-08-10: 31 [2024-07-31]. （原始內容存檔於2023-10-08）.
- ^ Steffen W. Schmidt; Mack C. Shelley; Barbara A. Bardes; Lynne E. Ford. American Government and Politics Today, 2013-2014 Edition 16th Edition. Cengage Learning. 2013: 181. ISBN 9781133602132.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of a scandal when it was obvious that public opinion no longer supported him.
- ^ 5.0 5.1 John Herbers. Nixon Resigns. 紐約時報 (紐約時報公司). 1974-08-08 [2024-07-31]. （原始內容存檔於2017-07-14）.
- ^ 6.0 6.1 Christopher Klein. The Last Hours of the Nixon Presidency. 歷史頻道. 2014-08-08 [2024-07-31]. （原始內容存檔於2019-07-19）.
- ^ Jack Nelson. Nixon Resigns in 'Interests of Nation': Cites His Achievements for Peace as His Legacy. 洛杉磯時報. 1974-08-09: A1 [2024-08-01] –透過ProQuest.
- ^ John Poulakos. Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric. Philosophy & Rhetoric. 1983, 16 (1): 35–48. JSTOR 40237348.
- ^ Fred Emery. Watergate 2nd Edition. Simon and Schuster. 1995. ISBN 9780684813233.
- ^ Stephen E. Ambrose. Nixon: Ruin and recovery, 1973-1990. Simon and Schuster. 1991. ISBN 9780671528362.
- ^ Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century by Rank. American Rhetoric. [2024-08-01]. （原始內容存檔於2015-10-27）.
外部連接
- 尼克松總統辭職演講 （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）視頻在理查德·尼克松基金會網站
- 理查德·尼克松辭職演講 （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）在American Rhetoric網站
- 理查德·尼克松辭職信與傑拉爾德·福特赦免 （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）在國家檔案館基金會網站
