In addition Nixon s impeachment course was not simply political rhetoric it was a near inescapable reality From the New York Times Aug 8 1974 His chances of being acquitted were almost hopeless Senator Barry Goldwater the Arizona conservative who was the Republican Presidential candidate in 1964 told him that he had no more than 15 votes in the Senate far short of the 34 he needed to be sure of escaping conviction Members of his own staff including Gen Alexander M Haig Jr the White House chief of staff strongly recommended that he step down in the national interest He wouldn t have resigned if he thought he could beat it From Nixon s resignation speech 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 So you ask Why make mention of him if he wasn t impeached In all but official action he was And for that reason and the reasons I mention above he should be mentioned in the article alongside Clinton and Johnson