It was evident that Nixon would be impeached.
Then, on August 5, Nixon made public several tapes subpoenaed by Jaworski and at the same time Nixon declared that he had withheld from his lawyers relevant evidence in the tapes. In a tape of a conversation with Haldeman on June 23,1972, days after the Watergate break-in, Nixon explicitly ordered an effort to halt an FBI investigation. The tape thus not only revealed that Nixon had been involved in cover-up activity, but also demonstrated that for two years he had been lying about his knowledge of events. Nixon’s aides and supporters in Congress felt betrayed and displayed their anger publicly. It soon became clear that Nixon’s support had been eroded so drastically that he would certainly be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. On August 8 Nixon announced that he would step down and on August 9, 1974, he became the first U.S. president to resign from office. On September 8 President ford granted Nixon an unconditional pardon for all federal crimes that the former president “committed or may have taken part in” while in office.

Later Years
Nixon retired in disgrace to his estate in San Clemente, CA. In 1976 he was disbarred by New York State, thus ending his law career. In the late 1970’s and the 1980’s , in an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation, Nixon wrote a series of memoirs and several books on international affairs and also traveled abroad and met with various world leaders. In 1981 the Nixons moved to Saddle River, N.J., to be near their children. Pat Nixon died of cancer in June 1993. On Apr. 18, 1994, Nixon suffered a massive stroke at his home. He was taken to a hospital in New York City, where he died on Apr. 22, 1994.