Nixon met with Vice President Ford the following morning, August 8, to inform Ford of his intention to resign from office, and met with congressional leaders that evening to give them formal notice. Next, he met briefly with a group of longtime congressional friends, and then he informed the nation. Several days earlier, in advance of the release of the tapes on August 5, presidential speechwriter Ray Price had prepared two draft speeches for the president—one, a refusal-to-resign speech, and the second, a resignation speech. The latter served as the first draft of the speech Nixon delivered live on radio and television from the Oval Office that night.