Joe Biden’s sense of déjà vu 50 years after Nixon resigned

That would have outraged Kissinger, who made a habit of never giving specific answers to Arab leaders. Whenever he felt that Nixon was on the verge of saying more than he wanted him to, Kissinger would interject: "Mr President, we have to leave. Our time is up and the plane is waiting."

Not wanting to quit

Nixon carried on with his job until the very last minute, speaking about inflation on TV and meeting visiting West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Gensher.

In his memoirs, then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Nixon "rarely spoke about Watergate (and) when he did, it was not about substance, but about the arithmetic of the impeachment vote... He was a man awake in his own nightmare".

Kissinger felt that Nixon was "painfully shy" and "deeply insecure," explaining why he avoided talking about Watergate, even with those closest to him.

By 9 August, Nixon had decided to resign, against the wishes of his wife and family, setting a precedent in American history. Seen off by a Guard of Honour, Vice-President Gerald Ford then completed what was left of Nixon's term.

On 8 September, Ford granted Nixon a "full, free, and absolute" pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency, allowing the former president to live in peace until his passing at the age of 81 on 22 April 1994.  

Reflections in today

This month marks 50 years since Nixon's resignation. It is hard not to think of today's parallels with the current US President Joe Biden, who so recently felt compelled to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election, despite not wanting to.

Interestingly, their stints in political office overlapped. Biden was 32 when Nixon resigned in 1974. He had recently been elected to the US Senate and been described by Nixon as a "damn good young candidate".

Six weeks after entering the Senate, Biden's first wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi died in a car accident that critically injured their sons, Beau and Hunter. Nixon was among those to call Biden to pay their respects.

Similarly in 2024, just like Nixon 50 years ago, Biden had not wanted to pull out, telling ABC News that only "the Lord Almighty" could convince him to drop out, two weeks  before he did so.

Nixon had been of the same mind. Just days before resigning on 9 August 1974, he was insisting that he would "fight like hell". For both men, a sudden drop in support from their own parties influenced their final decision to step down.

Presidency parallels

Whereas Watergate always haunted Nixon, old age and health concerns now haunt the 81-year-old Biden, after several public instances of confusion, mistakes, and falls in recent months. During their presidencies, both men faced wars abroad.

As Nixon had to deal with the Arab-Israeli War that began in October 1973, Biden has had to deal with the Gaza War that began an exact half-century later, in October 2023.

Yet whereas Nixon's White House had a say over proceedings in 1973, Biden's White House has been almost entirely without influence. Israel has done what it wants. Israel's Prime Minister even spoke to the US Congress without Biden's invite.

Likewise, Nixon appeared powerless to pull the US out of Vietnam, having won the 1968 election in part by telling Americans how he had a plan to do so. In the end, the US only withdrew in 1973, after Nixon extended the war to Cambodia.

While Nixon stepped down with more than two half years of his term remaining, Biden looks set to finish his term in January 2025, despite some Republicans arguing that if he is unfit to run for office, he is unfit to stay in office.

They have therefore called for Biden to resign now, while Donald Trump has gone a step further, calling Biden a "national security threat in great cognitive decline and a clear and present danger to every man, woman, and child in our country."  

Trump's Republicans had been ruthless at attacking Biden's apparent age-related frailty, and Biden withdrew because he knew he could not win the upcoming elections, whereas Nixon did so to avoid the ignominy of removal and perhaps jail.

Yet presidents facing impeachment or criminal charges is nothing new—Andrew Jackson began the trend in 1868, while Bill Clinton (1998) and Donald Trump have followed up in recent years.

History repeats itself

Nixon was the first sitting president to resign from office, while Biden is the first sitting president in two generations to pull out of a presidential race, with Lyndon Johnson having last done so in 1968.

Johnson, who became president-by-accident after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, is one of many White House inhabitants thrust into the Oval Office by circumstance, rather than by design.

Although he won the 1964 election, the Vietnam War destroyed Johnson's approval ratings, which had dropped to 36% by the time he withdrew. His Vice-President Hubert Humphrey replaced Johnson, but Humphrey was defeated by Nixon.

Another president-by-accident was Harry Truman, who entered the White House after Franklin Roosevelt's death in April 1945. He won the election of 1948, but dropped out of the next election after his approval ratings dropped to 22%. His replacement lost to Dwight Eisenhower in 1952.

It was the same story in the election of 1976, when Gerald Ford, yet another president-by-accident, lost to Jimmy Carter.

Vice-presidents have a mixed record when running for office. Nixon himself was vice-president when he was defeated in 1960, as was Al Gore in 2000, but George HW Bush did manage to succeed his boss, Ronald Reagan, in 1989.

Nixon achieved a great many things while in office, most notably in foreign affairs, but Watergate was his downfall.

Biden has also chalked up many successes, most notably in domestic affairs. For him, the onset of age has been his downfall. The two men are, in many ways, as different as chalk and cheese, yet their presidencies have overlaps.

For Biden's Vice-President Kamala Harris, who has been handed the baton, there is now more than enough history on her shoulders.