We were vacation in Myrtle Beach, staying in a motel where our second floor room faced the swimming pool.

I was in the pool when Mother ran to the balcony and said I needed to come upstairs and to hurry.

She wrapped me in several towels so I could immediately watch the historic event unfold.

President Nixon resigns: video

At eight years of age I’d been following the Watergate scandal and now, at almost ten, I was preparing to watch President Nixon resign.

The next morning, my parents postponed going to the beach so we could watch Nixon’s farewell to his staff in the East Room of The White House. I can still remember the tears in Mrs. Nixon’s eyes as she strained to maintain composure. The agony in the eyes of his daughters and sons-in-law was painful to watch, as well.