For your right to be curious.

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Join the NPR Illinois team!

Community Voices is seeking a co-host/editor to join Jeff Williams and Randy Eccles in getting to know our neighbors and more. Apply by May 25, 5 p.m.

The news department is seeking part-time fill-in anchor/reporters who are available either weekdays from 5:30 to 9 a.m. and/or 3:30 to 6 p.m. Apply by June 5, 5 p.m.

'31 Days': Between Two Presidencies

Fresh Air

Published April 13, 2006 at 5:45 PM CDT

On Aug. 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon's resignation as president of the United States became official, and Vice President Gerald Ford took office.

"I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots," he said in his swearing-in speech on that day. "And so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers."

The period following that day, up until Ford's pardoning of Nixon, is the focus of Barry Werth's 31 Days. Werth delivers a blow-by-blow account of the transition, including the roles of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (then ambassador to NATO) and Vice President Dick Cheney, who was Rumsfeld's deputy at the time.