"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic."
"Well, I screwed it up real good, didn't I?"
"I've analyzed the best I can ... and I have not found an impeachable offense, and therefore resignation is not an acceptable course."
"My strong point is not rhetoric, it isn't showmanship, it isn't big promises - those things that create the glamour and the excitement that people call charisma and warmth."
"This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation. (Saluting crew of the Apollo 11)"
"What starts the process, really, are laughs and slights and snubs when you are a kid. ... If your anger is deep enough and strong enough, you learn that you can change those attitudes by excellence, personal gut performance."
"My view is that one should not break up a winning combination."
"Tonightóto you, the great silent majority of my fellow AmericansóI ask for your support. (On his Vietnam War policy)"
"When the president does it, that means it is not illegal."
"I would have made a good Pope."
"I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes."
"Solutions are not the answer."
"I wouldn't bet the farm on it, but I'd bet the main house. I wouldn't even bet the outhouse on Mondale."
"I was under medication when I made the decision not to burn the tapes."
"The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them."
"I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first ... Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow."
"Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the manner in which the president personally exercises his assigned executive powers is not subject to questioning by another branch of government."
"I wish I could give you a lot of advice, based on my experience of winning political debates. But I don't have that experience. My only experience is at losing them."
"My telephone calls and meetings and decisions were now parts of a prescribed ritual aimed at making peace with the past; his calls, his meetings and his decisions were already the ones that would shape America's future. (On transfer of power to Gerald R. Ford.)"
"So you are lean and mean and resourceful and you continue to walk on the edge of the precipice because over the years you have become fascinated by how close you can walk without losing your balance."
"It is not too strong a statement to declare that this is the way civilizations begin to die ... None of us has the right to suppose it cannot happen here."
"The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."
"I turned into the helicopter ... the red carpet was rolled up. ... The White House was behind us now."
"I let the American people down."
"You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president. I'm innocent. You've got to believe I'm innocent. If you don't, take my job."