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Saturday is the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Thursday, however, marks the anniversary of a related incident that has since become legendary in Arizona political lore. On Aug. 7, 1974, U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., U.S. House Minority Leader John Rhodes, R-Ariz., and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, R-Pa., made it clear to the embattled Nixon that he faced all-but-certain impeachment, conviction and removal from office in connection with the Watergate scandal.
Nixon announced his resignation the next evening, effective at noon on Aug 9, 1974.
Over the years, Goldwater, Rhodes and Scott have been lionized for their often exaggerated role in precipitating Nixon's exit.
In his 2006 book "Conservatives Without Conscience," former Watergate figure John W. Dean wrote that the Capitol Hill trio "traveled to the White House to tell Nixon it was time to resign." A Los Angeles Times headline over Rhodes' 2003 obituary recalled that the longtime representative from Mesa "helped persuade Nixon to resign." A 2007 Politico column recalled the episode as "When the GOP Torpedoed Nixon."
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