page_title: United States presidential impeachment
section_title: Richard Nixon (initiated Oct. 1973, resigned Aug. 1974)
hierarchical_section_title: United States presidential impeachment / Presidents subjected to an impeachment process who resigned before it ended / Richard Nixon (initiated Oct. 1973, resigned Aug. 1974)
caption_attribution_description: English: Nixon says goodbye to the White House staff.
context_page_description: The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the authority to remove the president of the United States from office in two separate proceedings. The first one takes place in the House of Representatives which impeaches the president by approving articles of impeachment through a simple majority vote. The second proceeding, the impeachment trial, takes place in the Senate. There, conviction on any of the articles requires a two-thirds majority vote and results in the removal from office.
  Three United States presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019. All were acquitted by the Senate.
context_section_description: The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress.
  On October 30, 1973, Nixon ordered the firing of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, precipitating the Saturday Night Massacre. A massive reaction took place, especially in Congress, where 17 resolutions were introduced between November 1, 1974, and January 1974: H.Res. 625, H.Res. 635, H.Res. 643, H.Res. 648, H.Res. 649, H.Res. 650, H.Res. 652, H.Res. 661, H.Res. 666, H.Res. 686, H.Res. 692, H.Res. 703, H.Res. 513, H.Res. 631, H.Res. 638, and H.Res. 662. H.Res. 803, passed February 6, authorizes a Judiciary Committee investigation. In July, the House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment to the House floor, designated H.Rept. 1305. The impeachment proceedings against Nixon were mooted when Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. A report containing articles of impeachment was accepted by the full House on August 20, 1974, by a vote of 412–3.
  While Nixon was never impeached, this remains the only successful impeachment process, as its intended effect was carried out when Nixon resigned from office.
caption: Outgoing President Richard Nixon's farewell speech to the White House staff, August 9, 1974
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